Fair Trade News

Published Oct 3, 2005

Celebrate National Fair Trade Month Milwaukee style
By Julie Lawrence

If you're a coffee consumer, chances are you've seen that little black and white Fair Trade sticker on your bag of beans, or at least heard the term floating around the cafe. And sure, the name alone implies good practice, but do you really know what it means to be involved in Fair Trade?

October is National Fair Trade Month, and a few local businesses are helping the Fair Trade Movement make a Milwaukee connection. Companies such as Alterra Coffee Roasters, Rishi Tea and Outpost Natural Foods are on the forefront of the movement, and others, including The Omanhene Cocoa Bean Company, are working towards certification.

In celebration and promotion of Fair Trade Month, the Milwaukee Art Museum hosts an event on Monday, Oct. 10 that includes presentations and panel discussions by local companies involved with and/or supporting the Fair Trade Movement, as well as a talk by Deborah Hirsh, Business Accounts Manager at TransFair USA. Headquartered in Oakland, Calif., TransFair USA is the only independent, third-party certifying agency in the U.S. for Fair Trade.

Initiated in 2004, National Fair Trade Month is one of many concentrated efforts to promote awareness of the efforts to help family farmers in developing countries gain direct access to international markets. Last year, Milwaukee was one of six U.S. cities to host a TransFair campaign.

"We have a good relationship with TransFair," says Al Liu, Alterra's director of culture and communications and emcee of the event. "We're excited to have them back to Milwaukee."

Kicking off the evening is the public debut of a documentary shot and produced by University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee graduate student filmmaker Jason Morgan. The film highlights the relationship between Alterra Coffee Roasters and Kulaktik, a Fair Trade-certified cooperative comprising indigenous Mayan farmers in southern Mexico.

"Ward (Fowler, co-owner of Alterra) and I had the idea to make an educational video about Fair Trade on a trip to Mexico," says Liu. "When we got back we linked up with UWM's Film department and found Jason. He then traveled to Kulaktik with us in January 2004 to get footage."

Conveniently, the screening coincides with the upcoming Milwaukee International Film Festival (MIFF), Oct. 20-30, positioning the Fair Trade event as the official "prequel" to MIFF. The evening starts at 6:15 p.m. in the museum's Lubar Auditorium, located at the north end of the Quadracci Pavilion. The admission fee is $3 for MAM members and $5 for non-members.

Afterwards, everyone is invited to sample a variety of Fair Trade products from Alterra, The Outpost and Rishi Tea.