Join us for Fair Trade Sunday on May 8

Help us celebrate Fair Trade and the anniversary of our designation as a Fair Trade Congregation on Sunday, May 8. Come to the forum at 9 a.m. for a special presentation about Fair Trade by Maria Arroyo. She has spent several months living with a Fair Trade coffee cooperative in Chiapas. You will be treated to goodies made with Fair Trade ingredients compliments of members of the Cathedral’s Fair Trade Committee - Christie Batten, Suzanne Papp, Mary Doak, Sandy Lawrensen, and Carolyn Lief.

Mother’s Day is an especially appropriate time to celebrate Fair Trade since the lives of mothers and women across the globe are honored. In so many places women are enslaved and exploited, but when they are part of a Fair Trade cooperative or group of artisans, they must receive fair wages and treatment and can organize and be empowered to decide their own futures. At the 9 a.m. forum there will be a display of many Fair Trade items women have created. If you thought Fair Trade means only coffee, chocolate, and tea, you will be surprised!

 Please join us!

Carolyn Lief

Fairly traded: October is Fair Trade Month!

October is Fair Trade Month. Look for some homemade goodies (made with FT chocolate, of course!) at the Fair Trade table at coffee hours on October 4th and 18th. Even though we are blessing animals after the 10:30 service on the 4th, we’ll have a table in the 6th Ave. courtyard (people need snacks too!).

I also want to let you know of a new Fair Trade product in the markets: Fair Trade Ahi Tuna Steaks. They are wild caught and frozen, and you may find them at Vons. I barbecued mine and they were great!

HAPPY FAIR TRADE MONTH!

Carolyn Lief

Fairly Traded: New Partnership with Episcopal Relief and Development

Important news release!  The EPISCOPAL RELIEF & DEVELOPMENT FAIR TRADE PROJECT is now partnering with Equal Exchange to bring healing to our hurting world.  That means that for every pound of delicious chocolates, cocoas, teas, nuts, and our new coffees, 15% of the cost will benefit ERD. 

I hope you will be at church this Sunday, May 17, to celebrate our designation as a Fair Trade Congregation.  Taste the new coffees we will be selling, and sample several home-made treats made from Equal Exchange chocolate and cocoa.  Remember to buy more of the chocolates you love as well!

Remember, you can shop for great Fair Trade products at coffee hour on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month.

Carolyn Lief

Fairly Traded: Mother's Day

Mother’s Day is just around the corner. What better way to tell your mom that you love her than buying her a beautiful fair trade gift? Her gift will not only be unique it will also help sustain farmers and artisans in the Global South.

Here are few of my favorite gift ideas!

Enjoy ~ Dawn Stary





31Bits – Jewelry that is handcrafted with love that can then be given with love to your mom! They have even created a gift guide for Mother’s Day gifts (http://31bits.com/shop/gifts.html)















Indego Africa – Moms are so often their children’s number one cheerleaders. So why not help her catch own dreams this year with a this beautiful dream catcher

(http://shop.indegoafrica.org/collections/home/products/dots-dreams)















Mata Traders through Ash & Rose – Take mom out to brunch on Mother’s Day and give her this lovely dress that she can where the next time you take her out to brunch!

(http://www.ashandrose.com/clothing/dresses/loyal-love-dres.html)

Fairly Traded: A Passion for Fair Trade

This month marks the 10th anniversary of the trip I took to Nicaragua that awoke in me a passion for Fair Trade. With the help of others in our community a new organization was born on late 2005: Fair Trade San Diego (originally San Diego Friends of Fair Trade). Over the course of the intervening years La Mesa became a Fair Trade Town and UCSD and USD became Fair Trade Universities. Pt. Loma Nazarene University and SDSU are in the process.

In 2015 we celebrate the fact that St. Paul’s Cathedral is a Fair Trade Congregation. St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church is the only other San Diego area congregation.

 You can see a web page acknowledging our accomplishment by clicking on this link.   Our campaign is complete with the introduction of Fair Trade teas at coffee hour. Look for herbal teas: Organic Peppermint, Organic Vanilla Rooibos, and Organic Chamomile! We now use Kirkland Fair Trade Certified Coffee for hospitality.

More to be celebrated is the fact that as a congregation we make a statement in favor of economic justice for small farmers in the global south. Shop for great Fair Trade products at coffee hour on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month.

Carolyn Lief

Fairly Traded: Wearing the Green on St Patrick's Day

Dawn Stary writes, 

St. Patrick’s is synonymous with the color green. So what better way to celebrate a Fair Trade St. Patrick’s Day than with all things green (and one thing simply Irish)?

Here is my list of green things to wear for St. Patrick’s Day. There are options for women, men and babies and not to mention a tasty beverage and an accessory for the home.

Fair Trade Baby Onesie from Global Mamas

Fair Trade Women’s Necklace from 31Bits

Fair Trade Men’s Shirt in Green from Prana

Seven Hopes United Chevron Basket

Fair Trade Irish Breakfast Tea

Fairly Traded is our regular blog series about Fair Trade and how your economic choices can make a difference.

Fairly Traded: Take on Everyday Justice for Lent

This Saturday (Feb. 21), Simpler Living is sponsoring the film “The Dark Side of Chocolate” (come to the potluck first at 6 PM in the Guild Room.) Most of us are aware of the good side of dark chocolate, but how it’s produced is another matter altogether – the dark side.

Well, it turns out that there is a dark side to more than just chocolate. Many other goods and services we enjoy come to us at the expense of the lives of others(workers who receive low wages, or none, in horrific working conditions, mostly in developing countries). Fair Trade exists to counter that trend.

Richard and I have been reading a book, Everyday Justice, by Julie Clawson (available at Amazon). It explores the global impact of our daily choices – food, fuel, clothing, waste, debt, coffee, and yes, chocolate. We commend this book to you. There are Fair Trade alternatives to food and clothing; it may take some work to find them. Maybe that work would be a good thing to take on for Lent. Incorporate one new Fair Trade item into your life and become part of everyday justice. Have a blessed Lent.

  Carolyn Lief

Fairly Traded is our regular blog series about Fair Trade and how your economic choices can make a difference.

Fairly Traded: a fair trade Valentine's day!

St. Valentine’s Day!  It’s a time for chocolates, flowers and unique gifts for your special someone.  And it’s a holiday that can easily be made fair trade!!

Fair trade chocolates are available in abundance and can be found at your local grocers or online.  Sprout’s, Whole Foods and Ocean Beach People’s Coop all sell fair trade chocolate.  And perhaps your loved one likes frozen chocolate treats, anywhere you can buy Ben and Jerry’s you can buy fair trade.

Fair Trade flowers are beautiful and ethical. I have seen fair trade flowers at Whole Foods in the past but you can definitely buy them online. Check out One World Flowers (https://www.oneworldflowers.org) for great fair trade flower options.

Fair trade gifts are unique and gift back. Here are a few of my favorite online spots to buy fair trade gifts:

AshandRose.com – this site sells ethical and fair trade clothing and accessories from several different vendors.  You don’t need to search all over the Internet to find a great gift.  They sell Mata Traders, which is one of my favorite fair trade purveyors of clothing and accessories.

SevenHopesUnited.com – they are locally owned in San Diego and sell wonderful gifts for men and women.

TenThousandVillages.com – Ten Thousand Villages is one of the oldest fair trade sellers in the United States.  Again, their items are unique and a very good place to find gifts for men and women.

Happy Valentine’s Day – Dawn

Fairly Traded: On our way to a fair trade congregation

At its November meeting the Cathedral Chapter passed a resolution to have St. Paul’s begin the process of becoming a Fair Trade Congregation. “What does this mean?” you might well ask.

A branch of the Fair Trade certifying body, FairTradeUSA, began the Fair Trade Towns and Universities campaigns a few years ago, and just this year added the Fair Trade Congregations campaign. This is not a new idea. In the UK there are 7,300 fair trade congregations. La Mesa is a fair trade town and UCSD and USD are fair trade universities. Point Loma Nazarene University is almost there, and the church on its campus is the first fair trade congregation in the San Diego area. There is a Fair Trade Episcopal Congregation in Minnesota.

To become a fair trade congregation St. Paul’s Cathedral pledges to use 2 Fair Trade products (we already use Justo Café, registered with Fair Trade Federation). We will also be offering 2 educational opportunities and 2 other events a year (like the Alternative Gift EXPO).

For our second Fair Trade product we might use Fair Trade sugar or tea for hospitality. See if you can spot the change when it happens! Of course you know we regularly offer Fair Trade coffee, tea, and chocolate for sale. Simpler Living will show the film, “The Dark Side of Chocolate” in the winter. It is a moving film dealing with the use of child labor on cacao plantations.

Incorporating fair trade products into our lives is one way we can bring justice to bear in the businesses that so often exploit small farmers in the global south. Our purchases have the power to change lives! Show your support at the Alternative Gifts EXPO on November 23rd!!

Carolyn Lief

Fairly Traded: Alive and Well at St Paul's

“But let justice flow like water…”. This was the vision of the prophet Amos (5:24) in response to the corruption of the Israelites that was taking them away from their true relationship with God. At St. Paul’s Cathedral we are involved with several acts of justice which we believe flow from God’s Spirit in us.

I wonder if you have considered that purchasing the Fair Trade products we sell after services on the first and third Sundays of the month is one of these acts. Fair Trade Bishops Blend Coffees and the Equal Exchange chocolate, teas, and nuts, promise to compensate the growers who produce them with fair income. A primary goal of the Fair Trade movement is to empower all people and improve the quality of their lives.

Don’t let your Fair Trade shopping stop at the Cathedral, though! You can find Fair Trade products in the ‘hood at Café Bassam, Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Balboa Park, Sprouts. I’ll bet you can find more. Look for these labels that indicated the product is Fair Trade Certified or follows Fair Trade principles.

Carolyn Lief

Fairly Traded: Introduction

What's Fair Trade?  Over the next few months Dawn and Carolyn will be telling us more about Fair Trade, and their efforts to have SPC designate as a Fair Trade Congregation.   

For the past several years the fair trade movement has been growing in the United States. Small groups of individuals have gathered to raise awareness about what fair trade is and why it is important. Soon those groups started to make whole towns, universities and schools fair trade. Now this enthusiasm to declare congregations fair trade is taking hold too.

In San Diego people of faith have been at the forefront of the fair trade movement and have shown leadership through the organization Fair Trade San Diego. They have felt called by their faith to support a movement that helps lift women, men and children in the Global South out of poverty. Fair trade is a system of trade that puts people, not profit first. Fair trade cooperatives are democratically run, guarantee healthy working conditions, no child or forced labor, gender equality and a livable wage. There are many different fair trade products for sale in stores and online. A short list of more common items include: coffee, sugar, tea, chocolate, ice cream, clothing, jewelry and children’s toys.

St. Paul’s Cathedral for the past several years has been supporting fair trade through educational outreach, serving fair trade coffee at coffee hour, selling fair trade items after church services and the annual Alternative Gift Expo.

Our baptismal covenant calls us to strive for justice and peace among all people and to respect the dignity of every human being. Through our purchases of fair trade items we are affirming the dignity of all God’s people.

I hope that you enjoy the following video, which demonstrates some of the impact Fair Trade has on growers of cacao!

Dawn Stary