Fair Trade Fun

Alert: I LOVE FAIR TRADE!!!
     I believe my first exposure to Fair Trade was shopping with my grandmother at an early version of Ten Thousand Villages in Lincoln, making me a 40+ year enthusiast. I find myself now volunteering weekly at the current incarnation of that store in Lincoln's Haymarket, and chairing the Board that operates the non-profit business that runs the place I used to visit as a child. In the 40 years in between, I've shopped Fair Trade when I have traveled, in the various cities I have lived, and was the proprietor of a combination thrift and Fair Trade shop in Omaha. It's hard to say what my favorite thing about Fair Trade is because there are so many choices. I appreciate the workmanship that goes into items themselves, and the tastiness of the chocolate and coffee that are shade grown. I enjoy the stories of the artists from throughout the world, learning more about people I know I will not meet but with whom I now share a connection. I am glad to know that my consumer dollars are being spent in a way that works for systemic change, supporting communities and families while preserving artisan craftsmanship. I like supporting a locally-run shop that is keeping alive the notion of actual real-life in-person retail in a city's downtown. This is just a start.
    So... let's talk a bit about how Fair Trade works. I'm hoping you will be as enthusiastic as I am.  
     The concept of Fair Trade has several components. When I describe it to visitors to Ten Thousand Villages in Lincoln, where I volunteer, this is how I explain it - Artisans outside the US are paid a living wage, up front, for their work. They work in a cooperative environment, meaning that ideas are shared and artisans work together not in a top-down system. A priority is placed on the environment, so many items are made from recycled, reused, and replenishable materials and foods like chocolate, coffee, nuts and tea are grown using organic farming methods that preserve old growth forests. As part of a commitment to justice, funds also go back into the communities where the artisans live for projects related to things like health and education, almost always with a specific emphasis in lifting up the most marginalized in the community.
     Given the above, it can be hard to figure out which items are Fair Trade, which is where non-profit businesses like Ten Thousand Villages and certification organizations come in to play. Usually when you examine labeling for Fair Trade items you will find they either come from a non-profit like Ten Thousand Villages or Serrv that guarantees all products with their logo on it are certified, or you will find a specific certifying organization's logo, for example Fair Trade USA. Some certification organizations specialize in different types of products, for example they might specialize in examining textiles or chocolate/coffee while others certify a more broad range of products. 
     Something to think about as a consumer is which stage of the product has been certified as Fair Trade. The more complicated the construction of whatever you are purchasing, the more stages there are to certify. Clothing is an example of a consumer product that can be very difficult to verify as Fair Trade at all stages of production. Is it just from cloth to garment stage that is being certified? Or all the way back to the field in which the cotton is grown, the person mixing and applying any dyes, and anyone involved in shipping materials between any of the stages? Some certification organizations have chosen to limit the types of products they certify because of these many layers, some use language carefully to describe which parts of the artistic process have been certified, and others dive deep to research each stage of the process. Consumers with an interest in ethical purchasing can learn as they go and form their own opinions of this process by observing both label language and which certification organizations are working with which types of products. 

Photo with Fair Trade sarongs, hand-dyed using batik on rayon fabric

The Faith-based community was an early and strong supporter of Fair Trade. It's a long story and I am not an expert witness, but we can thank Mennonites and their friends for the beginnings of both Ten Thousand Villages and Serrv. Recent waves of Fair Trade entrepreneurship have included leaders like Stacey Edgar, founder of Global Girlfriend. I think her story is fascinating, and I find the emergence of new Fair Trade companies is adding to the diversity of available products, even as it has bewildered those who try to keep track of certification methodologies. More artisan groups means more diversity, but also more work communicating about standards while figuring out how to meet demand without losing ground when it comes to ethics. 

There's much more to share, so I've gathered a few favorite resources below.

Resources
For more information, including official definitions of Fair Trade and other resources, I find the World Fair Trade Organization website to be helpful. 

Learn more about Fair Trade products and artisan groups while sharing with others by volunteering at a store. Find out more about Lincoln's Ten Thousand Villages shop here Lincoln Ten Thousand Villages 

Fair Trade: A Beginner's Guide, by Jacqueline DeCarlo, was originally written in 2007 and remains helpful. 

The No-Nonsense Guide to Fair Trade, by David Ransom, 2001, is also helpful and includes chapters on specific types of Fair Trade items such as chocolate and coffee. 

Overdressed,The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion, by Elizabeth Cline, 2012, is not about Fair Trade so much as about the opposite, and will break you of any habit you may have of purchasing cheap throw-away clothing. 

United Methodists might be interested to know that UMCOR has partnerships with several Fair Trade companies so that a percentage of sales made by congregations benefit UMCOR. Find out more here: UMCOR and Fair Trade

Did you know you can fund raise with Fair Trade chocolate???? Total game changer!!
Find out more here Equal Exchange fundraising

Death Penalty: Resources for Study

Nebraskans will be voting this fall on whether to retain our current law that abolishes the death penalty in our state. The Great Plains Conference of the United Methodist Church, which includes both Kansas and Nebraska, passed a resolution at our June meeting asking all congregations to study the death penalty.

What follows are some resources that I think would be suitable and helpful for congregations anywhere in the US - not just Nebraska and Kansas.

Christian Reflections on the Death Penalty: Discussion Guide. Published by Nebraskans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, this four-page discussion guide is found under the “resources” tab on the their website, nadp.net, or by clicking here: http://nadp.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Discussion-Guide.pdf

The discussion guide includes scriptures from both the Hebrew Bible and New Testament, and provides questions for reflection related to the scriptures, which are grouped into thematic areas, such as “An Eye for an Eye,” “Redemption, Compassion, Mercy,” and “Jesus’ Teaching.” Statements from faith groups on the topic of the Death Penalty and a current fact sheet about the death penalty are also included.

I think this guide could be used as a single-session class, or split into 2-3 sessions if your group is one that enjoys a longer conversation. Because it is available online, it could also be shared via social media on a congregation’s website or facebook page for those who are unable to attend a small group conversation.

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, by Bryan Stevenson, 2015 Spiegel and Grau (division of Random House). New York Times bestseller, available in paperback, and listed as a “bonus book” in the 2016 United Methodist Women’s reading program list.

    Would you believe I read a book about the death penalty while I was on vacation at the beach? The topic was sobering, but this non-fiction, first-person narrative was so compelling I had a hard time putting it down. While the book is broken into 16 chapters and Stevenson shares about many different cases and many different laws that relate to the death penalty, he weaves the stories together in such a way that I think this book would be best discussed as a whole or perhaps in two sections, allowing for a check-in at the halfway point and then a full discussion after everyone in the group has completed the book.

    I think this is the kind of book that could be shared: as a book review in a Sunday School class, church newsletter or UMW group; in a one- or two-time discussion for people who have already read it or listed to the e-reader version; or as a promoted book for the UMW reading program.

There is another option: the accompanying (Common Core-approved) world’s most thorough book discussion guide, which is found on the author’s website.  http://bryanstevenson.com/discussion-guide/ I regret not finding this until after I had read the book, as I might have benefitted from checking in after each chapter to see the discussion guide overview and related questions.

Executing Grace: How the Death Penalty Killed Jesus and Why It’s Killing Us, by Shane Claiborne, 2016 HarperCollins.    

    I met Shane for the first time when he visited the church I pastor, South Gate UMC, in Lincoln Nebraska on the second day of his book tour for this book. I wondered out loud, “why would he be coming to Nebraska to launch a book tour?” and finally realized that it was on purpose - he’s committed enough to ending the death penalty and current enough on national politics to know that the Nebraska fall ballot initiative is significant for the lives of many. 
     Claiborne's book has 14 chapters, which can be read in order, out of order, or individually. This means it is well-suited for a weekly study group that may have members that are unable to attend every week; a class that plans to focus on just one chapter for one meeting; or for a group that either hears a book review or reads the whole thing and gathers to discuss the book in its entirety. I find this flexibility attractive for local churches, as discussion leaders may be able to focus on a particular chapter that they think would be of the greatest interest to their congregation as a way of introducing the topic (or the book) to a group. 
     The website that goes with the book is found here: http://executinggrace.com/ and includes a video interview of Shane, a resource page, and other information. A study guide is also available from Harper Collins. 

GPUMC health insurance - questions for the longterm

I could also title this: why we don’t have to meet in person

The Great Plains Conference of the United Methodist Church is working on deciding how to care for clergy health insurance in 2015. A number of resources have been made available this week, including details of a proposal to move away from group insurance to individual coverage. The decision about whether to make this change will be made by the Annual Conference, comprised of lay and clergy members. Which brings us to a pre-question: Should we insist on meeting in person to make this decision, or is it acceptable to utilize an e-ballot with a mail-in option for those without access to email?

My first instinct was to think that such a significant change absolutely demanded an in-person meeting. An inconvenient, likely-resented ritual gathering of the Annual Conference seemed appropriate for an inconvenient, likely-resented change to clergy health insurance custom and practice.

I’ve moved away from that first reaction for two reasons. First, I think people will have already studied the issue as much as they want to before the meeting, and will not be swayed during a mid-morning meeting. Related to this, I don’t think it will help our new history together to have a meeting of the Annual Conference that is either poorly attended or accompanied by participant schedule and travel stress.  

My second reason is the one that convinced me it would be ok to meet via email. As I started to think about the topics I would want to discuss related to clergy health insurance, I realized that very few of them related directly to the short-term problem of how to insure clergy in 2015. My questions and concerns have to do with longer-term process questions. Questions that deserve a richer conversation and a longer time for pondering than a single Saturday morning. 

Here are just a few of the things I think it would be interesting and good for us as a Conference to discuss, but not for just a morning:

1) What is our theology related to health and healthcare?

2) What is the role of the Church as we seek to find and bring wholeness to the communities we serve?

3) To what degree does the overall health of clergy relate to the overall health of our congregations and faith journeys?

4) If it is true that over time it has always been “hard” to insure clergy, what interventions (such as Virgin HealthMiles) might we create so that both clergy and church members might be more healthy?

5) How might we learn to have conversations regarding health and healthcare in ways that move us from blame and individual benefit to a view of the world that embraces community and benefit to the group?

6) How does the stress some clergy are articulating over this proposed change relate to national stress over healthcare, and how are we as a Conference called to address the right of people to healthcare, both in the United States, and globally?

I am hopeful that after we get through the next few weeks of stress over the immediate decision regarding how to care for clergy health insurance in 2015, we will remember to address the systemic and long-term issues that accompany the short-term decisions. 

October roses in Omaha

 (In other news, the roses are outlasting the tomato plants on 33rd St in Omaha)