The CRS Fair Trader
Volume I, Issue 2 -Spring 2005
CRS Chocolate Program: Coming Soon!
The CRS Fair Trade Program is proud to announce it will launch the CRS Fair Trade Chocolate Program in September 2005! The program will be designed to support school and parish fundraisers, and will feature the same delicious Divine chocolate bars already sold through the Work of Human Hands catalog.
Divine chocolate is world-class in more ways than one. It is one of the world's best-tasting brands of chocolate and it is the world's first farmer-owned Fair Trade chocolate company! Divine's cocoa comes exclusively from the Kuapa Kokoo cooperative in Ghana, whose farmers handpick the cocoa and own a share of the company!
Great chocolate for you, economic justice for cocoa farmers overseas. That's Divine-brand Fair Trade chocolate. Get yours through CRS beginning in September!
Meanwhile, click here to take a virtual tour of the cocoa production process, and meet the farmers who handpick the cocoa beans that go into Divine chocolate!
Fair Trade Handcrafts: They're Not Just for Christmas Anymore!
Many parishes and individuals participate in the Work of Human Hands Program during the Christmas season, hosting alternative gift sales in their parishes or buying Fair Trade handcrafts through the catalog as holiday gifts. But the Work of Human Hands program is year-round, and now features a spring catalog with beautiful new items for you and those on your shopping lists. We encourage you to consider hosting a consignment sale in your parish this spring, and to give gifts from the Work of Human Hands catalog year-round.
Click here to order a complimentary copy of the spring/summer Work of Human Hands catalog.
Click here to browse the new, expanded Work of Human Hands inventory online.
CRS expands Fair Trade Coffee Program!
Find a participating company near you! The CRS Fair Trade Coffee Program now works with 14 Fair Trade coffee companies all across the United States, creating new and exciting opportunities for you to make local connections to the growing U.S. Fair Trade movement. Each one of these remarkable companies brings something unique to the Fair Trade market, but they are all united by their shared and deep commitment to the farmers who grow the coffee they sell -- the same commitment CRS upholds in its work with coffee farmers overseas in places like Nicaragua. And they also share a commitment to CRS -- for every bag of coffee you buy through the CRS Fair Trade Coffee Program, these companies will donate a percentage of your purchase to the CRS Fair Trade Fund to support our work with low-income artisans and farmers overseas. Visit us online today at www.crsfairtrade.org for more information about how you can get involved.
Click here if you are buying Fair Trade coffee from Equal Exchange.
Coming Soon: Fair Trade coffee from CRS-supported farmers in Nicaragua!
The CRS Fair Trade Program is pleased to announce that Fair Trade, organic coffee grown by farmers that CRS supports in Nicaragua will be available for purchase in the United States in June for the first time ever! The coffee will also be featured in the Work of Human Hands catalog this fall -- be sure to make it part of your Work of Human Hands sale this year!
Click here to learn how you can buy great-tasting coffee handpicked by CRS-supported farmers in Nicaragua.
CRS Co-Sponsors World Fair Trade Day on May 14
The CRS Fair Trade Program is proud to be one of 10 organizations officially supporting World Fair Trade Day observances in the United States on May 14, 2005. World Fair Trade Day brings unites religious congregations, student groups, community organizations and activists around the world for a day of Fair Trade action and education. Here in the United States, the Fair Trade Resource Network is coordinating U.S. activities around World Fair Trade Day -- providing promotional materials and resources to help support activities in your parishes and communities.
Get more information about World Fair Trade Day and how you might get involved.
What's New for You
Sweet Justice CRS is launching a Fair Trade Chocolate Program in September. Click here to meet the farmers who grow the cocoa in your Divine Fair Trade chocolate.
Tune In To Fair Trade
Larry's Beans, a Fair Trade coffee company that participates in the CRS Fair Trade Coffee Program, has just released a CD featuring songs performed by Fair Trade farmers in Nicaragua. Click here to learn more about the project and to get a copy of the CD.
Save the Date!
CRS and six of its Fair Trade allies are sponsoring a national Fair Trade conference in Chicago from September 30 - October 2. Click here for more information.
Aid through Trade
Looking for new ways to support communities that are working to rebuild after December's tsunami? Click here to purchase Fair Trade handcrafts from tsunami-affected artisan groups in India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.