Small Farmers. Big Change.

The following photographic story by Dean Schladweiler is reprinted from the Wedge Co-operative newsletter. A Fair Trade, Organic Banana Life Cycle In October 2011, Dean Schladweiler, Produce Manager, traveled to Peru on an tour arranged by Equal Exchange. They visited a cooperative of organic banana growers. Here is a photographic story of the life of [...]

Read Full Post »

Read Full Post »

This article first appeared in The Exchange on February 6, 2012. By Jessica Jones-Hughes, Equal Exchange Bananas You may have heard about food co-op general managers, employees, church members, or Equal Exchange staff making the trek down to the places where coffee, tea and cocoa are grown. In October of 2011, Equal Exchange took our [...]

Read Full Post »

Finally, March has arrived! Check back all month long as we share farmer stories, trip videos, Fair Trade impact reports, and articles by our retail partners about why they’re choosing to support AUTHENTIC Small Farmer Fair Trade bananas in their stores! Please share your thoughts and ideas with us. Together we can grow an alternative [...]

Read Full Post »

Tomorrow, March 1st marks the beginning of Banana Month at Equal Exchange! All month the blog will be full of videos, reports, and photos from our various trips visiting our banana partners in Peru. Everyone here is excited to share these beautiful, informative, and fun stories that we’ve been preparing and collecting. It’s our way [...]

Read Full Post »

By Co-Executive Director Rob Everts and Community Sales Manager Susan Sklar In early November 2011, Equal Exchange traveled to the West Bank to meet with the members of the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee (PARC) from whom we are now buying organic, fairly traded olive oil. Equal Exchange and PARC are both grounded in the most fundamental industry on [...]

Read Full Post »

By Todd Caspersen, Director of Purchasing Photos by Joe Driscoll, Equipment Guru The Sierra Madre of Chiapas, Mexico, stretches South all the way to Honduras. Equal Exchange buys coffee from several co-operatives along this vast and dramatic mountain range. One super dynamic place is the area commonly known as “Jaltenango,” but officially known as Albino [...]

Read Full Post »

At last week’s BioFach Conference in Nurenburg, Germany, there was a strong show of support for small farmers and Authentic Fair Trade. Watch the video now! Have you signed your name yet?  Click here to learn more.

Read Full Post »

By Todd Caspersen, Director of Purchasing Photos by Joe Driscoll, Equipment Guru It’s our first morning up in the mountains. We roll out of our bunkhouse just as the sun crowns the surrounding peaks, making the river and mist glow. It’s going to be a beautiful day in the forest. I run up to the [...]

Read Full Post »

By Todd Caspersen, Director of Purchasing Photos by Joe Driscoll, Equipment Guru El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve protects cloud forests on the upper slopes of the Sierra Madre, as well as the wet tropical rainforests of the Soconusco on the Mexican Pacific. It is also home to 15,000-18,000 people who grow coffee, much of which is [...]

Read Full Post »