Fair Trade Farmers

Hmm...it's well below zero here in Chicago--sure makes me wish I was back in Nicaragua! I traveled there a couple of weeks ago to meet with some of the farmers who produce Fair Trade coffee. It was a great trip--the best part was getting to see how the Fair Trade movement (comercio justo en español) has really made a noticeable difference in the lives of the families who participate.

For example, about ten years ago, the price of coffee on the open market crashed, and Ventura Rodriguez nearly lost his farm. Not only that, but the crisis threatened to split apart his family. The oldest boys had to leave the family farm to search for work in other parts of the country.

Lutheran World Relief, one of the partners through which ELCA World Hunger funds are channeled, responded to the coffee crisis by launching a focused effort to organize farmers into the Fair Trade movement and to organize U.S. Lutherans to buy Fair Trade certified coffee. This partnership made it possible for Ventura, and hundreds of farmers like him to survive the crisis and actually build back stronger. Ventura's family is back together farming their land, and the farm is now a model example of shade-grown, organic production.

Here's another cool thing: the farmers of these Fair Trade cooperatives that LWR has helped organize are becoming known in the gourmet coffee industry because they are producing top-notch beans. Intelligentsia, a Chicago-based coffee roaster known for brewing nothing but the best, has been buying coffee produced by co-ops affiliated with LWR, including Las Brumas.

¡Sí, se puede!

Where is she tonight?

I spend some time most every week at the library. In the past month or so, I've noticed a homeless woman who seems to be spending quite a lot of time there, too. She's always in the same chair, with a couple of small bags in the chair next to her. Most days, she also has three or four books on the little table that swings from the arm of her chair. Last week, she was walking around in her stocking feet as her boots dried next to the baseboard heater. I remember thinking that it looked like a fairly pleasant way to spend the afternoon - probably a welcome respite. But then again, I thought, what do I know?

When I was at the library today, she was there too, with her nose in a book, just like me. It was 41 degrees or so outside at the time, positively balmy for Chicago in January. But now, at 9:30 p.m., my outdoor thermometer says it's 7, and with the windchill, I'm sure it's well below zero. The poor weatherman on TV is looking miserable as the snow blows sideways around him. And I'm sure he's only out for a few minutes!

I wonder where my fellow-reader is right now. These are the Chicago suburbs. There's not a series of warming centers like in the city. I know Journeys from PADS to HOPE offers shelter around here, as do PADS organziations throughout the suburbs. I hope she's able to get to one - or has some other warm place to go. And as I think about her, I'm 1) really grateful for my own warm house, 2) really glad that PADS is one of the organizations my church supports, and 3) fervent about my work with ELCA World Hunger, which is so dedicated to addressing root causes of hunger and poverty. No one should have to wonder where to find heat on a night like this.

Homeless in Second Life

I was driving home from work the other day when the radio did a spot on how economic reality was hitting the virtual world Second Life. Apparently, the Second Life (SL) economy is suffering from bank closings, and some real-life retailers have closed up their SL shops, not having seen the results they wanted. This made me wonder: Are there homeless people in Second Life? Regardless of how people are doing in their first life, are they learning about - or even intentionally trying out - homelessness in their Second Life?

You can probably tell by my questions that I'm not a Second Life citizen. But the whole concept of the place pretty much intrigues me. So I Googled "Second Life homeless" just to see what I would find. Indeed! Some interesting results! For example, this was posted by one Orhan Ayyuce as a comment to a blog: "my avatar is faceless right now and it is cold outside. i spent last night sleeping next to bunch of dead avatars in the graveyard where people just died from SL hardship. well like i said i am homeless at the moment and i don't know how much more i can go like this without the full membership."

Or try this, in Mitch Radcliffe's blog: "When I rejoined Second Life last summer... I created Homeless Hermes, who would go and sit in people’s houses and on their land, just waiting. And when someone would show up, creeping around me like they would a stranger they found in their physical yards—you could see them not wanting to be rude, but being all the same kinds of possessive you see in people everywhere, all the time—I’d give them some Linden money. It made people nervous."

And there were many Google results like this one about a Spanish NGO that put a virtual boy with a cardboard box on a corner to raise awareness about homelessness and their organization (Mensajeros de la Paz).

Again, I don't really know anything about functioning in SL. But from these few results, it seems like there's an opportunity to build an educational experience around what it's like to be homeless. And perhaps, like Mensajeros de la Paz, there's a way to tie the experience back to real-life organizations that give people an outlet for action. What a tool that would be for those of us fighting poverty and hunger! Perhaps someone has already done it?! Or wants to take it on?

There's no fatuity in freerice.com

The first thing you have to know about me is that I love words. So it's no surprise that I'm taken with a Web site that combines vocabulary and donating food. But if you look at the numbers and the press, I'm clearly not the only one who think's Free Rice is pretty cool.

Free Rice is a site that quizzes you on vocabulary. (I learned "fatuity" today!)Each time you select the correct definition of a word, 20 grains of rice are donated to countries in need through the United Nations World Food Programme. Little pictures show the amount of rice you've earned growing in a bowl, and as you gain more, it moves to the side in bundles. In addition to tracking your rice donation, it also gives you a vocabulary score. The words it presents get harder the better you do, and your score goes up and down depending on your performance.

Well. It didn't take long for me to get sucked into this game. And I took a coworker down with me! It's a surprisingly effective time-eater (your employer will love it)! My coworker and I ended up competing. His strategy was speed - answer quickly and earn rice. But loving words as I do, I couldn't bear to not at least try to get the answers right. It slowed me down, so he won the donation competition. But I got a higher vocabulary score, so I could at least feel smarter! :-)

Anyway, it's fun and I recommend it. If you want to know more about it in general, NPR did a short piece. And apparently if you're preparing for the SAT's, you really shouldn't miss it. Have fun!

Hunger resources to feed the soul during Lent

Hi, folks! My first post on "Hunger Rumblings" is very practical in nature, as it's time to order resources for Lent, as Ash Wednesday is February 6. Help your congregation, Sunday School class, circle, committee or other group "take on" for Lent...a journey to feed the soul to gain courage and commitment to feed the hungry. Blessings on your heads! Sue-s

1. ELCA World Hunger and Disaster Appeal's "God's Math" 40-day plus calendar and coin box.
40-day calendar: Free. ISBN 978-6-0002-2015-0; 1 pkg=25 calendars.
Coin box: Free. ISBN 978-6-0002-2004-2; 1 pkg=25 boxes.
Request these and other ELCA World Hunger materials by calling Augsburg Fortress at 800/328-4648, visiting the online store at www.augsburgfortress.org/elcahunger, or by visiting www.elca.org/hunger/resources

2. The ELCA World Hunger Lenten Fellowship Leader's Guide, pp. 7--11 of the Advent 2007--Easter 2008 edition of ELCA World Hunger Congregation Connections. Find these pages online at http://www.elca.org/hunger/resources/hungerguide.html or request a free copy of Congregation Connections (ISBN 978-6-0002-2013-6) by calling 800/328-4648 or by visiting the online store at www.augsburgfortress.org/elcahunger

3. Order Eco-palms by February 20 for Palm/Passion Sunday.
Visit www.lwr.org/palms to order.

4. Sign up and receive daily environmental Lenten devotions online.
Subscribe to the ELCA's daily 2008 environmental Lentenreflections, "Living Earth: A 40-Day Reflection on OurRelationship With God's Creation" at www.elca.org/advocacy
This is a limited subscription; the first e-mail will arrive onAsh Wednesday and the last e-mail will arrive Easter Sunday.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Did you observe Martin Luther King, Jr. Day this week? If so, what did you do? Do you have an annual ritual around it?

To be entirely honest, its greatest significance to me has usually been that it’s a day off of work. And mostly, it hasn’t even been that. Some years, I’ve barely registered that it’s a holiday. But this year is different. I’d like to say the change is due to some great personal awakening, but mostly it’s because of my job. By its nature, working to end world hunger requires daily recognition of social injustice. A side effect of my job that I both appreciate and resent is that it’s been impossible to work in this environment and NOT become more aware of inequality and my role in it.

Did you know that Martin Luther King, Jr. is one of only four individuals to have a U.S. federal holiday in his honor? (According to Wikipedia. Points if you can name the other three without looking!) Some of the well-known actions that earned King such status include public speaking, writing, organizing others to stand behind the cause, and employing peaceful activism. His work laid the groundwork for permanent change in laws: the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Right Act. But before he got a holiday, he got jail time, FBI surveillance, a house bombing, and, of course, death.

Which brings me back to my own observation of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Clearly I’m supposed to recognize the importance of this man. Should I try to be like him? I have absolutely no interest in going to jail or being watched by authorities. But I do have an interest in ending hunger. And ending hunger requires confronting injustice. And confronting injustice most likely requires me to speak out, write, and stand with others behind the cause – peacefully, of course. So this year, for me, the day was about honestly considering what I’m able and willing to do to achieve social justice. I’m not totally sure of the answer, and I’m no Martin Luther King. But I can call a politician, write a letter to the editor, or donate money. Are things on this scale enough? I generally believe that something is better than nothing, and if everyone does a little, big changes are possible. But sometimes I wonder if I’m only justifying my comfort zone. Still, this smaller, more personal scale of action is where I find myself right now. I’ll work on building from here. And I’ll continue to wonder if the more courageous of you are scoffing at me as you read this from your jail cell.