Articles
Cooperatively Grown Avocados: An Interview with PROFOSMI
We all have differing knowledge of the fruit that has quickly become a staple in the North American diet. Through years of successful marketing, consumers have been taught the many health benefits of consuming avocados and that they spread well on toast. Most of us are aware they are native to Mexico, where 88% of the United States’ imported supply comes from. But what does life look like for a small-scale avocado farmer in the Mexican state of Michoacán? And what is the actual difference between a conventional and an Equal Exchange avocado?
Terry Boisclair Reflects on 20 Years as a Worker-Owner
Terry Boisclair started out picking and packing orders at Equal Exchange in 2002. He reflects on 20 years as a Worker-Owner, including visiting farmers in Nicaragua, forming close ties with his co-owners, and how much the business has evolved in its operations over the years.
The Ridgeland Church Creates an All-Embracing Neighborhood Cafe
Ridgeland Church, part of the Church of Nazarene, is a community of around 100 neighbors with roots in the southwest collar suburbs of Chicago dating back to 1926. Today, they remain in the same communities and are opening an all-embracing neighborhood cafe in Oak Lawn, Illinois. Ridgeland Cafe’s manager, Macy Richey shares her thoughts on their new community space.
Interview with Extraordinary Pastor, Father John Grace
Father John Grace has served as a Catholic Priest for 43 years. He has served as the Pastor at the Immaculate Conception Church in Hampton, Virginia for the past four years. Under Father John's guidance, Immaculate Conception has become a "Care for Creation" or environmentally focused church. The congregation serves Equal Exchange coffee and sells our small farmer products every two weeks after services.
We Couldn’t Do It Without You, Citizen-Consumers
As Equal Exchange celebrates its thirty-sixth year of challenging conventional wisdom and structural inequities in the way food commodities are traded, we are once again taking stock in all that we have achieved and the daunting headwinds we are facing. Boy, are we glad we are doing this with all of you!
Checking in with Santiago Paz of Cooperativa Norandino
Santiago Paz, Co-director and Export Manager of Norandino, a cooperative aggregating 90 grassroots organizations in Northwest Peru, is one of the inspiring and visionary leaders who has walked the road with us through the years. Here, he shares what the last few years have meant for Norandino.
Corporate Consolidation and Reconnecting with Your Food
As consumers, we are typically protected from realizing the harsh realities of our complex and unjust food system. Convenience is the goal, but what has been the cost?
Celebrating 20 Years of Small Farmer Grown Chocolate
Equal Exchange is celebrating 20 years of our chocolate program! In honor of this chocolate anniversary, Dary Goodrich, our Chocolate Products Manager, is sharing some highlights, and a few lowlights, from Equal Exchange’s chocolate program as well as the chocolate industry over the past 20 years.
May Day Reflections: Building a Democratic Workplace
As we celebrate our 36th anniversary on May 1, we reflect not only on our own worker-owned cooperative and co-op trade partners but also on the history of May Day. Also known as International Workers’ Day, this is a day to celebrate and strengthen the ongoing struggle for labor justice and dignity for workers around the world.
Investing in Our Planet With Organic Cacao Farming
This year’s global Earth Day theme is “Invest in Our Planet.” We’ve been investing in our future by supporting organic agriculture for over 35 years. But what does organic agriculture actually mean for farmers and the planet?
Equal Exchange’s Radical Model: Building Democratic Trade Networks in Contrast to Conventional Supply Chains
In the early years it was very clear that Equal Exchange was radically different and breaking many of the “rules” of the market. During this time fair trade or alternative trade was barely known so by definition, it was different because there were no alternatives.
Extraordinary Coordinator: Linda Elliott
Linda Elliott of First Presbyterian in Charleston, West Virginia, first read about Equal Exchange 22 years ago at a meeting of Presbyterian Women (USA). She found the concept of fair trade, justice, equality, and fairness for farmers working in small organic co-ops in the global south to be extremely compelling.
Relationships in the Time of COVID
Despite the extra layer of stresses and worries the pandemic is causing, we at Equal Exchange are also feeling a depth of gratitude and affection for the myriad relationships that we have cultivated over these past four decades. Creating, maintaining, and deepening relationships are the pillars that our organization and our business model are built upon.
Palestinian Olive Oil and Dates
Learn more about Palestinian olive oil and dates from the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee.
Our Worker-Owned Cooperative
At Equal Exchange we all walk around like we own the place. That's because we all do! We have organized ourselves as a democratic worker co-operative, now one of the largest in the country. But what does that mean?
Women in Coffee
At Equal Exchange, we advocate for increased gender equality at every stage of the supply chain. We salute our sisters around the world who work as agronomists and cuppers. We cheer those who take on leadership roles in their co-ops. And we appreciate our women co-workers in the U.S.
A Farmer-Led Future for Tea
Did you know that tea is the second most popular drink in the world—second only to water? Here’s another question: do you know that, even today, it is likely that the tea products lining your grocery store’s shelves—even those sold as Fair Trade—were sourced from plantations established under colonialism?
Bring Fair Trade to Your Farmers Market
Because coffee, tea, and cacao aren’t grown in most places in the U.S., many local farmers markets allow folks to sell these items at booths, especially when they’re fairly traded and organic.
Equal Exchange Donor Advised Fund
We must complement our commercial work with collaborative development work, so we established a Donor Advised Fund (DAF) with RSF Social Finance to support organizational development, technical assistance to farmers, income diversification, and gender equity projects with a core group of six producer partners.
The Citizen-Consumer Dilemma: Part One
What are the high-level problems that we face as consumers, citizens and activists working within the U.S. and the global food marketplace?