Time to order Coffee and Tea from Equal Exchange

Dear Coffee, Tea and Chocolate Lovers,

February is upon us and so is our mid-winter sale of products. Here’s the news!

Proud Mama has been discontinued. L The co-operative in Uganda that provided the beans dissolved, leaving Equal Exchange without a source of Ugandan beans. Suggestions include:

• Organic Congo, an inspirational blend of East African Coffees that is smooth and balanced, with rich chocolate, sweet vanilla, brown spices and a hint of fresh berry. Congo comes in whole bean only and sells for $9/pound.

• Organic African Roots is a bright and complex blend with notes of exotic fruit. A medium roast, African Roots comes in drip only and sells for $7.00/12 oz.

• Organic Mama Tierra is a new medium roast from the heart of Oaxaca, Mexico. Mama Tierra is a partnership project of Equal Exchange and Catholic Relief Services that empowers women farmers. Proceeds from this coffee support the work of CRS to restore and protect coffee communities across southern Mexico and Central America with clean water, healthy soil and resilient farmers. Drip grind only. $9/pound.

#2…there has been an increase in prices. It’s not a lot but there is a small increase on most everything. My sadness for this increase is tempered by the assurance that the farmers are receiving an increase that is probably long overdue. They have and continue to experience significant stresses from weather and corporate pressure. We really do make a difference in the lives of farmers around the world by purchasing their products!

#3 Equal Exchange notified us this week that for the 2018 sales year, St Andrews was among the top 5% of over 6,000 faith-based groups who order EE’s fairly traded, organic products. They reminded us that in addition to our purchases being directly beneficial to the small-scale farmers who grow them, for every pound purchased, $0.15 is donated to the Presbyterian Hunger Program. Thank you for your continued support of the Presbyterian Coffee Project!

And one more thing…In 2013 there was a Beyond the Brands campaign to get food companies to help create a world where everyone has enough to eat. Right now, nearly one in eight people on earth go to bed hungry. Sadly, the majority of these people are farmers or farm workers supplying the very food system that is failing them.  Yet there is enough food for everyone. That’s an outrage – but we can be the generation that ends this crazy situation. www.behindthebrands.org for an update and a challenge.

The latest campaign is Behind the Barcodes, an effort to end the human suffering behind our food. Millions of people around the world, many of them women, who farm, fish, and process the food in our stores are working extremely long hours, toiling in unsafe conditions, and earning only poverty wages. Oxfam and Equal Exchange invite us to help create a more equal and just food system–one that isn’t built on human suffering, discrimination, and unsafe working conditions. Learn more at https://www.oxfamamerica.org/take-action/campaign/food-farming-and-hunger/behind-the-barcodes/.

So now it’s time for you to place your February orders. I failed to include Organic Congo on the order form. If you want to order just add it to your list and hope that others will order it too. I need at least half a case to order.   Please contact Mary Evans at tmevans@bellsouth.net