Fair Trade Issues in the Aromatic Community

[Guest guest]

I've got a new blogpost addressing chocolate/child labor issues in West

Africa up . . . . http://www.aromaconnection.org Comments welcome.

 

Be well,

Marcia Elston

Samara Botane/Nature Intelligence, est. 1988

<http://www.wingedseed.com/> http://www.wingedseed.com Online 3/95

<http://www.aromaconnection.org/> http://www.aromaconnection.org Group Blog

2/07

" Historically, the most terrible things - war, genocide and slavery - have

resulted from obedience, not disobedience. "

Howard Zinn

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Sorry for the multiples . . . My computer seems to be burping. I'll turn on

a diffuser!! :-)

 

Be well,

Marcia Elston

Samara Botane/Nature Intelligence, est. 1988

http://www.wingedseed.com Online 3/95

http://www.aromaconnection.org Group Blog 2/07

" Historically, the most terrible things - war, genocide and slavery - have

resulted from obedience, not disobedience. "

Howard Zinn

 

 

>

>

> On Behalf Of Marcia Elston

> Monday, February 18, 2008 5:21 PM

>

> Fair Trade Issues in the Aromatic Community

>

> I've got a new blogpost addressing chocolate/child labor

> issues in West

> Africa up . . . . http://www.aromaconnection.org Comments welcome.

>

> Be well,

> Marcia Elston

> Samara Botane/Nature Intelligence, est. 1988

> <http://www.wingedseed.com/> http://www.wingedseed.com Online

> 3/95 <http://www.aromaconnection.org/>

> http://www.aromaconnection.org Group Blog

> 2/07

> " Historically, the most terrible things - war, genocide and

> slavery - have resulted from obedience, not disobedience. "

> Howard Zinn

[Guest guest]

Hi Marcia and Everyone Else on the list J

 

 

 

I read your blog and I found it really interesting. Recently I followed a

link that Martin sent out that gave information about botanicals that are

endangered and could become extinct by overuse. I think it's awesome that

you are championing these issues. I find myself befuddled though as the end

user about how to know and understand where my product is coming from and

who is producing it. How do I know for certain if the chocolate (or fixed

oil or essential oil.or any other product) is coming from a source that is

fair trade, oppressive to the citizens that produce it or might be using any

kind of inappropriate labor? This is an issue even in coffee we buy from

the store sometimes. Is there a place that breaks down such information in

the simplest terms for the general public?

 

 

 

Blessings,

 

Sherry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've got a new blogpost addressing chocolate/child labor issues in West

Africa up . . . . http://www.aromaconnection.org Comments welcome.

 

 

 

 

__

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Sherry,

 

This website is very helpful at identifying brands that officially use Fair

Trade merchandise:

 

http://www.transfairusa.org/content/WhereToBuy/

 

Hope that helps.

 

Cheers,

Christina

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi Sherry,

 

You present the exact reason that I've started to blog on this issue . . .

It is not only the end user, but also we who import from overseas who might

be in the dark as to the true circumstances of harvesting and or

wildcrafting the raw materials, especially when the materials then go to

others for extraction and these are the folks we primarily deal with. If

they aren't certified in some way to insure compliance with fair trade, we

can only take their word, unless we can visit every one of them and

personally follow them to their sources. Dealing with the family farms and

co-ops themselves is a piece of cake and more doable, but there are many

other ingredients that are going to take close investigation to insure that

we're not connected to these inhumane practices. My next step will be to

trace back through my suppliers of any questionable ingredient . . . And, in

the case of cacao, contact companies who purchase free trade chocolate to

get to absolute/oleoresin producers who embrace fair trade, if I find my own

supplier wanting. The research for the blog alone took me about 10 hours,

verifying all the information and making sure that my conclusions were

accurate. The Tulane report in itself took several hours to read and

analyze. I can only guess that verifying and qualifying all my suppliers is

going to take months. Our company is currently being closely scrutinized to

qualify with a 'green' certification - a lengthy process in itself . . . But

to really bear those designations with integrity, we have to dig deeper on

our own when it comes to raw materials and products. Chocolate absolute is

one of them. This 'green' designation will appear on the website when we

are all done, but we have to earn it, and it has to do with the issues of

fair trade, as well as our own efforts to make our business and

manufacturing more sustainable (reducing our carbon footprint with energy

improvements, reuse/recycling efforts, etc.) and we have to identify/verify

all our efforts and goals in this regard. 'Tis a good thing to do for all

of us in this biz, but it won't be easy with so many threads across the

world that connect us to the ingredients.

 

You will note that the companies on the site that Christina mentioned only

have a portion of their products qualified as fair trade - it's a growing

effort worldwide, but again a process that will take time.

 

Thanks, Sherry, I'm glad you appreciate it - I can only say, if I don't

participate to get the ball rolling in our small industry, then who will?

Martin Watt, Tony Burfield and Chrissie Wildwood, among others are doing a

great job of keeping us abreast of endangered and other

geopolitical/regulatory issues . . . All these issues are connected, but I

felt I could concentrate on fair trade to add some efforts to the broader

discussion. Blogging about it also gets to a wider audience than websites.

 

 

Be well,

Marcia Elston

Samara Botane/Nature Intelligence, est. 1988

http://www.wingedseed.com Online 3/95

http://www.aromaconnection.org Group Blog 2/07

" Historically, the most terrible things - war, genocide and slavery - have

resulted from obedience, not disobedience. "

Howard Zinn

 

 

>

>

> On Behalf Of Sherry Strahsburg

> Tuesday, February 19, 2008 2:04 PM

>

> RE: Fair Trade Issues in the

> Aromatic Community

>

> Hi Marcia and Everyone Else on the list J

>

>

>

> I read your blog and I found it really interesting. Recently

> I followed a link that Martin sent out that gave information

> about botanicals that are endangered and could become extinct

> by overuse. I think it's awesome that you are championing

> these issues. I find myself befuddled though as the end user

> about how to know and understand where my product is coming

> from and who is producing it. How do I know for certain if

> the chocolate (or fixed oil or essential oil.or any other

> product) is coming from a source that is fair trade,

> oppressive to the citizens that produce it or might be using

> any kind of inappropriate labor? This is an issue even in

> coffee we buy from the store sometimes. Is there a place

> that breaks down such information in the simplest terms for

> the general public?

>

>

>

> Blessings,

>

> Sherry

[Guest guest]

Thanks Christina!! It's kind of daunting staying on top of the info

available. That's an awesome site. i'm going to have to dig through it to

find more information on a variety of things that I buy.

 

 

 

Have a great day!!

 

Sherry

 

 

 

On Behalf Of Christina M

Tuesday, February 19, 2008 2:29 PM

 

Re: Fair Trade Issues in the Aromatic Community

 

 

 

Sherry,

 

This website is very helpful at identifying brands that officially use Fair

Trade merchandise:

 

http://www.transfairusa.org/content/WhereToBuy/

 

Hope that helps.

 

Cheers,

Christina