Fall 2007, Volume 11 Number 3

Table of Contents

From a young child’s point of view the act of trading already includes the concept of fairness. Kids have an innate sense of what’s fair; and when something’s not fair it doesn’t sit well with them. So, for most young kids, the term “Fair Trade” is redundant. After 21 years of working hard at communicating the meaning of Fair Trade to adults, Equal Exchange is now reaching out to an audience for whom the idea is a no-brainer: young students.

Equal Exchange, the “Fair Trade” coffee, tea, and chocolate company has created a new curriculum and fundraising program that represents an innovative partnership with students, families, and teachers. The Equal Exchange Fair Trade curriculum begins with simple questions, like “How is chocolate made?” and “Where does it come from?” These kinds of inquiries spark kids’ natural curiosity and encourage them to learn the origins of the food they see at the supermarket.   

The Equal Exchange Fair Trade Educational Tool Kit puts the farmer front and center. Kids learn that the simple, everyday action of purchasing a chocolate bar has an impact on a farmer somewhere the world. One bar may contribute to funding child slave labor in the Ivory Coast of Africa, while another may assist the child of a Dominican Fair Trade cacao grower to attend school. The Equal Exchange curriculum attempts to strengthen the bonds between young consumers and farmers in a mutually-beneficial way.

The Equal Exchange Fundraising Program serves as a tool for outside the classroom. It allows parents and students to raise money for their school while building pride, independence, and community empowerment for small farmers in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Students sell certified Fair Trade and organic products and earn 45% in profits. Recent Fair Trade benefits include the establishment of a micro-loan project for women in Guatemala, the construction of new safe water wells in the Dominican Republic, and the renovation of elementary classrooms in El Salvador. 

A pioneer in the Fair Trade movement, Equal Exchange was founded 21 years ago with the mission of building an alternative global food system based on respect, fairness to farmers, consumer participation.  One hundred percent of Equal Exchange products are fairly traded, benefiting more than 40 small farmer co-operatives in over 16 countries around the world.  In keeping with its Fair Trade mission Equal Exchange is a worker co-operative, owned and democratically controlled by its over 70 employees.

Equal Exchange is a full service provider of high quality, organic tea, coffee, cocoa and chocolate to retailers and food service establishments. Major customers include Kroger, Shaw’s, some Whole Foods, Ten Thousand Villages, hundreds of natural food stores, restaurants, and thousands of places of worship nationwide. After years of trading with international small-scale farmers, Equal Exchange is pleased to be trading with U.S. small-scale farmers, offering Fair Trade pecans from Georgia and organic dried cranberries from Massachusetts and Wisconsin.

The Equal Exchange Fundraising and Educational Tool Kit is an extension of this vision.  Equal Exchange is excited to support the growing number of parents and teachers concerned about the conditions under which their food is grown.  The Equal Exchange curriculum will be available online in the fall of 2007.

We invite students, teachers, and parents to share our vision for a better world—a vision that connects us more closely to the food we eat and the farmers who grow it.

Kelsie Evans is Fundraising Program Coordinator at Equal Exchange and may be reached at kevans@equalexchange.coop.

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