Trade As One

Hagar‘s work in Cambodia is remarkable. Their commitment to the most vulnerable people in their region includes those facing domestic abuse, rescued from slavery, kids with learning and physical disabilities, and more. We love being a part of their story, and will jump on every opportunity to spread the word about the work they’re doing on the front lines of poverty. As you watch the video below, remember that your purchases of Hagar’s (now StopStart) bags bring light and life to these kids. Have a look and pass it on.

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If you’d like to see all of the products we carry from Hagar, click here.

This will not be news to many of you who read this blog and purchase on our site, but Divine Chocolate is really good. It’s some tasty chocolate. But as is the case with all of the products we carry, the story is even sweeter. You can read the whole story here, but the gist is that the farmers own the company, and are directly impacted by every purchase. They have banded together to bring transparency, democracy, gender equality, and fairness into an industry and region that desperately needs it.

You will notice that are prices on Divine are going up a bit. This is just a temporary measure, because in order to ship chocolate in the hot summer months we need to package it with some insulation. The prices will come back down when the weather gets cooler, we promise.

We’re proud to work with them. Here’s a video that encapsulates (in about 30 seconds, impressive, no?) what they do.

Last year, Manchester Christian Church in New Hampshire decided that they were sick of the wanton consumerism that has come to define the Christmas season. With the help of Advent Conspiracy, they decided to do things a bit differently. So they opened up their church early on Black Friday, and invited their community to purchase fair trade holiday gifts, and use their spending to bring restoration to some of the world’s most desperate people. We think it was a pretty cool way to subvert consumerism and promote equity (and get some cool gifts). We thought it was a cool idea, so we asked them to put together a little video describing the process. Check it out below and let us know what you think.

Trade as One from Peter Marshall on Vimeo.

Our good friend Bart Edwards runs Hagar on Time in Cambodia. They produce many of the beautiful bags we sell here, (you can see their products here). At our event with Willow Creek Community Church last month, each person who placed an order received one of these luggage tags, and many of the folks at Willow Creek purchased Hagar bags. Bart recorded this message as a thank you. It’s a nice look in to their factory, and a welcome reminder that the purchasing decisions we make make every day have a direct impact in the developing world. Take a look:

We’re one weekend into our 3 week event with Willow Creek Community Church. One of the thrusts of the whole event is that our actions here in America have repercussions in the developing world, both for good and for evil. That message is powerful, and it reminds me of one of my favorite music videos: All I Need by Radiohead. It’s by no means new, but the message is powerful and timely. Take a look, and if you’re in the Chicago area this week, come and see us!