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Have you ever heard the phrase Justice Not Charity.  It applies to our understanding of the Gospel in so many ways.  This year we are turning the tables Upside down and instead of gathering in our harvest for the poor - we are going out to bring in the harvest of the poor and buying their harvest at fair market prices.  That's so that they can earn a living and provide for their families and not be held back by continually receiving charity donations.  The craft makers and artisans from all over the world need a chance to make a living for themselves and being able to sell their crafts in new markets gives them hope.

It's an early chance to shop for Christmas gifts and buy products that help to save lives and make a difference in the world.  So come out and support this Sale on Thanksgiving Sunday - you won't be disappointed.

Fair Trade - Trade With a Conscience

Men and women around the world have a simple dream – to earn an honest living, to provide for their children and to be gainfully employed in a job that brings dignity and joy. Ten Thousand Villages partners with thousands of talented artisans in healthy business relationships.

Often referred to as 'fair trade', our philosophy of helping to build a sustainable future is based on the principle that trade should have a conscience. Through 'fair trade' artisans receive the respect, dignity and hope that comes from working hard and earning fair value for their work.

Basic Principles of Fair Trade

The International Fair Trade Association (IFAT) outlines several key principles that are essential to fair trade.

1. Creating opportunities for economically disadvantaged producers
   Fair trade is a strategy for poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Its purpose is to create opportunities for producers who have been economically disadvantaged or marginalized by the conventional trading system.
2. Transparency and accountability
   Fair trade involves transparent management and commercial relations to deal fairly and respectfully with trading partners.
3. Capacity building
   Fair trade is a means to develop producers’ independence. Fair trade relationships provide continuity, during which producers and their marketing organizations can improve their management skills and their access to new markets.
4. Payment of a fair price
   A fair price in the regional or local context is one that has been agreed upon through dialogue and participation. It covers not only the costs of production but enables production which is socially just and environmentally sound. It provides fair pay to the producers and takes into account the principle of equal pay for equal work by women and men. Fair traders ensure prompt payment to their partners and, whenever possible, help producers with access to pre-harvest or pre-production financing.
5. Gender equity
   Fair trade means that women’s work is properly valued and rewarded. Women are always paid for their contribution to the production process and are empowered in their organizations.
6. Working conditions
   Fair trade means a safe and healthy working environment for producers. The participation of children (if any) does not adversely affect their well-being, educational requirements and need for play and conforms to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as the laws and norms in the local context.
7. The environment
   Fair trade actively encourages sound environmental practices and the application of responsible methods of production.

Underlying Principles of Ten Thousand Villages

At Ten Thousand Villages, we stand behind IFAT and have also added a few principles of our own:

1. We honour the value of seeking to bring justice and hope to the poor.
2. We trade with artisan groups who pay fair wages and demonstrate concern for their members’ welfare.
3. We provide consistent purchases, advances and prompt final payments to artisans.
4. We increase market share in North America for fairly traded handicrafts.
5. We market quality products that are crafted by otherwise underemployed artisans.
6. We build sustainable operations using a variety of sales channels, including a network of stores with a common identity.
7. We choose handicrafts that reflect and reinforce rich cultural traditions, that are environmentally sensitive and which appeal to North American consumers.
8. We encourage North American customers to learn about fair trade and to appreciate artisans’ cultural heritage and life circumstances with joy and respect.
9. We use resources carefully and value volunteers who work in our North American operations.

THIS YEAR we will be enhancing our Thanksgiving observance with the addition of two very important projects.  One is called UPSIDE DOWN THANKSGING and the other is called EXTENDING THE TABLE.

UPSIDE DOWN THANKSGIVING

Every year we celebrate the harvest and the bounty we have received as a gift from God.  And every year we pause to give thanks that the work of the harvest is over and the crop is “safely gathered in” in the words of the familiar hymn.  Many of us recognize what the harvest means if we have worked on a farm or even read about the lifestyle of farmers across Canada and throughout the world.  Giving thanks also moves our hearts to share the harvest with others and offer them a portion of our labour from our abundance.

The reality is, we have not currently experienced the risks and hardships that others have faced and are facing on a daily basis and we are not producers of raw food, but rather we are consumers with huge appetites for taking more than our fair share of the wealth of the world.  UPSIDE DOWN THANKSGIVING, reminds us of that fact and in place of gathering together a display of the romantic harvest we imagine with sheaves of wheat and cornucopias of fruits and vegetables bought in stores and then following that up with giving charity to others who are less fortunate – instead we gather in the harvest of the World in the crafts and products of poverty stricken artisans who lend us their talents – so that we can give them “Justice not Charity” by buying their products at Fair Market Value.  It all happens in reverse.  We buy instead of give and we shop at full price not looking for WalMart bargains and cheap prices so we can save at other’s expense.

To learn more about Ten Thousand Villages pick up one of their flyers at the back of the Chapel.  Watch the videos that will be shown in our worship services describing the work that is going on to raise people out of poverty.  It’s an amazing story how young women in India survive by participating in small cooperatives to produce paper, cloth and other crafts.  How farmers in Tanzania and Bolivia earn full price for their coffee beans and not “sweat wages” from the huge Nabobs and Nescafe corporations who charge enormous profits for North America’s favourite drink.  Not a cent of those profits help the poor who must pay currency for their daily food because all of their land belongs to these corporations and there is no place else to grow food for the table.

In the days leading up to the Thanksgiving weekend there will be more publicity out on this project and opportunities to volunteer to help this cause.  One of the events will be a Global Dining Experience where the foods on the menu and the prices reflect our North American delicacies – Prime Rib, Pizza, Pheasant Under Glass! And the prices aren’t cheap, but instead of receiving what you order – everyone at the Global Dining Experience receives a handful of plain rice and a small cup of water.  The Daily ration for a family of poverty.  Nevertheless, we collect the prices on the menu and issue charitable receipts and give the money to Ten Thousand Villages just the same.  And we also remind you that tipping is allowed at 17% minimum as if you were at one of the finest restaurants in the world.

The other event is called EXTENDING THE TABLE.  Here is where we gather food for our local Food Bank in the Petawawa and Pembroke regions.  The event takes place after Thanksgiving on World Food Day and reminds us of the covenant we have with God to become good stewards of the land.  We are looking to fill our trunk at the back of the Chapel and contribute in a significant way to the operation of the Local Food Bank.  Here is where we get to shop for all kinds of non perishable food items, and give cash donations for the Food Bank to purchase the other food items needed for milk, and fresh fruits and vegetables.

Watch for both of these projects and volunteer to assist with them – we need your support.

Petawawa