Fair Trade

Between them, U.S. Lutherans and U.S. Catholics, each coached and cajoled from Baltimore, drink 12 million cups of higher-priced, "fair-trade" coffee a year. That's up from next to nothing a decade ago. The Lutherans, who like to joke that coffee is the third sacrament after baptism and communion, are especially keen. But "the Presbyterians are close behind us," says Sarah Ford, fair-trade boss at Baltimore-based Lutheran World Relief, which sold about 115 tons of fair-trade coffee (9 million cups)

Judith Cloughen, a Holy Land peace activist and former Ten Thousand Villages manager, died of multiple myeloma Friday at Johns Hopkins Hospital. The Towson resident was 66. Born Judith "Judy" Elizabeth Huntress in Portland, Maine, she was the daughter of Carroll Huntress, an athletic coach, and Elizabeth Curran, an English teacher. Raised in Lewisburg, Pa., she earned an English degree from Bucknell University. She later lived in New Haven, Conn., where she met her future husband, the Rev. Charles Edward Cloughen Jr., the former rector of St. Thomas Episcopal Church on Providence Road in Towson.

BERKELEY, Calif. - In a city of one cafe after another, three to four to a block on some streets, Rick Young chooses his coffeehouses carefully. He takes his java strong, fresh and only with fair trade. The way he sees it, the world, or at least Berkeley, would be closer to perfect if every restaurant, every 7-Eleven and every bake sale served only fair-trade-certified coffee - coffee that guarantees its suppliers provide a so-called living wage to small farmers in developing countries.

The Johns Hopkins University has swapped traditional dining hall fare this year with new offerings: 25 varieties of apples from a farm in Pennsylvania, greens grown less than three miles away in Baltimore and gourmet beef from a cattle breeder in Monkton. In six years, the college plans to increase its servings of local, sustainably grown food to 35 percent of all ingredients, becoming one of a handful of universities nationwide to make such a commitment about its cuisine. The move comes at a time of growing interest in where food comes from and how it is grown.

To answer the question "What Would Jesus Do?" on Palm Sunday, an increasing number of churches have a new answer: fair-trade fronds. The re-enactment of Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem is traditionally marked annually by the feverish fluttering of palm fronds at services worldwide to usher in Holy Week, which ends with Easter Sunday. In Catonsville for the first time yesterday, more than 100 worshipers at Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church waved "eco-palms" shaped liked giant hands as a congregant dressed as Jesus entered the sanctuary up the center aisle.

Fair trade is tool in fight for justice I buy my fair-trade hazelnut coffee from the American Friends Service Committee. So I read with interest Jay Hancock's column "Fair-trade movement gains speed, criticism" (Oct. 16). And I was surprised to read this: "People on the left complain that fair trade doesn't help enough farmers, provides do-gooder camouflage for evil corporations and, even worse, generates big profits for people other than the Third World growers." Yet Mr. Hancock does not actually quote any one from the left criticizing fair trade.

Washington. -- In less than a decade, Europe moved from being the largest importer of sugar in the world to become the largest exporter -- thanks to the world's biggest subsidy to its sugar farmers. European policies cost us sales at home and markets abroad, so we retaliated.Over the next decade, Congress granted huge new subsidies to U.S. sugar refineries and sugar growers and imposed strict limits on sugar imports from dozens of poor small nations. The result: much higher U.S. consumer prices, bigger federal deficits, more taxes on families, all in the noble name of ''retaliation.

Washington. -- Fast track or slippery slope?Congress is ready to put U.S.-Mexico free-trade negotiations on the fast track, but there are fears that the intended treaty will TTC inevitably mean lost jobs for American workers and weaker pollution standards for American industry.The House majority leader, Dick Gephardt, is one of many Democrats who share this concern but are going along with the administration's plea for fast-track authority. Under it, Congress could not amend the resulting trade agreement, but only vote up or down after it is completed.

WASHINGTON -- In seven rounds of global trade talks over four decades, tariff rates have been slashed by more than 75 percent. As imports became so much cheaper, trade across frontiers surged, and workers the world over produced a staggering amount of wealth.The problem for the eighth round of trade talks is precisely that success: World trade has outgrown the rules written for it.The round is scheduled to end with a meeting in Brussels, Belgium, next week, if a bitter dispute on farm subsidies can be resolved.

If you are ready to add some culture to your home or just shake up your environment, it's easy to take delight in carved masks from Kenya, sculpture and fabric from Burkina Faso, dolls from Uganda and South Africa, cut-metal wall hangings from Haiti, drums from Ghana and Senegal, and chess sets from Cameroon and Tanzania. It may be even easier to take such pleasures, knowing that the artists are seeing a fair share of the profits and that the people selling the imports went out of their way to not exploit workers in developing countries.

President Barack Obama is initiating an "Insourcing American Jobs" dialogue with top business leaders. The latter are always looking for tax breaks and special benefits, and this could quickly degenerate into pleas for special treatment - whereas creating the best overall environment for all private investment would best foster growth and jobs. Huge losses in Washington's equity stake in GM illustrate that government-financed jobs are too expensive. Fiascos like Solyndra and other ill-fated energy projects prove yet again that businesses, not bureaucrats, have the fine-grain information and financial acumen to make the right bets: investments that create new products, advance established industries and multiply jobs, not merely pay politicians' debts to campaign supporters.

This ongoing Occupy Wall Street protest movements are the result of the Obama administration and Congress' mismanagement of foreign trade. When the real story is told it will be seen that it is unfair trade agreements such as NAFTA and others that have contributed to the loss of manufacturing jobs in this country. We have allowed unfavorable trade agreements to limit the sale of American products in foreign countries, while we tolerate the flight of entire trade sectors to China, Korea and other emerging nations.

When browsing at Hutcraft in Historic Ellicott City, it's advised you walk slowly. With so many pretty whimsical items, it'd be easy to miss the one that strikes your fancy. It could be the curl-handled cup and saucer set from Vietnam, the Indonesian batik serving tray or the Peruvian knitted finger puppets. Ellicott City couple Vishal and Sheeba Cherian, owners of Hutcraft, have put together a shop featuring fair trade items -- those aimed at supporting producers and artisans in developing countries -- from more than 40 countries.

The student member on the Howard County school board was selected to take part in a program this month with an exclusive group of high school juniors. Adejire Bademosi went to Bentley University in Waltham, Mass., on April 16 as part of the 2009 Bentley Tomorrow25. Bademosi joined 24 other students from around the world for the conference that featured interaction with industry leaders about environmental change, fair trade, health care and charitable giving. Bademosi, a junior at Marriotts Ridge High, will appear along with the other students on the list in an ad in Time magazine as part of Bentley's advertising campaign.

Many Americans struggling through the current recession would be happy to endorse the "Buy America" provision in the recently passed stimulus bill. Clothing made in China, cars produced in Japan and store shelves stocked with imports provoke disgruntled complaints about lower-paid foreign workers. But our protective instincts are largely misguided. This country is too closely tied to the global economy to dig itself out of the current trouble without helping our trading partners recover too. Still, only 35 percent of the public thinks trade agreements have been good for the country, a recent survey shows.

William Haynes refuses to go on insulin. The retired Chicago UPS driver was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes 15 years ago and was supposed to start giving himself insulin injections two years ago. But he says swallowing daily pills for his diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol is enough of a chore. As a boy, he helped his mother and grandmother with their insulin shots. Now 59, he has decided: "I don't want to be hooked up on insulin for the rest of my life." Chronic illnesses account for 70 percent of all deaths in the United States, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

IN 1999, THOUSANDS gathered to protest the World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting in Seattle. In September 2003, thousands more will gather in Cancun, Mexico, as international leaders meet for the fifth WTO ministerial. These demonstrators will be demanding comprehensive reforms to an international trade system that has failed to improve the social and economic conditions for millions around the globe. The WTO model - forcing poor countries to open markets to wealthy nations - is not working.

Children's concert to be held today Chamber Music on the Hill presents "The Children's Corner: A Concert for Young People" featuring the Mistral Winds, Westminster Ballet Theatre and Kreider/Horneff Piano Duo at 3 p.m. today in WMC Alumni Hall. This concert was originally scheduled for Feb. 12. Tickets for that date will be honored. Tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for senior citizens at the door. Children and students with identification will be admitted free. Information: 410-857-2599.

To answer the question "What Would Jesus Do?" on Palm Sunday, an increasing number of churches have a new answer: fair-trade fronds. The re-enactment of Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem is traditionally marked annually by the feverish fluttering of palm fronds at services worldwide to usher in Holy Week, which ends with Easter Sunday. In Catonsville for the first time yesterday, more than 100 worshipers at Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church waved "eco-palms" shaped liked giant hands as a congregant dressed as Jesus entered the sanctuary up the center aisle.