Many resources exist to aid your education and promotion efforts regarding fair trade and the Presbyterian Coffee Project. The following resources and links are provided as suggestions as you and your congregation learn and grow in faith and fair trade. Please let us know if you come across other helpful materials.

• Presbyterian Coffee Project Materials
• PC(USA) Policy
• Educational Materials
• Videos
• Product Info
• PC(USA) Programs
• Displays
• Books
• Organizations
• News Articles

Presbyterian Coffee Project Materials

• Presbyterian Coffee Project Brochure (black and white)
• Presbyterian Coffee Project Brochure (color)
• Poster
• Table Tents (2 per page)
• Presbyterian Coffee Project Order Form
• Tanzanian Jubilee
• Hot Cocoa flyer
• Fundraising with Fair Trade
• More Clip Art
• Bulletin Insert (Front)
• Bulletin Insert (Back)
• Fair Trade for the Holidays
• Equal Exchange: Our Model of Fair Trade
• Equal Exchange: The Rising Coffee Market
• Bring Fair Trade to Campus
• Recipes

PC(USA) Policy

Resolution on Fair Trade Coffee and Organic Sugar (2001 General Assembly)

Hope for a Global Future: Towards Just and Sustainable Human Development (1996 General Assembly) — Addresses global poverty and environmental degradation, overpopulation and overconsumption, theological and ethical foundations, and policy recommendations. Study guide included. $2.50.

We Are What We Eat (2002 General Assembly) — Addresses concerns resulting from the economic crisis that has depressed many rural communities-especially food production and consumption and ways the church can help strengthen family farmers, ranchers, rural communities and rural congregations. Anyone who consumes food will benefit from the report. Study guide available.

Restoring Creation for Ecology and Justice (1990 General Assembly) — Provides a profile of the environmental crisis, with biblical affirmations and ethical norms for response. Recommends a new churchwide initiative in environmental stewardship, and includes a study guide to help groups move into community-based reflection and action. $1.50.

Educational Materials

Just Eating: Practicing Our Faith at the Table

Seven-session curriculum for congregations that explores the relationship between the way we eat and the way we live, published by the Presbyterian Hunger Program. Uses scripture, prayer and stories from the local and global community to explore five key aspects of our relationship with food.

Mugged: Poverty in Your Coffee Cup

This report by Oxfam documents the current crisis destroying the livelihoods of 25 million coffee producers around the world. The price of coffee has fallen by almost 50 per cent in the past three years to a 30-year low. Farmers sell at a heavy loss while branded coffee sells at a hefty profit. The coffee crisis has become a development disaster whose impact will be felt for a long time.

Guide to Fair Trade

Consumer education guide by Co-op America about Fair Trade and how you can help promote Fair Trade in your community.

"Making Trade Fair" (Summer 2003 issue of Co-op America Quarterly)

PC(USA) Worship Guide on Trade and Globalization

Everything you need to raise critical issues and encourage Christian discipleship in a globalized world, including a complete order of worship, Bible readings, theological reflection, sermon ideas, children's activities, prayers and songs, stories of people affected by economic globalization and more. Colorful 16-page Worship Guide available in black and white (1.25 MB) or color (4.7 MB). Download the guide's promotional flyer.

Educational Resource List on Economic Globalization

Compiled by the Presbyterian Hunger Program.

Videos

Grounds for Hope (Lutheran Coffee Project Video).
25 minutes, VHS format.

Join Mr. Bean as he travels to Latin America to learn how coffee is produced and meets the farmers who grow and harvest coffee for the Lutheran Coffee Project (similar to the Presbyterian Coffee Project). Produced by Equal Exchange and Lutheran World Relief for Lutheran audiences but appropriate for Presbyterian settings. Includes group discussion guide. Available for loan by calling (888) 728-7228 x5626 or emailing. Available for purchase ($15) by calling Lutheran World Relief at (800) LWR-LWR-2.

Agent of Change (Equal Exchange Interfaith Program Video).
11 minutes, VHS Format.

This short video is a great conversation starter and introduction to Fair Trade. From the mountains of Nicaragua to a congregation in the United States, this video traces your cup of coffee and the impact of our consumer choices. Available for loan by calling (888) 728-7228 x5626 or emailing. Available for purchase ($5) by ordering online.

Product Info

• Coffees
• About Coffee
• Teas
• Hot Cocoa Mix and Baking Cocoa
• Chocolate Bars
• Sugar Packets
• Brewing Supplies
• Hats, Mugs, T-shirts and More

PC(USA) Programs

• Enough for Everyone
• Sweat-Free Ts
• Electric Stewardship
• Investing in Hope
• Presbyterian Hunger Program
• Joining Hands Against Hunger
• Food & Faith
• Just Trade
• Presbyterian Peacemaking Program
• Environmental Justice
• Women's Ministries
• Social Justice
• Self-Development of People
• Presbyterian Women

Displays

If you would like to borrow the Presbyterian Coffee Project display case from Enough for Everyone, please send us an email.

Books

God's Economy: Biblical Studies from Latin America. Ross Kinsler and Gloria Kinsler. Orbis Press, 2005.

Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet. Frances Moore Lappe and Anna Lappe. Tarcher/Penguin Press, 2002.

Globalization: At What Price? Economic Change and Daily Life. Pamela Brubaker. Pilgrim Press, 2001.

A Cafecito Story. Julia Alvarez. Chelsea Green, 2001.

The Biblical Jubilee and the Struggle for Life. Ross Kinsler and Gloria Kinsler. Orbis Press, 1999.

The Coffee Book: Anatomy of an Industry from Crop to the Last Drop. Gregory Dicum and Nina Luttinger. New Press, 1999.

Organizations

A variety of organizations provide information about fair trade and global economic and environmental issues. Among them are the following sites and their links that are not controlled by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.):

Equal Exchange

Our partner in the Presbyterian Coffee Project, an employee-owned certified fair trade company which purchases 100% of its products according to fair trade standards. Equal Exchange was founded in 1986 to create a new approach to trade, one that includes informed consumers, honest and fair trade relationships and cooperative principles. Its Interfaith Program links faith and fair trade, providing educational resources for congregations. Visit their site to learn more about farmers, fair trade, cooperatives, and, of course, coffee, tea and cocoa!

Fair Trade Certification

Trans Fair USA, a nonprofit organization, is the only independent, third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the United States. Through regular visits to Fair Trade farmer cooperatives conducted by FLO, and partnerships with U.S. companies, TransFair verifies that the farmers who produced Fair Trade Certified* products were paid a fair price. Visit their site to learn more about fair trade and new products such as fresh fruits (bananas, mangoes, pineapples and grapes).

Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International (FLO) is the worldwide fair trade standard setting and certification organization. It permits more than 800,000 producers, workers and their dependants in more than 45 countries to benefit from labelled fair trade.

Faith-Based Groups

Presbyterians for Restoring Creation (PRC) was founded in 1995 as a national, grassroots organization to support people of faith working towards "environmental wholeness with social justice." PRC helps the church to fulfill its current environmental policies, to create new policies and practices, and to energize and educate church members about eco-justice, the well-being of all human kind on a thriving earth.

Interfaith Fair Trade Initiative 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 US, increase advocacy on behalf of fair trade, and improve the lives of small coffee farmers.

Sabbath Economics Collaborative (Educating and Animating for Jubilee Justice) is a national, membership-based network that facilitates cooperation and communication among theologians, economists and activists who are exploring contemporary issues of faith and economic justice.

Simple Living/Responsible Consumer Groups

Center for a New American Dream is a membership-based nonprofit organization to help Americans consume responsibly to protect the environment, enhance quality of life, and promote social justice.

Alternatives for Simple Living is a non-profit membership organization that equips people of faith to challenge consumerism, live justly and celebrate responsibly. Started in 1973 as a protest against the commercialization of Christmas, they encourage celebrations that reflect conscientious ways of living. Publishes "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?"

Organic Consumers Association (OCA) promotes food safety, organic farming and sustainable agriculture practices in the U.S. and internationally. OCA provides consumers with factual information they can use to make informed food choices.

Networks

Fair Trade Federation is an association of fair trade wholesalers, retailers, and producers whose members are committed to providing fair wages and good employment opportunities to economically disadvantaged artisans and farmers worldwide. Search their website to find stores, products, wholesalers and producers.

Fair Trade Resource Network's goal is to raise consumer awareness about improving people's lives through Fair Trade alternatives by gathering and compiling research and data about Fair Trade, providing information about Fair Trade to the public, the media and Fair Trade advocates, and galvanizing Fair Trade organizations and individuals seeking to get involved.

United Students for Fair Trade is a national network of student organizations advocating around Fair Trade products, policies, and principles. The core objective of USFT is to raise the awareness of and expand the demand for Fair Trade alternatives, both on campuses and in communities.

Fair Trade Alliance (coordinated by Co-Op America) is a national network of workplaces, schools, faith congregations, and community groups of all sizes and shapes that have committed to promoting Fair Trade, sharing ideas with others, and growing a global economy based on justice and sustainability. Sign up to be part of this growing grassroots network for Fair Trade. Monthly newsletter provides fair trade updates and highlights creative initiatives across America.

International Federation for Alternative Trade (IFAT) is the International Fair Trade Association, the global network of Fair Trade Organizations (FTOs). Over 220 FTOs in 59 countries form the basis of the IFAT network and membership is growing steadily.

Campaigns and Programs

Co-Op America's Fair Trade Program helps individuals switch their purchases to support Fair Trade, empowers people and their communities to become Fair Trade advocates, and works to encourage businesses large and small to incorporate Fair Trade products and principles into their core businesses. Co-op America's National Green Pages lists companies that have made an extraordinary commitment to Fair Trade. From coffee to crafts, you'll find businesses offering Fair Trade items across the country.

Fair Trade Program of Global Exchange, an international human rights organization dedicated to promoting environmental, political and social justice.

World Fair Trade Day is an annual opportunity (second Saturday of May) to promote Fair Trade as a way to improve lives, participate in the worldwide Fair Trade movement, and make positive connections to other countries.

Make Trade Fair Campaign by Oxfam calls on decision makers to make trade part of the solution to poverty. Oxfam America is a Boston-based international development and relief agency and an affiliate of Oxfam International. Working with local partners, Oxfam delivers development programs and emergency relief services, and campaigns for change in global practices and policies that keep people in poverty.

Alternative Trade Organizations

A Greater Gift (formerly SERRV International) is a nonprofit alternative trade and development organization. SERRV's mission is to promote the social and economic progress of people in developing regions of the world by marketing their products in a just and direct manner. Historic partner of Presbyterian congregations hosting Alternative Christmas Sales through their wholesale and consignment programs. Co-hosts the Enough for Everyone Global Marketplace at PC(USA) General Assemblies, Presbyterian Women's Churchwide Gatherings and the Youth Triennium.

Ten Thousand Villages provides vital, fair income to Third World people by marketing their handicrafts and telling their stories in North America. Search their website to find locations of their 180 stores where you can purchase fair trade home décor and gifts.

Rural Coalition/Coalición Rural is an alliance of regionally and culturally diverse organizations working to build a more just and sustainable food system.

Advocacy Groups

Jubilee USA Network began as Jubilee 2000, working for international debt cancellation. Now over 60 organizations including labor, churches, religious communities and institutions, AIDS activists, trade campaigners and over 9,000 individuals are active members in this strong, diverse and growing network working for a world free of debt for billions of people. Check out their Jubilee Congregations program.

Washington Office on Africa is a church-sponsored not-for-profit advocacy organization seeking to articulate and promote a just American policy toward Africa. Check out their Educational Packet on Trade.

News Articles

"Faith organizations throw weight behind 'fair trade' coffee movement." USA Today, December 2, 2003

"Humanity Brews at Churches: Coffee sales give growers fair wages." Raleigh News and Observer, July 28, 2003.

"No-Jive Java." Hope Magazine, July/August 2003.

"Coffee Company Fights Bitter Taste of Injustice." Connecticut Post, July 11, 2003.

"A Blend of Fellowship and Activism: Churches Use Fair Trade Coffee." Boston Globe-West, July 6, 2003

"Congregations use 'fair-trade' beans at their gatherings to support struggling growers." Des Moines Register, July 3, 2003

"Building Mission into Structure at Equal Exchange." Business Ethics Magazine, Vol 17 #2, Summer 2003.

"Go global in fair-trade Marketplace: Assembly bazaar is the place to shop till you drop." Presbyterian News Service, May 24, 2003

"Fairly Trade Coffee In Nicaragua." Co-op News, May 2003.

"Wake up and smell the coffee growers' plight." Religion News Service, November 25, 2002.

"Equal Exchange in your cup: Nicaraguan coffee farmers thank PC(USA) for fair trade deal." Presbyterian News Service, October 25, 2002

"Global Marketplace features handcrafted items from around the world." Presbyterian News Service, June 19, 2002

"Shade-Grown Coffee: Helping an Industry Turn Over a New Leaf." Fresh Cup Magazine, May 2002.

"The Plight of Coffee's Children." Tea and Coffee Trade Journal, Jan/Feb 2002, Vol 176, No 1.

"Presbyterian Center brews up a cup of justice: Presbyterian Coffee Project brings 'fair-traded' java to national staff." Presbyterian News Service, April 27, 2001

Equal Exchange archives more articles.