History             Presbyterian Links/Advocacy                Global Marketplace/Shop Fair Trade

In 1999, Setauket Presbyterian Church made its first public commitment to Fair Trade by adopting a Sweat-Free purchasing policy for all apparel. Since that time, Mission Fair shirts, youth group shirts, and the shirts worn by children in the Presbyterian Pre-school have been purchased from companies which guarantee a fair wage to their workers or suppliers and which have transparent, monitored supply chains. Our session (along with other congregations and clergy in the area) advocated that Ward Melville High School adopt a sweatfree purchasing policy. The policy was approved and while not comprehensive in scope or enforcement, has been an important first step toward using public institutional power to ensure fair pay and conditions for workers producing the products we use.

In 2002, our congregation began supporting the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, farmworkers who are working to advance human rights in the US fields by demanding socially responsible purchasing from the fast-food and grocery industries. Through this partnership we began to learn more about our global economy and our power as consumers through sermons, church school, youth programs, adult education workshops as well as mission and travel opportunities. Through the efforts of the CIW and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), McDonald’s and Yum! Brands (Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut, Long John Silver’s and A&W Restaurants) have won agreements with the farmworkers which improve wages and working conditions for tomato harvesters. Now we are calling on Burger King to work with the CIW towards this end.

In the fall of 2005, a portion of the annual Peacemaking Offering was sent to Oikocredit, an international Christian credit organization that “turns investment into hope” through micro-credit lending practices. Then, in the spring of 2006, the youth groups adopted the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Enough for Everyone program as the recipient of their Swing-a-thon mission funds. These funds were divided between two projects. Three-quarters of the money was sent to the Nueva Vida Women’s Sewing Cooperative in Nicaragua, from whom we purchase our t-shirts. The rest was used to start our local Presbyterian Coffee Project. Since that time, fairly-traded coffee, tea, cocoa and chocolate have been sold on Sunday mornings between services.

During Lent 2007, the Palms used in worship to celebrate Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem were purchased from the Eco-Palm Project, which serves to increase farmers wages and protect our eco-system. In the Fall, we co-sponsored a conference on Human Trafficking and Modern-Day Slavery on Long Island: Basic Tool for an Effective Response which was led by the Freedom Network Training Institute. The event educated members of the broader community in the global and corporate policies that help to create conditions where slavery flourishes. And now, for Advent 2007, the youth groups have transformed the venerable Christmas Boutique into a “Fair Christmas” Christmas Fair, supporting fair-trade and promoting alternative-giving during the Christmas season. As we continue to learn about our global economy and our responsibilities as consumers and citizens within it, we will continue to seek news ways to promote Fair-Trade purchasing and Just-Trade policies.

The following links have been gathered together to help members of our church and community find ways to seek justice as consumers of conscience.

Presbyterian Links / Advocacy

The Enough for Everyone program of the (PC)USA contains links to Equal Exchange and the Presbyterian Coffee Project as well as to several providers of Sweat-Free T’s, including Nueva Vida in Nicaragua.

The Just Trade pages provide many resources for understanding our global economy, along with current Presbyterian policies and opportunities for public advocacy of trade justice. Every activist will wish to stop here. The PC(USA) Campaign for Fair Food provides links to the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and the current campaign against Burger King. We have also benefitted from resources provided by Freedom Network USA.

Global Marketplace

Those who wish to purchase gifts, food, and apparel are encouraged to visit the Marketplace Partners of the Presbyterian Global Marketplace, a traveling fair-trade store that appears at Presbyterian events and to look at the Enough For Everyone programs. Several of these partners will be featured at the SPC Advent Christmas fair, including Zuni Gourmet Peanuts of Zuni Presbyterian Homes in Virginia, A Greater Gift / Serrv International, the Women’s Bean Project in Colorado, and The People’s Market (El Salvador).

Moving beyond our mission partners, The Fair Trade Federation is a good place to start when looking for all manner of fair-trade products.

Those looking for clothing might consider Justice Clothing, an organization we met at “Clean Clothes and Fair Food: A Conference to Promote Justice in Factories and Fields” at Columbia University in NYC in spring 2007. Just Shirts is another place to buy basic Ts, and we should not forget that Global Exchange supplies more than just coffee.

Finally, as this page was being put together we learned that the brother of a member of our church runs a fair-trade store, based in Maine, which has recently expanded to online shopping. Please visit the Culler families store Fair Trade Winds to help alleviate poverty and increase social responsibility through fair trade.

Fun for the Holidays

Have a little (serious) fun and check out Rev. Billy and the Church of Stop-Shopping. Bill’s new film, What Would Jesus Buy?, produced by Morgan Spurlock (Supersize Me) is out just in time for the holidays. If you can’t see the film, check out his interview on Democracy Now with Amy Goodman (you can find it on youtube).