Merchants find fair trade marketing a win-win situation
Products include coffee, wine, clothing

By Amy Guckeen
Catholic Herald Staff

MILWAUKEE — For every $3 latte, a farmer receives a meager two cents. Milwaukee area residents looking to change that have plenty of opportunities to do so through fair trade gift giving in the city.

Approximately 2.7 billion people in the world exist on less than $2 a day, according to the World Bank. Fifteen thousand children between the ages of 9 and 12 have been sold into forced labor on conventional cotton, coffee and cocoa plantations, according to a 2000 U.S. State Department report. Through the purchase of fair trade items, those statistics can change.

“People always ask, ‘Where can you buy something that’s not made in a sweatshop?’” said Mike Howden, with the Southeastern Wisconsin Initiative for Fair Trade and Four Corners of the World, which sells fair trade items. “We really have two missions, one to run the store, and to act as a marketplace for artisans and farmers and sowers from around the world who really need a marketplace so they can have a decent wage and raise their kids. The other is to educate people.”

Awareness of the opportunities to purchase fair trade items should be high in the city of Milwaukee, the first major designated fair trade city, as passed by the Milwaukee Common Council in a resolution this fall.

“By supporting fair trade, not only are we supporting human rights by reducing the exploitation that takes place in sweatshops, but also protecting American jobs that are lost to these unethical business practices overseas,” said Alderman Tony Zielinski.

Sandy Murphy, owner of Highlands Café, chose to serve fair trade coffee when she opened her café.

“I can’t imagine what it’s like to have to harvest a field in some of these countries where it’s very hot and the conditions are poor,” Murphy said. “These people are trying to feed their families and provide a living. If there’s a process out there that can help govern that, I’m definitely all for it.”

According to the Fair Trade Federation, “fair trade is a system of exchange that seeks to create greater equity and partnership in international trading system,” through various ways, including fair wages, public accountability, consumer education, cultural identity, and financial and technical support.

For Steve Braun, owner of Fair Grounds Coffeehouse, who was educated in Catholic schools, including Catholic Memorial High School and Marquette University, not choosing fair trade products didn’t even cross his mind.

“I didn’t think there was an option really,” Braun said. “Coffee is like the second most traded commodity in the world. It’s made in Third World countries and First World countries drink it. I wanted to support the communities that make the coffee and make sure the farmer can support himself and his family.”

Fair Grounds not only provides fair trade coffee to its customers, but also fair trade tea, hot chocolate, spiced chai and sugar packets.

The choice has little negative effect on the bottom line, Braun said, but rather brings in customers.

“The economic standpoint from our end isn’t that much of a difference, so that wasn’t a factor at all,” Braun said. “I was actually surprised to learn of customers going out of their way to seek us out because we are fair trade.”

Murphy agreed.

“People are very conscious now of what’s going on in other countries and how manual labor and employees are being treated,” Murphy said. “People are very health conscious, very earth conscious and community conscious. It’s a driving factor.”

It’s not just about coffee either. Fair trade encompasses clothing, food, furniture, home décor, housewares, jewelry, tea, toys and personal accessories, according to the Fair Trade Federation.

“I think people like to feel that they’re doing something, maybe not consciously, for the greater good of the world,” said Sue Heeley, a member of St. Sebastian Parish, Milwaukee, and owner of Art and Soul Gallery which sells primarily the work of local artists, including glass, pottery, jewelry, fine craft and fine arts. “People like to feel that they’re close to home. It’s a little nostalgic from the old shopkeep kind of thing instead of a mall.”

For Howden, the idea of buying fair trade stems from his faith.

“I’ve known Catholic social teaching on justice for most of my life,” Howden said. “It comes out of the way my wife and I have tried to live and educated our children.”

Be An Informed Catholic!


For the rest of this week's news, visit the Catholic Herald web site.

Click here to subscribe to the Catholic Herald.