We’re Hosting Fair Trade Nights to Educate Village Merchants and Public

To the editor:

We are hosting a “fair trade” night at Cosmos this Thursday at 6:30 p.m. It is aimed at the merchants, but the public is welcome to join in. Our first fair trade night is aimed at education. That is—we want to educate the community as to why fair trade is so important.

There will be a fair trade chocolate tasting, a short film about fair trade, and a short presentation by Phyllis Dorfman of Rainbow Travel, who is sponsoring a fair trade trip to Costa Rica to learn more about fair trade at the grass roots level.
 
I have committed to hosting three more fair trade nights. They will be on the third Thursday of the month, and each will have its own theme.

Fair trade is a system of purchasing goods (apparel, beauty aids, food, etc.) which in essence makes the product a sustainable product. We (retailers) pay a higher (premium) price for the goods, but in turn receive a product that is of higher quality, better taste, better made, etc.

The money is paid directly to the farmer, who in turn now has more money to feed his animals, fertilize his fields (better), educate his community or, for example, let’s say that “Maxwell House” or “Nestle” or whoever goes in and buys coffee or chocolate from a farmer. They offer him 50 cents a pound, and buy several hundred thousand pounds from him; free trade will pay the farmer $2 a pound for that coffee.

We aren’t buying as much of the coffee and we get the premium beans for the premium price. I have even heard of some free trade roasters that have specific fields planted just for them (much like they do in Napa or Sonoma with the Carneros and Oak Hill regions).

While this may seem like a lot upfront, we need to understand that that money is going to offer that farmer a living wage, and also allows him to take better care of his farm, family and community and in turn give us a better product. 

We are trying to make the city of La Mesa the first fair trade city in Southern California. Many of our merchants in The Village are already fair trade retailers, including myself (fair trade coffees and teas), and as I said before, Fair Trade La Mesa just really wants to educate the community about fair trade and why.

Rainbow Travel is going to sponsor a  trip to Costa Rica, where you would see fair trade coffee, pineapples and clothing being made.

Our first fair trade night is aimed at education and the merchants, but the public is welcome—the more the merrier.

Ari Bejar
Owner, Cosmos Coffee Café