Fairly Traded Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate

eelogo Our church supports fair trade for small farmer co-ops by serving fairly traded coffee and tea products, purchased through Equal Exchange, during fellowship time and by encouraging members to use fair trade products at home.

You can pick up fair trade products from the display stand in the fellowship hall. All product prices are marked and you can pay by writing a check payable to University Mennonite Church. Put your payment in the Weidners' church mailbox. Joel Weidner orders products about every month and half and takes custom orders by sending an email to the church email distribution list.

You can contact Joel at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Monday, 25 May 2009 04:57

Fair Trade and the Environment

The Interfaith Program at Equal Exchange, in partnership with ten different faith groups, maintains a strong commitment to furthering fair trade and environmental justice together with congregations across the U.S. As a participant in the Interfaith Program, we are making a positive impact on the planet and the people who grow our food through regular purchases of Equal Exchange fairly traded products.

We invite you, your family, and friends to share this vision of protecting the environment--a vision that connects us to the planet and to the small farmer cooperatives who produce food in a sustainable way.

Through the end of the calendar year 2009, Equal Exchange will donate 20 cents per package of Organic Love Buzz coffeepurchased to the "Small Farmers Green Planet" fund. This money will go directly to farmer partners in Mexico, Nicaragua, South Africa, and Columbia to support their reforestation, organic conversion, and environmental protection efforts.

Last Updated on Saturday, 29 August 2009 12:38

Monday, 25 May 2009 04:58

Greening the Planet

Equal Exchange coffee and tea not only tastes good, but it's good for the environment!

Over 90 percent of the fairly traded products offered by Equal Exchange are certified organic, meaning that no toxic chemical fertilizers or chemical pesticides are used that pollute the air or harm the earth. Farmers and their families steer clear of physical contact with these chemicals.
Equal Exchange supports small-scale farmer practices such as terracing, water conservations, manual weeding, and crop diversification--all of which lead to greater soil fertility and reduce erosion.
Farmers in fair trade cooperatives are encouraged to plant additional coffee trees and citrus plants to assist and increase biodiversity and wildlife habitats. These practices also improve pest control, help to avoid soil erosion, and provide other food sources to the community.
Co-op farmers plant shade trees as opposed to clear cutting trees in conventional mono-crop plantations. This helps to preserve songbird habitat, shield farmers from harmful UV rays, cool the planet, and absorb carbon dioxide, a harmful greenhouse gas. All of these techniques help remedy the extensive landscape degradation and deforestation that has occurred in countries over decades of environmental abuse. Thanks to your support, small farmers have the means to help restore these landscapes as a result of the market access and improved income from the fair trade system.

Last Updated on Saturday, 29 August 2009 12:39