INTERFAITH FAIR TRADE INITIATIVE

Improving the lives of coffee farmers by increasing the involvement of people of faith in fair trade

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As concern over the negative impacts of globalization on poor countries has mounted, interest in, and advocacy for, additional economic options has increased. Most countries in the global south remain agrarian societies, where changing markets and the reduction in subsidies demanded by globalization have caused increased economic stress. Fair trade, in response to such economic inequities, has grown worldwide. Proponents argue that fair trade, unlike “free trade,” promises better returns and access to lucrative markets for small producers. Indeed, evidence presented to date has shown that fair trade does benefit the small producers it reaches. However, the demand for fair trade products in the U.S. is currently too low to benefit most small farmers.

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	Drying coffee beans.

INTERFAITH FAIR TRADE
INITIATIVE MODEL

The Interfaith Fair Trade Initiative (IFTI) expands on the model of the “Lutheran World Relief Coffee Project,” that introduced Lutheran congregations to fair trade. IFTI works with fair trade coffee companies and a coalition of faith-based international organizations and religious denominations to significantly expand the purchase of fair trade coffee in the U.S., increase advocacy on behalf of fair trade, and improve the lives of small coffee farmers. This broad-based and diverse initiative brings to the fair trade movement the ability to:

• Communicate with more than 30 million members of religious denominations through existing and trusted networks and messengers;
  
  
• Provide direct support in the form of training, technical assistance, or grant funds to small farmers in coffee-producing countries; and
  
  
• Deepen the commitment of participating congregations and individuals in the U.S. by linking them with coffee-producing communities through educational materials, study visits, and collaborative action and advocacy.

Is Your Faith Group Active in Fair Trade?
Try these resources:

• American Friends Service Committee
• American Jewish World Service
• Catholic Relief Services
• Church of the Brethren
• Episcopal Relief and Development
• Lutheran World Relief
• Jewish Fund for Justice
• Mennonite Central Committee
• Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
• Religious Action Center, Reform Judaism
• Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
• United Church of Christ
• United Methodist Committee on Relief
• World Vision

How to Buy Fair Trade Coffee >>

 

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Please contact Rebecca Phares (rphares@lwr.org) at LWR if you have any additional questions.