ELCA NEWS SERVICE October 5, 2004 Lutherans Exceed Goal Of Purchasing 90 Tons Of Coffee 04-186-MR CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Challenge millions of Lutherans across the country to purchase 90 tons of "fairly traded" coffee in a year, and not only will they exceed that challenge but work to push it further. Through "Pour Justice to the Brim: The 90-Ton Challenge," Lutherans purchased 99 tons of fairly traded coffee as of Oct. 1 and, in the process, affected lives and raised social justice issues. In October 2003 Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the women's organization of the church, Lutheran World Relief (LWR) and Equal Exchange, a U.S. worker-owned fair- trade organization, started the 90-Ton Challenge to encourage Lutherans to buy fair-trade coffee, direct attention to the fair- trade process and help farmers around the world finance their coffee production. Equal Exchange tracked coffee sales from Oct. 1, 2003, to Sept. 30, 2004. LWR is the overseas relief and development ministry of the ELCA and Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. The challenge was first announced in Lutheran Woman Today, the magazine of Women of the ELCA. A "main point that we wanted to embrace" with the challenge was "to raise awareness of the fair-trade process and explore what 'fair trade' means to the people who produce coffee," said Nancy J. Goldberger, editor, Lutheran Woman Today. More than 20 million coffee farmers around the world struggle to make a simple living and maintain adequate health care and education for their children. One way Lutherans have supported and continue to support coffee farmers is by purchasing quality coffee directly from farmers in a process called "fair trade." "We also wanted to get people interested, involved and use dollars that they spend for coffee to be channeled through a fair and equitable system that not only provides a good product but directly benefits the people who produce coffee, so that they might have a quality of living that is more acceptable," Goldberger said. "The 90-Ton Challenge has been wonderful and educational, and the energy behind it has been great," she said. "I want to encourage people to sustain this effort, to make fair trade a part of their home, congregation and even work, encouraging businesses to support fair trade." Goldberger noted, "The goal is not to continue to have to buy fair trade, necessarily, but hopefully that we become educated enough and we empower ourselves enough so that we can change the systems, so that more of our dealings with producers of foods and goods at home and abroad [yields] more fairly-traded items. It's where we're going as people of faith." Goldberger traveled to El Salvador and met with a group of coffee farmers and their families in January 2003. A purpose of the trip "was to learn about El Salvador --the people, the history and the current situation. We met with fair trade cooperatives and coffee farmers from Los Colinas to El Pinal, hearing their stories, struggles and hopes," she said. "The 90-Ton Challenge has generated so much involvement across Women of the ELCA, sparking awareness of buying habits and driving women to explore fair trade issues," said Linda Post Bushkofsky, executive director, Women of the ELCA. "Women in this church have responded to their baptismal call to strive for peace and justice in all the earth, offering a strong public witness of their faith," she said. Mary Ellen Kiesner, president of Women of the ELCA, Menomonee Falls, Wis., will lead a group of women on a study visit -- "On the Roof of Africa: Women-to-Women Coffee Tour" -- Nov. 3-18 in Tanzania to learn about fair-trade coffee. LWR is planning the study trip specifically for Women of the ELCA. Some objectives of the trip include connecting faith with consumer choices; understanding how fair trade makes a difference for small-scale coffee farmers, their families and their communities; learning the difference between free trade and fair trade; and understanding the root causes of poverty. As a follow-up to "Pour Justice to the Brim," the December issue of Lutheran Woman Today will include a special six-page section that highlights the influence of the challenge on people in the United States, and how becoming aware of fair trade has changed their lives. The section will also feature stories of some coffee-farming families and how the 90-Ton Challenge has impacted their lives. The section also includes a litany to celebrate the success of the challenge, as well as to encourage sustaining the fair trade process. - - - Information about "Pour Justice to the Brim: The 90-Ton Challenge" is maintained at http://www.womenoftheelca.org/ on the Internet. For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/news