Home
UUSC

Home

fair trade

Halloween and Human Rights

Submitted by Kara Smith on Tue, 10/25/2011 - 9:16am.

Halloween is a scarily successful time for selling chocolate in the United States. With 42.5 percent of the market, Hershey — the maker of Hershey's Bars, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and Hershey's Kisses — is a leader on sales but not on human rights. In the last 10 years, they have lagged behind their competitors in ensuring that that child labor is not used and that the rights of workers and farmers are respected in the production process. Tell Hershey today that child labor is unacceptable.

UUSC supporters across the country have practiced compassionate consumption by promoting fair trade and ethical eating. And almost 1,200 supporters have signed UUSC's Choose Compassionate Consumption pledge, furthering their commitment to make value-driven purchasing decisions.

Today, we ask you to join with over 50,000 consumers nationwide who have signed petitions asking Hershey to "raise the bar" and go fair trade. Through this campaign led by UUSC's collaborative partners Green America and Global Exchange, send a message to Hershey that it is time for the company to live up to its commitment to end forced and child labor!

»

The Buzz about UUSC's Coffee Project at General Assembly

Submitted by Lauralyn Smith on Tue, 07/05/2011 - 2:23pm.

UUSC Coffee Project volunteers tour the Equal Exchange coffee-roasting facilities.

At a recent meeting with donors during General Assembly, Esther West, the UU Interfaith Program representative from Equal Exchange, gave a presentation along with Ariel Jacobson, senior associate for UUSC's Economic Justice Program, about the UUSC Coffee Project. They noted that UUs, through their purchases of coffee, chocolate, and other fair-trade products, are the highest contributors to fair trade of any member of the Equal Exchange Interfaith Program. 

Following program updates, West and Jacobson presented awards to two stars of the Coffee Project: the First UU Congregation of Ann Arbor, Mich. (award received by Joan Burleigh) and the First Unitarian Society of Westchester, N.Y. (award received by John Cavallero). The Ann Arbor congregation has purchased more than $57,000 in fairly traded products since 2000, the highest sales of any congregation. The Westchester congregation has purchased over $37,000 in fairly traded products since 2002 — and it's only a small congregation!

This great event moved me to recall a recent tour of the Equal Exchange facility, where a group of UUSC Coffee Project volunteers learned about why buying Equal Exchange differs from buying other products billed as fair trade. We enjoyed a facility tour, coffee and chocolate tastings, and presentations by several of the worker-owners. I learned some key points regarding fair trade and why it is so important to choose Equal Exchange over other products.

Agencies that certify fair trade use widely varying criteria. The variations can be boiled down to two issues: whether an organization is 100 percent fair trade (versus only partial or single products qualifying for the label) and the issue of values and volume. Some purveyors are more controlled by the market and have varying levels of authentic fair-trade practices. They may help with short-term poverty alleviation for farmers but ultimately drive competition and consumer price increases (that do not always benefit farmers), and they continue a tradition of isolation through competition. 

Equal Exchange uses the model that most closely aligns with its organizational values. They focus on farmer-controlled sustainable practices, preserve self-determination by worker cooperative members, and facilitate solidarity through collaboration for real long-term benefits for farmers. In addition, $0.20 is donated to the UUSC Small Farmer Fund for every pound of coffee sold, giving greater value and impact to consumer choice for the greater good. 

Equal Exchange is organized with a business model that further helps it "walk its talk." As a worker-owned cooperative, each worker has the opportunity to buy shares and cast one vote. This is the same format used when collaborating with farmer partners. Workers all have a personal and financial stake in the success of the partnership. For example, when Equal Exchange moved to its facility in West Bridgewater, the enlarged space allowed it to launch its own in-house coffee roasting. They are now doing 75 percent of their coffee roasting in house, about 5 million pounds of coffee per year! This was the result of worker-owner meetings and a vote to engage in this new aspect of its business. Bringing the process in house gives them greater control of coffee quality and consistency. 

Equal Exchange is an excellent choice for aligning our daily choices with our values. They are focused on consumer action and ethical sourcing, worker justice, and environmental stewardship. Go online to learn more about Equal Exchange and their mission and vision — and continue to stay informed about the UUSC Coffee Project and the Small Farmer Fund.

»

This Easter and Passover, Raise the Bar, Hershey!

Submitted by Ariel Jacobson on Wed, 03/16/2011 - 11:19am.

UPDATE!

ILRF, Global Exchange, and Green America are sponsoring a creative Hershey Brand Jamming Contest. They are even offering a $1,000 grand prize for one overall contest winner! The deadline is April 10.

Every submission gets a 10 percent discount at Global Exchange's store, and there are other great prizes, too!

Check out all the details.

Spring is upon us and with Easter and Passover around the corner, Hershey's chocolates are everywhere you turn. More than nine years ago, chocolate companies committed to ending child labor, forced labor, and trafficking in their cocoa supply chains. These  labor-rights abuses continue — and Hershey is still lagging behind.

Many chocolate companies have taken steps to trace their cocoa purchasing, implement labor-rights standards among their suppliers, and introduce some fair-trade-certified product lines. But Hershey — which surely can afford to move forward in this area — has no policies in place to trace its cocoa and protect workers. The company is still declining to take steps to curb human-rights abuses in its supply chain.

Easter and Passover mark a time for new beginnings, the renewal of right relationships, and commemorating marginalized people's struggles for freedom. These holidays call on people of faith to gather our courage and speak truth to power. Just as the Easter story of resurrection is a call to spiritual renewal, we must renew our commitment to the liberation of those whose labor is exploited in the production of cocoa. Just as the Passover Seder reflects on the story of the Jews as slaves in Egypt, we must reflect on today's slaves in West Africa, where child and forced labor are prevalent in the cocoa fields.

Easter and Passover call us to live in accordance with our values of justice and integrity and to shed light on situations where there are violations of human rights. In accordance with this spirit, and with our work on fair trade and ethical eating, UUSC is continuing to support the "Raise the Bar, Hershey!" campaign, spearheaded by our allies Global Exchange, the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF), Green America, and Oasis USA. You can support the campaign with these simple steps:

»

Raise the Bar, Hershey! Take Some Sweet Valentine's Day Action

Submitted by Ariel Jacobson on Thu, 02/10/2011 - 9:26am.

It's almost Valentine's Day, and Hershey's chocolates are everywhere you turn. Over nine years since chocolate companies committed to ending child labor, forced labor, and trafficking in their cocoa supply chains, these egregious labor-rights abuses continue — and Hershey is lagging behind.

While many chocolate companies have taken steps to trace their cocoa purchasing, implement labor-rights standards among their suppliers, and introduce some fair-trade-certified product lines, Hershey doesn't have much to show for itself. The company — which surely can afford to — has no policies in place to trace its cocoa and protect workers and is still declining to take steps to curb such abuses in its supply chain.

In honor of Valentine's Day and in accordance with our work on fair trade and ethical eating, UUSC is supporting the "Raise the Bar, Hershey!" campaign, spearheaded by our allies Global Exchange, the International Labor Rights Forum, Green America, and Oasis USA. You can support the campaign with these simple steps:

»

A Gift like No Other this Holiday Season

Submitted by Lauralyn Smith on Thu, 11/18/2010 - 11:30am.

I had the pleasure of volunteering with many others during a recent interfaith alternative gift fair in Falmouth, Mass. Originally started by two members of the UU Fellowship of Falmouth, the event now has a steering committee with members from five denominations in the area. This particular event hosted 21 different projects, exhibited at tables that fair attendees visited to learn about the work of the organization and to choose to "buy" an alternative gift. They received a certificate announcing the gift and a card to use to send the certificate.

UUSC featured our Pakistan Flood Relief project, offering gift levels of $6 to provide free medical care for a woman or child; $20 to enable 20 women to receive free trauma counseling and help making her concerns heard by the humanitarian community; or $47 to help reunite a child with his or her family.

The positive and genuinely thoughtful energy in the room was inspiring. People at the tables talked with one another, learning about what other human-rights efforts were represented. The organizers gathered a diverse group of local and global projects by various organizations. Seated next to me was a project to assist displaced persons in Zimbabwe, sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee. Around the room were organizations that supported local work to prevent hunger, education efforts in Vietnam, and health-care accessibility in western Africa — and UUSC's fair-trade partner Equal Exchange was there, too, advocating for the Coffee Project.

Read more about the event in a recent Cape Cod Times article. I highly encourage other UUs to consider adding alternative gifts to their annual holiday fairs or to gather with other faith organizations to host a stand-alone event like this one! In its fourth year, it has increased in size and volume of donations every year. If you are part of a group that is already doing this, please share your stories with us! The need is everywhere — and apparently, the desire and will to advance human rights is, too! As always, UUSC provides materials and support to help in these efforts. 

»
Syndicate content