Overview: Fair Trade in La Mesa
It was buoying to see Anne buzzing among the vendors, ensuring they had everything they needed and were ready for the customers. I’m proud of our citizens, who showed up to support Fair Trade vendors, such as Lumily and Mission Heights Chocolate.
Fair Trade is a concept that is both simple and complex.
Fair trade is, as its name suggests, a partnership intended to seek greater equity in international trade. “It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers,” Fair Trade International says.
What this means is that when you buy a Fair Trade Certified product, you are supporting fair compensation to the farmers and artisans producing that product.
These wages are based on the actual cost of production, factoring in the time, skill, and effort required to grow or manufacture that product. While they may not be North American standards, they are considered living wages in the countries where the products are made.
La Mesa was officially declared a “Fair Trade Town USA” in 2012 by former Mayor Art Madrid. Since then, St. Martin of Tours Parish has hosted the Fair Trade Fair every year, except for during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic years.
At that time, I had the fortune to meet Anne Pacheco, who is the kind of person everyone needs in their corner. She is earnest, kind, and devoted to the Fair Trade movement, which she and Nancy Ryan helped establish in our Jewel of the Hills.
This year, I joined Anne in organizing the Fair Trade Fair, held Nov. 30.
It was buoying to see Anne buzzing among the vendors, ensuring they had everything they needed and were ready for the customers. I’m proud of our citizens, who showed up to support Fair Trade vendors, such as Lumily and Mission Heights Chocolate.
Lumily is an accessories company owned by Giovanna Mantilla, a City Heights resident who also runs the Free Sourdough Project, an idea born of Giovanna’s desire to help families facing the loss of their SNAP benefits during the federal shutdown.
When Giovanna gives you bread, it feels like your favorite neighbor showed up at your door with a freshly baked loaf.
She also happily gives away sourdough starters from her 100-year starter, so you can make your own sourdough. It reminds me of the proverbial fish lesson: Giovanna isn’t just giving away bread; she is encouraging you to make bread for life.
Mission Heights Chocolate is another local Fair Trade business, run by Camille and Dan McKenna, with a brick-and-mortar store on Midway Drive.
Mission Heights Chocolate operates with several goals in mind, including “to empower communities through schools, clean water, and supporting women’s empowerment initiatives” and “eliminating child labor in cocoa farming through awareness programs and increasing farmers’ income who do not rely on child labor.”
According to Fair Trade USA, among a group of 2,000 cocoa farmers in the Ivory Coast, “primary school education levels increased from about 65 to 80 percent in 2013 due to the effective spending of Fair Trade premiums on education initiatives.”
For these kinds of results to occur, there needs to be investment by chocolatiers, such as Mission Heights. Anne, Giovanna, and the McKennas are just a few of the people within the Fair Trade community who inspire one to take up the mantle of global stewardship.
In an age when it is easy to withdraw from society, it is more important than ever to fight to preserve the dignity of our human connection.
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