Make your Guacamole Taste Fair!

Avocado aficionado? Have you ever wondered how they were grown, what it took to bring them to your plate?

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This meetup is collaboratively organized with Peace Geeks (http://peacegeeks.org/) and will be the theme of their April Peace Talk at the Hive.

The Schedule of events will include:

• Guac Talk - Meet and mingle around a bowl of guacamole 6:30 - 7:00

• Introductions and Presentation of Fair Trade Certification 7:00-7:20

• Impact of Fair Trade and challenges of growing and importing 7:20 – 8:00

• Ask and answers, the opportunity to practice your Spanish! 8:00-8:30

Speakers Include:

Julie Sage – Fairtrade and Marketing manager – Discovery Organics – Formerly Fairtrade France Fairtrade International/FLO

Rafael Rodriguez (Mexico) – Consultant and Mexican Coordinator for Discovery Organics

Gustavo Esquivel (Mexico) – Avocado Grower/past President of PRAGOR Producers of Organic Avocados

Brandon Rankin (New York) – Director of Exchange/imports – Interrupcion New York, USA/ Chile/Argentina

Randy Hooper (Vancouver) – Discovery Organics Managing Director, International Buyer

Avery Gottfried (Vancouver) - Fair Trade Vancouver

Avocados, from Mexico to Vancouver:

North America represents one of the largest markets for Latin America Avocado producers.

Here in Vancouver, the majority of the avocados we eat come from the state of Michoacán, a region of Mexico known as the "avocado capital of the world," which also happens to be an expanding drug violence zone. Avocados represent today a lucrative cash crop, appealing to drug cartels, among others, making it more challenging for small producers to stay economically and socially sustainable and to have access to domestic or international markets. 19 organic avocado producers formed the cooperative Pragor (Productores de Aguacate Organico) in 2001, organized to collectively control the entire process from growing to exporting. Today, Pragor counts over 40 growers, sharing experience to improve organic production methods; the collective managed to market and export their produce at a fair price under the Fairtrade system. Fairtrade premiums have allowed Pragor members to improve their farms and committing funds to social projects in their communities. PRAGOR’s strength and perseverance is a lesson for anyone committed to working for change in the world.

“We became committed to Fair Trade because we believe it is lifesaving. It assures a fair price and that makes the producer feel safe.” …And importing

Being a Fairtrade certified organic importer means answering the call of duty 24/7/365. But it also means welcoming the daily challenge to open new opportunities and build better trading relationships to provide consumers more ethically sourced and healthier food options at their favourite grocery store.

At Discovery Organics, the focus is on direct relationships with growers, whether they are in our own backyard, or in Latin America. Supporting small scale farmers, endeavoring to help them build a market for their crops, and make enough money to cover the cost of production plus a fair profit on the crops is the main motivation to become Fairtrade Canada Licensees. Since then, they both have seen firsthand the transformative nature of Fair Trade, through numerous visits to farms in South America and Mexico. Today, we know that people want to do the right thing if given a chance. For further information, visit:

http://pragor.com/
http://www.discoveryorganics.ca/ http://interrupcion.org/about.php
http://www.fairtrade.net/