on fair trade

i just started reading a book i purchased at urbana. it's called everyday justice by julie clawson. i bought it because urbana inspired and challenged me to change the way i live in order to further justice in this world. the book goes through many different lifestyle choices like what we eat, what we wear, and what we throw away and how our choices have a global effect on the well-being of others. reading the first couple of chapters has inspired me to write about what i've read, so i've decided to blog about each chapter.

today's chapter: coffee, fair trade and the daily latte

i have been aware of fair trade coffee for a while. it came to my attention when usd announced that they were gonna sell fair trade coffee at all the dining places on campus. of course it sounded like a great idea, but i don't drink coffee so i wasn't really concerned about changing my buying habits. what i didn't know is that fair trade also applies to things like herbs and tea, sugar, vanilla, spices, rice, and fruits or nuts. it makes sense because all of these things are farm grown in countries all across the world. but i'd never seen advertising for fair trade vanilla or fair trade cinnamon...that, or i just wasn't paying attention. the hard thing is that most of the time these items are labeled "fair trade" so it's hard to tell what you are buying. next time i shop at trader joe's, henry's, or even ralph's, i'm gonna check to see if any of these items are labeled "fair trade". it's amazing how ignorant most people are about these kinds of things. i know i am. i hear about them off and on, but i decide to ignore the issue and do nothing about it. i go on consuming and in the process i support injustice. but i'm slowly realizing that jesus' command to "love your neighbor as youself" is so much greater than the clothes i wear or the food i eat. if i'm supporting systems that treat other people as less important, then i am not loving my neighbor. if i worship jesus but buy sugar from companies that did not give the farmers fair wages, i am not loving my neighbor.

i want to encourage everyone to think about the everyday consumer choices they make and how that might effect others. make good choices. ;)