2009 Fair Trade, Nicaragua Coffee Farmers #3: Organic coffee beans, Nicaraguan women respected

Two Northern Michigan University (NMU) students - Lisa McCarthy of Greenville, WI and Sarah Swanson of Rapid River, MI - are giving presentations across the Upper Peninsula on their recent Lutheran World Relief trip to Nicaragua during which they met with coffee farmers and learned about fair trade. This is the first of several excerpts from their presentation. In part three, the students describe how the women of Nicaragua are treated with respect, the importance of families and the environmental protection efforts of one Nicaraguas organic farmers. The NMU students among 13 Americans on Lutheran World Relief Study Tour entitled NICARAGUA: Pour Justice to the Brim from January 5-12, 2009 The group visited the capitol of Managua, and the cities/villages of Matagalpa, Jinotega and La Reyna. Fair trade ensures fair wages, and protects women's rights and human rights plus fights poverty. Arriving at the peak of the coffee harvest, the students visited many aspects of the industry including dry mills, wet mills and coffee cooperatives. They spoke on January 13, 2008 to a group at the St. Mark's Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Marquette, MI. Related links: LWR Study Trips http://www.lwr.org/study Lutheran Campus Ministry (LCM) at Northern Michigan University (NMU) http://www.nmulutherans.org http://www.nmulutherans.org/newsletter.html#fragment-5 http://www.lakesuperiorinterfaith.com Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) http://www.elca.org Northern Great Lakes Synod (NGLS) http://www.nglsynod.org http://www.nglsynod.org/about-our-synod.html LWR Study Tour on January 5-12, 2009 - NICARAGUA: Pour Justice to the Brim: http://www.lwr.org/study/nica Fair Trade http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_trade http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Fairtrade_Certification_Mark http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade http://www.crsfairtrade.org/assets/fair-trade-timeline.pdf http://www.fairtrade.net http://www.transfairusa.org http://www.usworker.coop/front http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Fair_Trade_Organization Equal Exchange http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_Exchange http://www.equalexchange.coop/fair-trade http://www.equalexchange.coop Videos http://blog.iamnotashamed.net/2007/03/12/make-your-sweet-tooth-an-equal-exchange/ http://www.equalexchange.coop/new-video SolCafé http://www.vianica.com/activity/122/visit-to-the-solcafe-coffee-processing-plant http://schweisguth.org/~melissa/nicaragua/solcafe.html CECOCAFEN http://www.equalexchange.coop/profile-of-cecocafen-in-nicaragua http://www.transfairusa.org/pdfs/profiles/Cecocafen-Nica.PDF http://www.alternativa3.com/2006/productores.php?id=150&idioma=en http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/coffee/cecocafen Nicaragua coffee cooperatives http://fairtrade.change.org/blog/view/face_of_fair_trade_la_fem_coffee_cooperative http://crs.org/nicaragua/women-coffee-coop http://www.equalexchange.coop/worker-owned http://www.usaid.gov/stories/nicaragua/cs_nc_coffee.html http://justcoffee.coop/en/geography/nicaragua http://www.nicaraguasc.org.uk/partners/index.htm Center for Global Education http://globaled.us http://www.globaled.us/wwcu http://www.globaled.us/wwcu/state.asp?region=Michigan Fair Trade Principals http://www.kaldi.com/fair-trade-coffee.htm. Email LWR Coffee Project & Fair Trade fairtrade at lwr.org Update Fair Trade projects/participate in LWR Action Center: http://action.lwr.org/site/PageServer?pagename=SignUp Lutheran World Relief & Fair Trade http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutheran_World_Relief http://www.lwr.org/coffee/justice.asp http://www.lwr.org/coffee/lwt.asp http://www.lwr.org/coffee/elsal.asp http://www.lwr.org/coffee/elcanr.asp http://www.lwr.org/coffee/faith.asp http://www.lwr.org/coffee/cup.asp http://www.lwr.org/coffee/justice.asp http://www.equalexchange.coop/LWR-Delegation-to-Nicaragua http://www.lwr.org/fairtrade/resources.asp