Fair Trade Thurday: Economic Justice with Jubilee Oregon!

Thursday, April 19th is our next installment of our Fair Trade Thursdays! This month, we will have a special presentation by one of the NWFTC's partner organizations, Jubilee Oregon. Jubilee will be hosting a 20-min excerpt from the film, The End of Poverty? After the film, there will be a discussion about global poverty, possible solutions, and how you can get involved.

“Global poverty did not just happen. It began with military conquest, slavery and colonization that resulted in the seizure of land, minerals and forced labor. Today, the problem persists because of unfair debt, trade and tax policies — in other words, wealthy countries taking advantage of poor, developing countries.” Please join us for an engaging and informative conversation.

The mission of the Jubilee movement is to reduce global poverty. They do this by fighting for the 99% to assure that people’s needs are addressed fairly and equitably. Jubilee Oregon advocates for debt cancellation and responsible lending and borrowing practices in the countries of the Global South. Since the debt crisis has made its way north, we have brought our work home by including foreclosure and student debt to the issues that we work on. We see the similarities of the plight of poor countries in developing countries with Greece, Spain, Ireland and other countries in the developed world.

Thursday, April 19

7:00 – 8:30 p.m.

doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Equal Exchange

1033 SE Main

enjoy fair trade snacks ~ engaging discussion and resources ~ fair trade raffle ~ products available for purchase

RSVP NOW! Find the event here, and invite your friends!

ALSO! Be a part of the Fair Trade Community and Help us build Portland’s Fair Trade Directory!

What stores in your neighborhood should be on our list? Let us know via the comments section or facebook!

Fair Trade your Favorite Recipe!

There are many ways you can Fair Trade your life. You can take care to buy sweatshop labor-free clothing, keep an eye out for the Fair Trade Label, and support local fair trade businesses like us!

But what about when you're cooking for your family? There are some great substitutions you can make in your kitchen to help fair trade your dinners, desserts, and more!

Here is one of my favorite recipes, which I originally got from a can of Premium Cocoa. Not Fair Trade. So I grabbed this recipe, a can of Equal Exchange Organic Fair Trade Baking Cocoa, and some Fair Trade Organic sugar from Wholesome Sweeteners. It was a smash hit! I got the cocoa from the Portland EE Office--1033 SE Main st. and the sugar from a Roth's store in Salem. You can buy both online as well.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Stick (1/2 C) butter
• 1/2 C EE baking cocoa
• 1 C WS sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 C all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 C chopped nuts (optional)

For all ingredients, if you can't find them fair trade, try to find them from a reputable source. For instance, try and get your eggs and butter from a local farm or a neighbor who raises chickens--we Portlanders have plenty of those! :)

Also--the store I went to didn't have the small-grain sugar, so I used the WS Turbinado sugar. It has larger grains, and more of a molasses flavor to it. It worked really well; the sugar that remained at the top of the pan gave it a nice crunchy topping and the sugar inside the mix dissolved well.

WHAT TO DO:

• Preheat oven to 350 and grease an 8x8 brownie pan
• Melt the butter over the stove or in a med. microwave-safe bowl
• Add the cocoa to the melted butter and stir until combined.
• Add sugar and mix well
• Add eggs one at a time, and beat well
• Stir in vanilla, flour, and salt
• DO NOT OVERBEAT!
• Fold in nuts, if you like
• Spread in pan and bake 25-30 min or until toothpick comes out clean.
  

ENJOY! Let us know of any other Fair Trade substitutions you like to make and why!

And if you're in the mood for something to go along with your Equal Exchange Coffee, try your hand at these yummy Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti!