Fair Trade Judaica Products

 
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A.M. Stein

A.M. Stein Art Imports is dedicated to giving art collectors and lovers of indigenous culture an opportunity to purchase unique and extraordinary works of art. The promotion of these works helps to keep alive the highly artistic and accomplished traditions of the Mayan people of Guatemala.

Judaica items include challah covers, kippot, banners, cards, and linens (including placemats, tablecloths, napkins, table runners).

These Judaica products are made by Mayan women working in cooperatives that are members of the Fair Trade Federation.

Products can be ordered directly from their website, www.amsteinart.com, or from retailers listed on the website.    

Ada Mae Crouse, Owner
A.M. Stein Art Imports
3804 Highland Drive #7
Salt Lake City, UT 84106, USA
info@amsteinart.com
www.amsteinart.com


African Home

African Home offers a range of traditional African products ranging from home décor to functional home ware as well as gifts and accessories, based on the finest aesthetic and artistic traditional workmanship. Marketing these products while developing new products creates work for disadvantaged communities with high levels of unemployment. African Home maintains and practices a strong commitment to environmental awareness. Accordingly, all materials used in their products are consistent with, and promoting of, the sustainability of the natural resources of South Africa. For example, the wood they use is sourced from fallen trees within sustainable forests or driftwood. Many natural and local products are used, such as reeds, weeds, clay, paper and wire.

African Home is a member of IFAT.

Judaica products include earthenware Seder plates, Matza plates, Kiddush cups, apple and honey sets for Rosh Hashanah, and mezuzot; organza matza and challah covers, wire-made apple-shaped honey containers, greeting cards, and kippot made from recycled aluminum cans.

Products can be ordered directly from their website.    

Claudette Davis
+27(0)21-551-1052
+27(0)83-650-1985
claudette@africanhome.co.za
www.africanhome.co.za/relijewi.htm


Asian World Imports

Asian World Imports is a shop and gallery committed to promoting and celebrating global cultural diversity and offering exquisite, authentic items to fit all budgets. They are committed to supporting indigenous cultures by utilizing fair trade principles, including the payment of fair living wages, supporting environmentally sustainable projects, respecting cultural identity, promoting safe and healthy working conditions and discouraging forced and exploitive child labor. Their products are made from natural materials including silk, hemp, wool and wood.

Asian World Imports is a member of the Fair Trade Federation.

Judaica products include hand-carved bone dreidels (from water buffalo) and Star of David paper (blue with silver stars).

Products can be purchased at their store in New York, on their website, or through email requests. Wholesale purchases are done on a case by case basis for individual businesses    

Robin Rhodes-Crowell
Asian World Imports
1168 State Highway 68
Canton, NY 13617
Phone: (315) 714-2119
Fax: (315) 714-2206
info@asianworldimports.com
www.asianworldimports.com


Casa Bonampak

Casa Bonampak is a fair trade community store that specializes in preserving Mexican Folk art and traditions. The products they carry come from indigenous artisans from the state of Chiapas and Central Mexico. They pay artisans fair prices and are dedicated to creating a more socially and economically just global trading system.

Casa Bonampak is a member of the Fair Trade Federation.

Judaica products include two blue and white paper-cut banners: one a mini-Shalom banner (3 ft. long-ten mini sheets (2"x3.5"), and a Shalom Decorative Banner (18 ft. long with ten sheets (14" x 19") depicting the Star of David, a menorah, "Shalom" in English and Hebrew, "Mazel Tov" & a dreidel.

Judaica products can be purchased at their store in San Francisco's Mission District or directly on-line: http://www.casabonampak.com/shlabpapiba.html.    

Casa Bonampak
3331 24th Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(888) PACHANGA (722-4264)
info@casabonampak.com
www.casabonampak.com


Divine Chocolate

Divine Chocolate, founded in Britain in 1998, counts cocoa farmers as its biggest group of shareholders. Kuapa Kokoo, Ghana's largest co-operative, with a membership of 45,000 cocoa growers, owns 45% of Divine and has two seats on its board. Divine bought 1,200 tons of cocoa from Kuapa Kokoo in 2006, all of it on Fairtrade terms. This constituted only 2% of the cocoa beans producted; the remaining 98% of the co-op's production is sold at commodity prices to Ghana's state-run marketing board. In 2007 Divine launched an American affiliate that is one-third owned by Kuapa Kokoo.

Divine Chocolate USA is a member of the Fair Trade Federation and is licensed by TransFair; the U.K. headquarters is a member of IFAT.

Judaica products include Kosher-certified (K Meshulash ) Divine Milk Chocolate Coins which can be used as Chanukah gelt; they are only available seasonally (winter time). Each bag weighs 80 grams. One side reads "Ghana Freedom and Justice" and the other side reads "Fair Deal for Cocoa Growers".

Chocolate coins can be purchased online at www.serrv.org and www.globalexchangestore.org. They are also available at Whole Foods and Wegmans stores. Judaica stores can purchase them by contacting Divine Chocolate.    

1730 Connecticut Ave. NW, 2nd Floor
Washington, DC 20009
(202) 332-8913
info@divinechocolateusa.com
www.divinechocolateusa.com


Global Exchange

Global Exchange is a membership-based international human rights organization dedicated to promoting social, economic and environmental justice around the world. The mission of Global Exchange's Fair Trade Program is to successfully market fairly-traded products in order to (1) increase benefits for producers and consumers through economic fairness, mutual respect, and understanding, and (2) build support for a more sustainable system of trade. They strive to pay a fair price to disadvantaged producers and to support producer-initiated efforts to improve their quality of life. In addition, they seek to increase understanding and activism of U.S. consumers about unfair trade practices and the fair trade alternative.

Global Exchange is a member of the Fair Trade Federation.

Judaica items include notecards, shalom banner, hand-painted menorahs, beeswax Chanukah menorah candles and a Chanukah gift basket.

Products can be ordered directly from their website, www.globalexchangestore.org or from their three stores, two in the California Bay Area and one in Portland. To order the Chanukah candles wholesale, contact www.bigdipperwaxworks.com.    

Global Exchange Online Store
110 Capp Street, Second floor
San Francisco, CA 94110
(800) 505-4410; (415) 553-4412
Tex Dworkin, Manager of On-line store
tex@globalexchange.org
www.globalexchangestore.org


Global Goods Partners

Global Goods Partners is dedicated to alleviating poverty and promoting social justice by strengthening women-led development initiatives for marginalized communities in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. A nonprofit endeavor, Global Goods pursues this mission by partnering with organizations, associations, and cooperatives worldwide that integrate their commitment to community development - specifically, improvements in education, health, women’s rights, and employment opportunities - with socially responsible income-generating enterprises. Global Goods provides its partners with direct access to new markets in the United States, increasing both their revenue and global awareness of their work. Global Goods uses proceeds from product sales to provide technical assistance and grant support to its partners, assisting them in building stronger, more effective programs.

Global Goods is a member of the Fair Trade Federation in the U.S.

Judaica products include kippot and challah covers from South Africa, and mezuzot by a group of Ethiopian women in Israel.

Products can be ordered directly from their website. Individuals or groups interested in fair trade merchandise for fundraising efforts can contact them directly by telephone or e-mail.    

115 W 30th Street
Suite 400
New York, NY 10001
(212) 461-3647
info@globalgoodspartners.org
www.globalgoodspartners.org


Mayan Hands

Mayan Hands is a small fair trade organization that has been working with Mayan weavers since 1989. They work with more than 275 women, organized in groups of 12 to 50 women, living in twelve different communities throughout Guatemala.

Mayan Hands' mission is to assist these women in their quest to raise themselves out of poverty. Working with fair trade, the women can count on a modest, and just as important, a regular income that enables their families to eat better, send their children to school, improve their homes and even save a little. Selling their handwoven textiles at a fair price, the women are gaining control over their lives. In addition to assisting the weavers with technical difficulties, design of new products, credit to buy equipment and raw materials, and simply providing work on a steady basis (our main focus), Mayan Hands purchases school supplies for all of the weavers' school-age children (almost 400).

Mayan Hands is a proud member of the Fair Trade Federation.

Judaica products include bookmarks and cards, challah and matzoh covers and towels.

Products can be purchased by contacting Mayan Hands directly.    

Mary Joan Ferrara-Marsland
9607 Dr. Perry Rd.
Suite #114
Ijamsville, MD 21754
Phone:(301) 515-5911
Fax: (240) 436-6453
info@upavim-mayanhands.org
www.mayanhands.org


MayaWorks

MayaWorks is a non-profit volunteer organization that markets the work of Mayan artisans in Guatemala who otherwise have no outlet for their handiwork. MayaWorks pays artisans at prices they set, assuring a fair wage. MayaWorks returns all sales profits to the artisans, funding scholarships and training programs, and provides micro-credit to the artisans and their families. Products are designed in collaboration with North Americans, blending contemporary ideas with traditional Mayan art.

MayaWorks is a proud member of the Fair Trade Federation in the U.S.

Judaica products include beaded mezuzot, crocheted kippot, woven peace banners, Chanukah table runners, and pencil cases/gift bag.

Products can be ordered on-line or by phone.    

1732 W. Hubbard St. Suite 1A
Chicago, IL 60622
(312) 243-8050
info@mayaworks.org
www.mayaworks.org


Mirembe Kawomera "Delicious Peace" Coffee

Mirembe Kawomera means "Delicious Peace" in the Ugandan language Luganda. It is the name of a Ugandan cooperative of Abayudaya (Jewish), Muslim and Christian coffee farmers. The farmers are guaranteed a fair price for their coffee, thereby supporting the 558 farmers of the Peace Kawomera Cooperative and their families. The coffee is imported, roasted, and distributed by Thanksgiving Coffee Company, located in Fort Bragg, CA. $1 from the sale of every package is rebated back to the Cooperative, on top of paying Fair Trade prices to support their community-based projects.

The coffee is Certified Fair Trade through TransFair USA.

The coffee is certified Kosher (Igud Hakashrus of Los Angeles, Kehilla Kosher) and OCIA certified organic.

Coffee can be ordered directly from the website (www.mirembekawomera.com) for home use, as well as over the phone for wholesale orders (fundraisers, synagogues, bar/bat mitzvah projects, gifts, etc).    

Mail Order: (800) 648-6491
Wholesale Orders: 800-462-1999 ext 49
Holly Moskowitz is the Director of the Delicious Peace Coffee Project
holly@thanksgivingcoffee.com
(800) 462-1999 ext. 49


Olive Branch Enterprises

Peace Oil is distributed through Olive Branch Enterprises established in 2006 to provide incentives for economic interdependence between Israelis and Palestinians.

The extra virgin olive oil is exported with the help of three fair trade groups. Sindyanna of Galilee, a member of IFAT, is a group of Arab and Jewish women working together for social progress, combining sales of Arab goods with community work to promote land preservation, environmental quality, women’s empowerment and labor rights. Green Action Israel actively promotes protection and renewal of the earth’s natural resources as well as the social sustainability of disadvantaged communities. Green Action works with farmers in three small villages near Nablus in the West Bank to help them export the olive oil that is used in Peace Oil. The third fair trade group, Canaan Fair Trade, is the marketing arm of the Palestine Fair Trade Association, representing 1,700 farmers in Palestine.

   

Olive oil can be ordered directly from their website.

Olive Branch Enterprises
David Sokal
P.O. Box 22683
Seattle WA 98122
(206) 322-8748
dsokal@msn.com
www.peaceoil.biz


Sindyanna

Sindyanna of Galilee is a non-profit association registered by the Ministry of the Interior of Israel since 1996. It works among the Arab population in the Galilee region and seeks to help producers from the Palestinian Occupied Territories. It is a women-led organization, combining commercial activity with community work.

Sindyanna is a unique organization based on cooperation between Jews and Arabs, striving to strengthen the economy of the Palestinian population, both in Israel and in the occupied territories. Sindyanna is not only a way to help farmers from the south, but also a way to show that solutions for the Middle East conflict start from creating real economic opportunities.

Sindyanna is a member of IFAT.

Products include organic olive oil, baskets, carob syrup, olive oil soap, and za’atar.

Products can be ordered through SERRV International, by calling their customer service department at 1-800-422-5915 or on their website: www.serrv.org. In Israel, Sindyanna products can be found at St Andrew’s Scottish Guest House, 1 David Remez Street in Jerusalem.    

Hadas Lahav
Phone: 972-4-651-6784
P.O. Box 35252
Tel Aviv, ISRAEL 61351
Sindyan@netvision.net.il
www.sindyanna.com


Ten Thousand Villages

Ten Thousand Villages is a nonprofit fair trade organization that markets handcrafted products made by artisans from more than 120 artisan groups in 35 countries. As one of the world’s oldest and largest fair trade organizations, Ten Thousand Villages has spent more than 60 years cultivating long-term buying relationships in which artisans receive a fair price for their work and consumers have access to unique gifts, accessories and home décor from around the world. At Ten Thousand Villages, fair trade is a partnership based on dialogue, mutual understanding, respect and direct contact between ourselves and our artisan partners in developing countries.

Ten Thousand Villages is a founding member of the International Fair Trade Association (IFAT) and a member of the Fair Trade Federation (FTF).

Judaica items include silver Chanukah menorahs and papier-mache dreidels.

Judaica products can be purchased online at their website: www.tenthousandvillages.com/catalog/shop.php.    

Andrew Martin, E-Commerce Manager
Phone: (717) 859-8141
Fax: (717) 859-2622
andrew.martin@tenthousandvillages.com
www.tenthousandvillages.com


Women's Work

Women's Work is a fair trade store that sells crafts to enable women to live their desired, chosen way of life. The pottery is made as income generation for the local artists who live in Zimbabwe.

Judaica items include ceramic mezzuzot, kiddish sets, candle sticks, and wine bottles. The ceramics are dishwasher safe, although not microwaveable, and use glazes that meet United States standards for food safety.

Women's Work is a member of the Fair Trade Federation, and the owner, Cecilia Dinio Durkin, is a proud board member.

Products can be purchased by email or phone, or at their store in New York.    

Cecilia Dinio Durkin
Women's Work
66 Main St
Cold Spring, NY 10516, USA
(845) 809-5299
cecilia@womensworkbw.com
www.womensworkbw.com


Photos L to R: African Home, MayaWorks, Global Goods Partners
Copyright © 2007, 2008 Ilana Schatz and David Lingren. All rights reserved.