Since 2006, the Mission and Outreach Committee have been carrying out an exciting project that I would like to tell you about. It involves the promotion of fair trade products; something we thought was an honourable thing to do. We are not alone as many other United Churches are doing the same thing.  

Fair trade guarantees a price for cooperatives of small farmers which in turn allows them to grow quality coffee and improve the quality of their lives. As a consumer, we get a high quality product, and we help these families not just to exist, but to reach a standard of living that may include medical care when needed and education for the children.

And under fair trade, coffee beans, cocoa beans and tea leaves are grown naturally, without chemicals, allowing for the preservation of the environment and the surrounding tropical wildlife habitat. The ideals of fair trade are beneficial to everyone involved – the producers, the consumers, and also the planet.

Janet Ward of the Mission and Outreach Committee with her table of Just Us wares.

Since 2006, our church has purchased and served fair trade products in our kitchen at all of our functions where coffee and tea are served. We also offer for sale a selection of products that includes chocolate bars, hot chocolate mix, tea and coffee. You can order these products as frequently as you wish. We also make up baskets to sell for Christmas and other special occasions. This is the perfect gift for the coffee or chocolate lovers on your list.

Our supplier is Just Us! Coffee Roasters from Grand Pré, Nova Scotia. This business is Canada’s first fair trade coffee roaster. In 2005, Just Us! Coffee won three awards of recognition: the President’s Award for Entrepreneurship from Acadia University, the Human Rights Award from the Nova Scotia Human Rights Committee for company’s promotion of human rights internationally, and lastly, the Business Ethics Award from the Better Business Bureau of the Maritime Provinces. With all these accolades, they must be doing something right!

If you want to purchase your coffee, tea and chocolate from us, please see me to place your order. The Mission and Outreach Committee make a small profit from these sales. In turn, we use that money for local outreach here in Halifax. Each year so far, we have raised about $500 for these charities.