Churches find a fair trade in coffee sales

There's something new brewing at West Boxford's Second Congregational Church, and parishioners are lining up for a taste.

Fellow church members gathered after a recent Sunday service, as Barbara Was did her best to keep pace with demand for an array of wares for sale in the parish hall.

''I have more beans, but that's it on the grounds," she announced above the din of 180 people milling through the hall.

The eight varieties of coffee beans weren't the only draw. She was also doing a brisk business in organic hot cocoa mix, two kinds of chocolate bars, and three types of tea.

All of the products share a common denominator: They bear ''certified fair trade" labels -- proof that the farmers who produced the products got a fair price.

''We've got the best church coffee in town," quipped Greg Netland of Boxford, grabbing a free cup of the organic brew -- also certified fair trade -- from the hall's kitchen counter. ''I buy it almost every week. It tastes good, and it supports a good cause . . . the more fair and equitable treatment of people growing the coffee. People just drink their coffee and don't think where it comes from. Like many things in life, it's good to dig a little deeper."

By purchasing fair trade coffee, Netland and others who frequent Was's table pay a little more to give a leg up to the small, family-owned farms in Central and South America, Africa, and Asia that grow most of the world's coffee.

''The people that are growing the coffee are the people who actually get the benefit, not the people in the middle," said the Rev. Jeanne Marechal, who visited fair trade farms in Costa Rica. ''They get a living wage as a result of their labor."

Marechal's West Boxford church is among 20 religious congregations on the North Shore and six in southeastern New Hampshire that participate in an Interfaith Program founded by Equal Exchange, the West Bridgewater company that spawned the US fair trade movement 19 years ago and remains among the country's largest suppliers of fair trade coffee.

Other churches involved are in Amesbury, West Newbury, Newburyport, Groveland, Essex, Rockport, Beverly, Danvers, Lynnfield, Salem, Marblehead, Swampscott, and Melrose, and in Newington, Portsmouth, Stratham, North Hampton, Plaistow, and Exeter, N.H. Nationwide, 12,691 faith-based congregations have signed up to serve or sell fair trade products since Equal Exchange launched the program five years ago, said Anna Utech, the company's Interfaith Program director.

Under fair trade agreements, farmers are shielded from fluctuations in the world commodity market. Growers are guaranteed at least $1.26 per pound for conventionally grown coffee and $1.41 for organic -- or the market price plus 5 cents, whichever is higher.

According to Equal Exchange spokesman Rodney North, the world market coffee price in mid-June was $1.09 per pound, up from 78 cents per pound last November. Fair trade agreements exclude middlemen, who often demand a large chunk of growers' profits, and link importers directly to farmer-owned cooperatives.

Coffee growers earn three to five times more than they would through conventional arrangements, according to TransFair USA, the independent, nonprofit agency that certifies and labels fair trade products. Cooperatives use the additional money to improve coffee quality and for community projects such as schools and health-care facilities. Fair trade agreements also restrict the use of pesticides and offer farmers access to low-interest loans and other financing typically not available to growers in remote areas.

Certified fair trade coffee is the fastest-growing segment of the US specialty coffee market, according to TransFair. Judy Parisella, interim general manager of Cape Ann Food Coop in Gloucester, which has stocked fair trade coffee for more than 10 years, said the commodity has gone mainstream in the last two to three years.

''You see it everywhere now," Parisella said.

In the Northeast, Equal Exchange coffee is available in nearly 200 Shaw's, Star Market, and Stop & Shop supermarkets, up from zero in 1999. Dunkin' Donuts, known for its everyman appeal, made a commitment to use fair trade beans for its espresso products in 2003.

While coffee remains its mainstay, the fair trade movement has recently expanded to include tea, cocoa, sugar, and fruit -- with similar trade arrangements and farmer benefits.

Charlie Grant, 16, of Boxford, said economic justice is just part of the reason he's a regular at Was's post-church table. At $1.50, the chocolate bar he just bought is pricey, but its robust flavor is ''pretty special stuff" that's worth the indulgence, said Grant, who also got a $3 box of Organic English Breakfast Tea.

For Susan Thomas of Boxford, buying two $6 packages of coffee serves multiple social causes. Part of the proceeds of the church's fair trade sales fund a scholarship in honor of her late husband, Dr. Archimedes Thomas, who set up a health clinic in the Dominican Republic. The scholarship benefits Dominican residents pursuing medical careers.

Using fair trade items as fund-raisers for humanitarian causes, or alternative gift fairs, is a popular option, Utech said.

''It just so happens that coffee is the centerpiece of many faith gatherings," Utech said. ''I think the beauty of the program is it gives folks in a congregation a very hands-on, concrete way that they can, as people of faith, live out their values."