Field Notes:
Fair Trade Full Circle
New Middle School
Green Community Award
Vanilla Growers help organize new school construction
It is always nice to see theory in action. It is our belief that Fair Trade relationships
reverberate around communities in positive ways, as producers gain confidence
and feel empowered to enact change. Last season, we were able to see this come
to pass in the small rural district of Imorona, near Mananara Nord.
After becoming the first farmers' association in the area to directly export their vanilla
to the United States, the President and Vice-President of the association helped to
organize a community-wide school building project. Going door to door for
community contributions, the association helped facilitate the construction of a local
middle school-- the only middle school in the district. The project was successful,
and classes began in the fall of 2006.
Now, students no longer have to walk long distances to the regional middle school,
or sleep away from their families in order to attend classes. It is the ultimate
example of reinvesting capital into the future of families, and serves as an
inspiration to our own communities back at home.
It is always nice to see theory in action. It is our belief that Fair Trade relationships
reverberate around communities in positive ways, as producers gain confidence
and feel empowered to enact change. Last season, we were able to see this come
to pass in the small rural district of Imorona, near Mananara Nord.
After becoming the first farmers' association in the area to directly export their vanilla
to the United States, the President and Vice-President of the association helped to
organize a community-wide school building project. Going door to door for
community contributions, the association helped facilitate the construction of a local
middle school-- the only middle school in the district. The project was successful,
and classes began in the fall of 2006.
Now, students no longer have to walk long distances to the regional middle school,
or sleep away from their families in order to attend classes. It is the ultimate
example of reinvesting capital into the future of families, and serves as an
inspiration to our own communities back at home.
Imorona receives "Green Community" award
Working with farmers in the district of Imorona, we are often struck by their strong
environmental ethic and sophisticated land management techniques. Agricultural
land exists interspersed with native forest, all production is organic, and families
regularly replant trees on their land.
We are apparently not alone in admiring the community’s land ethic. In their first
round of awards, ANGAP, the Malagasy park service, named Imorona a “Green
Commune” of Madagascar, recognizing the district’s commitment to environmental
stewardship.
Working with farmers in the district of Imorona, we are often struck by their strong
environmental ethic and sophisticated land management techniques. Agricultural
land exists interspersed with native forest, all production is organic, and families
regularly replant trees on their land.
We are apparently not alone in admiring the community’s land ethic. In their first
round of awards, ANGAP, the Malagasy park service, named Imorona a “Green
Commune” of Madagascar, recognizing the district’s commitment to environmental
stewardship.
Fair Trade Full Circle
In a tasty celebration, vanilla growers from the Mananara area got to taste the fruits
of their labor- in the form of a gourmet chocolate bar. The small-scale vanilla
growers, all members of the same farmers association, sold a shipment of their
gourmet, Bourbon vanilla beans to Scharffen Berger chocolates in San Francisco.
As part of the project, Scharffen Berger sent the growers a shipment of chocolate
bars, crafted from the association's own vanilla. All in all, a delicious example of fair
trade coming full circle.
In a tasty celebration, vanilla growers from the Mananara area got to taste the fruits
of their labor- in the form of a gourmet chocolate bar. The small-scale vanilla
growers, all members of the same farmers association, sold a shipment of their
gourmet, Bourbon vanilla beans to Scharffen Berger chocolates in San Francisco.
As part of the project, Scharffen Berger sent the growers a shipment of chocolate
bars, crafted from the association's own vanilla. All in all, a delicious example of fair
trade coming full circle.
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Copyright 2007, From the Field, Inc.
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| From the Field Trading Company |
| Fair trade products of Madagascar |