Equal Exchange Fair Trade Coffee
As a member of the Social Justice Committee of St. Andrew the Apostle Church in Brooklyn, NY I helped to start the “Coffee Project.” We sold Equal Exchange coffee after Masses once a month; and took special orders the rest of the time. Our parish secretary, a lovely lady, helped out to take care of people who were ill, out-of-town or couldn’t make it to Mass for some reason but still wanted their coffee. She would hold the bags in the office for people to come by and pick up. Sales did quite well–our Social Justice Committee funded other projects and initiatives out of our $1 a bag coffee profits.
We sold Equal Exchange coffee, tea, chocolate and hot chocolate. Everyone enjoyed the coffee, but the chocolate bars were the biggest hit. 
Our motto was: “Supporting fair wages and fair trade–one cup of coffee at a time.” Buying a bag of coffee after Mass made it easy and convenient to help support Catholic social justice initiatives several ways: small farmers were paid a fair price for their coffee beans and had access to credit; and the crops were planted and harvested in ecologically sound ways. Equal Exchange products are mostly organic and shade-grown, which further protects songbirds and wildlife.
Equal Exchange was great organization to work with, and I highly recommend them. We found them through Catholic Relief Services, who maintain a list of fair trade coffee partners on their website.
July 16th, 2008 at 11:42 am
I just want to thank you and St. Andrew’s for your support of Fair Trade through Equal Exchange. Not only are you doing business with a Fair Trade pioneer fully committed to Fair Trade principles, but every purchase results in a contribution to the Fair Trade Fund. CRS recycles that money into grants to producers and advocates in the Fair Trade movement. Please let CRS know if we can be of support to your work!
Jackie