This Lenten series features a different person each week. Nothing in particular connects these people, other than my desire to ask them a few questions. They may not be the questions you would have asked, but I hope you might appreciate their answers nonetheless.  TL

Irene Mehlos
Before you traveled to Nicaragua, why was Fair Trade something you pursued?
Just before the Jubilee Year celebrations, a Pax Christi study guide called Jubilee Justice came out. There I began to read about Catholic social teaching. The bishops of the U.S. Catholic Conference called this one of the most urgent challenges of the new millennium, saying that “we cannot be called truly Catholic unless we hear and heed the Church’s call to serve those in need and work for justice and peace.” That year our parish council decided to resurrect an old social concerns committee to address these issues and I accepted the request to chair the committee.
I had been looking into Fair Trade as a way to live out my commitment to Catholic Social Teachings. “Fair Trade” (as opposed to “Free Trade”) is an alternative approach to international trade which seeks to bring disadvantaged producers into the global marketplace without exploiting them. After receiving information announcing a new project of Catholic Relief Services to promote Fair Trade Coffee, our committee decided to tie in the church teaching on “The Dignity of Work and Rights of Workers” with a Labor Day coffee sale. This seemed like something we could easily do to make a difference in the life of others.

On your trip with CRS to Nicaragua, what did you do? What was the purpose of the trip?
The goal of this first coffee delegation trip was to develop relationships with the farmers whose coffee is sold. For me, it’s similar to the distinction between praying a general prayer intention and praying for a specific person. The families who benefit from our Fair Trade purchases were all given faces and names. Consequently, my commitment to Fair Trade grew. Those of us who met the farmers and saw their struggles and joys could spread the word back home with new found passion.
Please describe one of the coffee farms that you visited and the people who worked at the farm.

One of the farms we visited was the home of Candido and Maria and their seven daughters. They lived up in the mountains at about 11,000 feet elevation, and nearly a half mile hike in off the road. They seemed so honored to have us as visitors! While Candido carefully cleared a space large enough for us to set up our tents, Maria and her girls began preparing gallo pinto and chorizo, a traditional Nicaraguan meal of red beans and rice with a little ground meat and chayote, a squash-like vegetable they grew. The meal was simple, but delicious, and we had a wonderful visit, learning about each others lives. 

Candido gave us a tour of the land where he grew an amazing variety of crops, in addition to coffee, straight up the mountainside … all organically. With the help of his wife and children and much hard work, he had restored this land from the cow pasture which he purchased 20 years before. This man definitely had a green thumb and the landscape was beautiful! Their home consisted of two rooms joined by a breezeway. The entire family shared one room for sleeping. The other room served as their kitchen, having an open brick fire pit and a dirt floor. The buildings were sided in wood and only the kitchen had a window cut in.

Meals were eaten at a make-shift picnic table and plastic chairs in this breezeway, basically outdoors with a roof overhead. One water pump outside and a one-seat tin outhouse with evenly torn sheets of newspaper neatly hung on a hook made from a wire clothes hanger, served as the extent of the plumbing. Water needed to be carried down a steep slope to the plants and to accomplish the rinsing needed in the process of fermenting the coffee. And of course, the harvest must be hand carried up the hill and then along the half mile narrow hilly path out to the road.

The family worked the farm without outside hired help. The oldest girls were now married, and the middle ones (high school age) were home to help out when not in school. The younger children lived with the older sister during the week because they could not afford the school fees of the neighborhood school. Their dad was so proud that he was able to send his daughters to school and that they did not have to stay home to work the farm except during the coffee harvest, which occurred at their Christmas vacation time. He spoke of their dream that each daughter would be able to have an education, good work, and a little home and land nearby. One daughter wanted to be an agronomist, and another a teacher.

There the sun rises and sets almost at the same time year round, with about 12 hours of daylight from 6a.m. to 6 p.m. With no electricity, the family went to bed soon after dark and rose early, about 4 or 5 a.m. They laughed when we complained that the rooster woke at 3 a.m. at the previous farm — Maria explained her rooster usually started crowing at midnight!

What was the message that coffee farmers had for your delegation? What did they want you to share with people back home?
The farmers were very proud of the progress that they had made in improving the technology of their farms. Becoming certified in sustainable organic methods, diversifying crops, improving the fermenting, washing, processing and marketing of their harvest through the initial assistance of CRS has been a great source of joy. Training their young people to excel in quality control, and empowering men and women with loans, health and educational programs gives them hope for the future. They are extremely grateful.

One of the co-op members we visited was a woman, also named Irene, who came with her two younger children. She explained that things are improving for their lives since the coffee crisis of 2000, but that it left an older child, now 13, crippled by malnutrition. She is sad that this daughter is still no bigger than her 8-year-old son, (shown in the photo with me). The farmers hope that the market for “Fair Trade” will grow because they receive a much better price for their crop. At the time of our visit to the coffee processing mill, jointly owned by the cooperatives, only about 33percent of the harvest was being sold to Fair Trade markets. Prices on the open market were often half as much. As the demand for Fair Trade coffee grows, so does the opportunity to improve the standard of living for their community.

There are some economists and others who question the effectiveness of Fair Trade. Some will suggest that it isn’t really “fair” trade at all. What is your response to the naysayers?
It is always important to question and to dig for the truth. Michael Sheridan, the Fair Trade Program Director for CRS, explained how he carefully investigated the Coffee Roasters that were invited to be part of CRS project. They had to be 100 percent committed to Fair Trade and willing to work together for the benefit of the farmers. They make an additional contribution of $1 to CRS for each pound of coffee sold to CRS customers. This is used to support and expand CRS’ Fair Trade programs.

There are definitely some who can find ways to exploit even the best intentions. One of the goals of the fair trade certification was to stop the exploitation by large corporations and middle men called coyotes, who would find and prey on these isolated small farmers with no connections or means to get their coffee to the market. But as the quality and demand for the fair trade market grows, the big companies find ways to tap in. One way is selling a small percentage of their coffee as Fair Trade.

The effectiveness of Fair Trade was clear to me in the lives of the Nicaraguan farmers. The potential is far reaching … but it is also very important to be vigilant! Thanks to this question from Fr. Tom, I learned about the very recent outcry against the Fair Trade Labeling Organization (FLO) - that they have not raised the Fair Trade Minimum Price established at $1.26/lb in 1994. (CRS Partners, Cooperative Coffees, have already raised their own minimum to $1.56 and pay a premium of over $2.00/lb for some specialty coffees). FLO has promised to review their decision by October 2007, before next year’s harvest season. Large roasting companies and importers have put pressure on them to keep prices stagnant. But the cost of living/producing the coffee continues to rise with inflation. Now is a good time to speak up on behalf of social justice in order to prevent all the good that has been done from evaporating!

If you feel strongly about minimum price raises for coffee growers, please write a quick note to FLO and let them know what you think. You can send a letter by Email to  info@fairtrade.org or see the open letter and address attached.
More great information can be found at www.crsfairtrade.org.

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