Did you know that IRTF’s fair trade program raises approximately $25,000 each year, providing vital income for fair trade artisans and farmers in Latin America? They depend on groups like IRTF to find markets for their fair trade goods.
And IRTF, with only two paid staff, depends on volunteers to generate this income for the artisans and farmers.
Can you help out IRTF for a couple of hours?
Click here to see the schedule of dates and hours, and sign up for a shift.
IRTF is grateful to the 200 supporters who gathered on October 27 at Pilgrim Church in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood for IRTF’s annual Commemoration of the Martyrs. In addition to marking the 44th anniversary of the martyrdom of Cleveland’s missioners in El Salvador (Jean Donovan and Sister Dorothy Kazel, alongside Maryknoll Sisters Ita Ford and Maura Clarke), we commemorated 36 human rights defenders killed in Central America and Colombia this past year because they dared to speak truth to power.
Our keynote speaker, Lorena Araujo of the largest campesino organization in El Salvador (CRIPDES), held the crowd’s attention with horrific stories of mass arrests, detentions and deaths currently happening under their government’s State of Exception, now in its third year. With more 88,000 imprisoned (and more than 300 deaths in prison), El Salvador now has the highest incarceration rate in the world—surpassing the astronomical rate of incarceration in the United States.
As the people of El Salvador face the greatest challenge to their democracy since the end of the civil war in 1992, they invite us to renew and deepen our solidarity.
If you would still like to make a donation:
https://bit.ly/3YDmETj via Zeffy platform
irtfcleveland.org/donate via Network for Good
nitiated in 2009, the Ohio Fair Trade Teach-In & Expo brings people together from across the region to learn about and become more involved in supporting FAIR TRADE – a model for socially and environmentally conscious consumerism.
This in-person event at John Carroll University will bring together hundreds of fair trade supporters, advocates, retailers, and vendors from across the state. The Expo will be an opportunity to continue building energy around the already vibrant Ohio fair trade movement and previous Expos. In addition to the Global Marketplace of fair trade vendors, we’ll host educational presentations and panels, including a fair trade fashion show for high school and students and a Fair Trade Around the World program for kids.
WHAT: Ohio Fair Trade Teach-In & Expo 2024
WHERE: John Carroll University, Dolan Science Center; University Heights (Cleveland), OH
WHEN: Saturday, October 5, 2024
TIME: 9am-2pm (attendees are welcome to come and go)
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Here is some additional info about the Expo:
The Ohio Fair Trade Network, together with John Carroll University, is hosting the 2024 Ohio Fair Trade Teach-In and Expo. Join us for one of the largest regional fair trade events in the country. The Ohio Fair Trade Teach-In & Expo is a place for people of all ages, with educational opportunities and panels, activities for children, and the Global Fair Trade Marketplace. Educational presentations on the nine principles of fair trade.
The Global Fair Trade Marketplace will feature multiple vendors for you to shop for handcrafted jewelry, clothing and home decor items, as well as fair trade coffee, tea, chocolate and more!
Kids’ Activities
Kids (ages 6-12) are invited to participate in our Fair Trade Around the World program. As kids travel around the auditorium, they will learn about different countries, cultures, languages, climate and habitats—as well as personal stories about the farmers and artisans—from the vendors. Stopping at each station, kids can participate in a 5-10 minute activity and have their fair trade travel booklet stamped to be entered into the kiddie raffle.
Honduras is currently facing at least USD 14 billion in claims from foreign and domestic companies. This is equivalent to roughly 40 percent of the country's GDP in 2023 and almost four times its public investment budget in 2024. A new study on this avalanche of claims found that most investors are revolting against Honduran efforts to reverse or renegotiate corrupt deals made under Hernández, which were often damaging to the public interest and local communities.
Juan Orlando Hernández is the Honduras former drug trafficking and corrupt president who was illegally reelected through fraud and with the help of the US.
Now a private toll booth operator - backed by major US banks, including JP Morgan Chase Bank and two Goldman Sachs funds - is suing Honduras in international arbitration. They are demanding 180 million dollars, more than four times what the company has reportedly invested. If these investors are successful, the economic burden on the country will only deepen the displacement crisis that is driving Hondurans north.
Stop by and say hello at the IRTF Fair Trade booth.
Tremont Arts and Cultural Festival celebrates the cultural and artistic diversity of Tremont and the greater Cleveland area, featuring fine art, sculpture, original jewelry, children’s activities and programs, food booths, musicians and performers. Now in its 25th year, the 2024 Tremont Arts and Cultural Festival is comprised of five Festival Villages:
Children’s Village: hand-on arts, historical, and educational projects:
Community Village: area non-profit organizations presenting material about their mission and services, along with local, independent merchants and vendors;
Cultural Village: food sales by Tremont and Greater Cleveland restaurants , and fair trade merchants and non-profits reflecting the ethnic diversity of the neighborhood and region;
Artists’ Village: Applications for exhibiting visual artists are accepted online in 15 categories: 2D Mixed Media, 3D Mixed Media, Ceramics, Digital Art, Drawing, Fiber, Glass, Fine Jewelry, Leather, Metal (non-sculptural), Painting (Oil, Acrylic, & Watercolor), Photography & Digital Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture (Paper, Bronze, Clay, Metal, Stone) and Wood.
Tremont Famers Market: the local growers and artisans of the weekly (May – Oct, 2024) Tremont Farmers Market
The Festival has free music and dance performances Saturday and Sunday on the TACF Main Stage.
Event hours: 12-7pm on Saturday; 12-5pm on Sunday
https://experiencetremont.com/featured-events/tremont-arts-cultural-festival/
Stop by and say hello at the IRTF Fair Trade booth on Saturday, September 14. The annual Waterloo Arts Fest takes place in the artistically vibrant Waterloo Arts & Entertainment District in the lakeside neighborhood of Collinwood in Cleveland, OH. Over the past twenty one years the festival has grown but it has always remained grounded in community and fresh with local art. For seven hours each year, the Waterloo Arts Fest reminds residents and visitors of the many assets in the Waterloo Arts District, of the incredible potential still to be realized and how wonderful it is to live in a city neighborhood with a great mix of people.
A stunning report in Axios paints a damning picture of widespread farm labor abuse in the US agricultural industry outside the protections of the Fair Food Program (FFP).
Yet while federal prosecutions of forced labor operations grow more common in agriculture, many massive food corporations like the grocery giant Kroger continue to turn a blind eye to the extreme abuses of some of the most vulnerable workers at the bottom of their opaque supply chains, according to a shocking report, months in the making, by Richard Collings of Axios. Meanwhile, according to the report, the lack of adequate resources for state and federal authorities to protect farmworkers is only making matters worse, and is likely allowing even more widespread exploitation of the agricultural workers who put food on our tables to go undetected.
Against this backdrop of pervasive abuse, Worker-driven Social Responsibility programs like the Fair Food Program and Milk with Dignity are singled out by Axios as “key to ending widespread forced labor.”
The bullet-pointed report is a must-read. We have included it here below in full to best share its urgent message: Forced labor is an appalling reality in US agriculture today, but there is a proven solution — the unique monitoring and enforcement mechanisms of the Fair Food Program, driven by workers as the frontline monitor of their own rights and backed by the purchasing power of the program’s participating buyers.
The blog post discusses the challenges faced by small-scale avocado growers in Mexico, particularly those associated with bringing their produce to the US market. The author, Nicole Vitello, President of Oke USA, shares insights from her visit to PRAGOR, a Fairtrade avocado cooperative in Michoacán, Mexico.
The cooperative consists of 22 small-scale farmer members, each owning 15 hectares or less. The organization manages the purchase, packing, and export of avocados to the US through Equal Exchange. The pricing structure involves weekly negotiations between the general manager and farmers, with prices set by APEAM, a trade association. Organic avocados command a higher price in the export market.
Vitello emphasizes the unique approach of Equal Exchange in exclusively sourcing avocados from the co-op, negotiating prices in dollars, and avoiding brokers or middlemen. The cooperative follows Fair Trade principles, ensuring fair wages and conditions for farmers. The blog stresses the commitment to transparency, with avocados bearing the Equal Exchange logo and being packed in branded boxes labeled "Small Farmers, Big Change."
The post highlights the cooperative's focus on empowering small farmers as business people who take on risks beyond cultivation. Despite challenges, the supply chain aims to reflect the true cost of growing avocados, fostering a connection between consumers and the specific group of people involved in the production process. The author advocates for a deeper understanding of the avocado industry, shedding light on the complexities of pricing, market functions, and the farmers' role. Overall, the post underscores the cooperative's dedication to providing a genuine story about the origin and journey of avocados consumed in the US.
On January 23, Greater Cleveland Partnership got an early morning wake up call when Sam Allard of Axios Cleveland broke the story that a coalition of grassroots organizations led by Cleveland Owns, the InterReligious Task Force on Central America, Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, and the Greater Cleveland Housing Justice Coalition would be leading a walkout at the second annual Sustainability Summit organized by Greater Cleveland Partnership.
The article narrates the story of Indigenous communities in the Ixquisis valley in north-west Guatemala facing a conflict over a hydroelectric project by the company Energía y Renovación. The company promised development benefits, but locals, led by figures like Juan Alonzo and María Bautista, opposed it due to environmental concerns and false promises. The opposition intensified, leading to violent clashes and the death of Sebastián Alonzo in 2017. The article highlights the dangers faced by environmental activists in Latin America and the pivotal role of women like Bautista in opposing the project. Their efforts, including legal actions, led to the withdrawal of funding for the project in 2022, emphasizing the importance of protecting water resources for the Indigenous communities. Despite the setback, Energía y Renovación remains determined to continue the project.
