This coming Shabbat, May 14/10 Iyar, is also being celebrated as World Fair Trade Day, with events happening in over 80 countries around the world. Fair Trade is an international movement in which trading partnerships are based on reciprocal benefits and mutual respect; prices are paid to producers that reflect the work they do; workers have the right to organize; national health, safety, and wage laws are enforced; and products are environmentally sustainable and conserve natural resources (definition by Fair Trade Resource Network).
This is a great opportunity to celebrate and honor the farmers and artisans who make products that we consume and use every day, and to join the larger Fair Trade community. Let’s make it a chag this year!
Eat and Drink Fair Trade
- Serve Fair Trade coffee, tea, sugar and honey (kosher options available)
- Make Kiddush with a Fair Trade wine
- Make a “l’chaim” with fair trade vodka and other spirits
- Serve Fair Trade chocolate for dessert (kosher options available)
Do Fair Trade
- Decorate your home, synagogue or office with Fair Trade flowers
- Discuss this week’s parsha (Torah portion), Behar, as it relates to fair trade principles
- Spend Shabbat afternoon learning about fair trade
- Host a post-Havdalah gathering with an educational film, Fair Trade chocolate tastings and more
Resources
- List of Fair Trade kosher coffee, tea, and chocolate products: http://fairtradejudaica.org/shop/chocolate-coffee-and-tea
- Resources to learn more about fair trade: http://fairtradejudaica.org/learn
- List of available films: http://www.fairtraderesource.org/learn-up/fair-trade-films
- More information about World Fair Trade Day: http://www.fairtraderesource.org/wftd
Ilana Schatz is the founding director of Fair Trade Judaica, a non-profit organization promoting fair trade as an expression of core Jewish values, including the obligation to work for economic justice, ensuring workers’ rights, being responsible consumers, and sustaining natural resources.
