Fair Trade Milwaukee

Commercial use of Slaves - 21st Century.
Several years ago, when I was a Parish Councilor, Bill Lange asked us Councilors to join him in protesting poor wages for Mexicans working in sweatshops producing jeans. It was during Advent and there was already too much on my plate, so I didn’t go; but I couldn’t stop thinking about Bill’s concern for the working poor.

With that on my mind, and some subsequent reading in the Milwaukee Journal and the National Geographic about the harvesting of cacao and the mining of diamonds, I created a research unit for my students at Menomonee Falls High School. With help from our school’s librarian, my students began researching the stories behind products marketed in the U.S. The products included GAP jeans, chocolate, diamonds, coffee, bananas and more. I asked my students to do their best to get at the truth of the costs and benefits of producing and consuming these products.

This unit turned into an eye-opening experience for my students and for me. We learned about the widespread exploitation of humans: young women working 14-20 hour days, six to seven days per week, in sweatshops in Haiti; boy slaves harvesting cacao beans on the Ivory Coast; amputations and killings resulting from wars paid for by slaves mining diamonds in Sierra Leone; coffee farmers starving in Tanzania, and the beatings of striking banana workers by soldiers in Honduras. We also learned about the degradation of our environment; such as, the loss of 3 million acres of Latin American rainforests (the cost of sun-grown coffee) and the explosion of toxic chemicals contaminating our ground water as consumers dump old cell phones and computers. In short, we learned that free trade, as it’s being practiced, is not a sustainable practice. We learned that we were actively contributing to suffering and death through our purchase of everyday products.

When you learn the kinds of things we learned, you just have to do something. That’s how I got involved with Fair Trade. I learned about Fair trade through my students first and then through Fair Trade volunteers. Fair Trade is a sustainable practice. It promises workers humane working conditions, fair wages, the right to unionize, and more. Fair Trade also calls for improved care of our earth. When you purchase a bag of Fair Trade coffee, for instance, you can be sure that the workers receive not only sustainable wages but also that the coffee has been produced without exposure to chemical pesticides. Furthermore, the beans are shade grown and that means precious animals and insects are not being destroyed in its production. You can be sure of all this because Fair Trade business practices are available for public review.

I believe I have taken a step toward building peace in our world by purchasing and promoting the purchase of Fair Trade goods when possible. Even though I don’t get the satisfaction of seeing how I’m contributing to life-sustaining measures, I know I am doing the right thing. A lot of Blessed Trinity parishioners are also making this commitment in solidarity with the poor. I am grateful (and proud!) to be part of this parish that truly does follow its Mission Statement of reaching out to all.
LIZ DIXON



Patricia Church