FairTrade Producer Story

By FairTrade America
Producers’ Names: Ediuti Mapunda, Osmane Badru, & Aquilina France
Location: Tanzania
Co-op names: Coffee Mahenge Amcos & KDCU
Commodity: Coffee

“The Coffee Mahenge Amcos cooperative in Tanzania decided to have a public nursery. The new plants need particular attention and are a special job to grow.

Ediuti Mapunda is one of the people in charge of this nursery. He has 8 children and joined the Mahenge cooperative in 2008. He has 1200 coffee plants in his 1 hectare land. He thinks that Fairtrade stimulates sustainable agriculture and better quality. All that makes the cooperative more visible.

Thanks to the better income, he was able to buy cattle to diversify his income. Since then, all of his children will have gone, go or will go to school.

Aquilina France joined the cooperative in 2003 after her husband passed away. She has 5 children and belongs to the cooperative board. Thanks to her participation in Fairtrade, she has a nice home--one she says which we couldn't compare to the small one where she lived before.

Osmane Badru produces white corn to diversify his production. He has 3 hectares where coffee, banana and corn are being produced. He joined the cooperative in 1992. Thanks to his participation in Fairtrade, he was able to pay school fees for his four children.”

Celebrate Co-op & Fair Trade Month with us all throughout October!

FairTrade Producer Story

By FairTrade America
Producer’s Name: Johnson Kihara
Location: Kenya
Co-op name: Gacharage Tea Factory
Commodity: Tea

“Johnson Kihara is one out of approximately 5,000 tea farmers and members of Gacharagae Tea Factory some 200 kilometres north of Nairobi in Kenya. Here the farmers own their own land, harvest and pluck their own tea and deliver it to collection centers before the tea is eventually processed into black tea in the large factory close to village of Mununga.

The factory is owned jointly by the farmers through a loan which they took in 2000 with the purpose of increasing the production, raising the value of their product and generating higher revenues through better access to an international market. In 2006, the farmers chose to certify their production according to international Fairtrade standards in order to achieve a better economic, social and environmental development within both the production and at the community level. Through recurrent inspections, standards compliance are being checked to make sure that development is moving in the right direction. However, sales of the Fairtrade certified tea is crucial – without sales, development may cease.

In 2015, Gacharage Fairtrade sales amounted to just three percent of their total production. The rest was sold as conventional tea and thus without the Fairtrade premium that every kilo of sold Fairtrade certified tea otherwise generates. Despite these low sales, Fairtrade premium through their sales amounted to almost 150,000 USD, funds that the farmers have chosen to invest in e.g. trainings on sustainable production, road improvements, electricity, water supply, new classrooms, school material, scholarships to students and a number of income generating projects.”

Celebrate Co-op & Fair Trade Month with us all throughout October!

FairTrade Spotlight: Canaan Palestine Olive Oil

FairTrade Spotlight: Canaan Palestine Olive Oil

October is Fair Trade Month, the month Canaan was founded in 2004, and the start of the olive harvest in Palestine. What began as a belief that farmers deserve dignity and fair access to markets has grown into a network of more than 2,400 farmers across 52 cooperatives, sustaining families and the fabric of Palestinian agriculture.

Fair trade in Palestine is more than a pricing model. It establishes collective infrastructure. A portion of every liter of olive oil sold contributes to village funds. These funds are controlled locally and support projects such as schools, agricultural equipment, and community development.

Since 2006, more than $1,210,000 USD has been invested back into farming villages through this system. These resources are decided by the farmers themselves, reinforcing leadership, accountability, and community-onented decision-making.

Palestinian farmers work under conditions that are far from ordinary. Access to land can be restricted and political realities create constant instability. Despite these obstacles, the harvest continues. Farmers remain rooted in their groves, 2 preserving agricultural traditions and protecting a way of life that has endured for centuries.

Fair trade strengthens this resilience. It ensuros stable markets, supports cooperative structures, and provides farmers with a platform to work collectively while maintaining individual ownership of their land.

To learn more about Canaan Palestine, visit: www.canaanpalestine.com

Celebrate Co-op & Fair Trade Month with us all throughout October!

Thank You from Friends of the Library

Dear Bloomingfoods,

You play a vital role in helping our wonderful Library continue its tradition of excellence, opportunity, and discovery. We appreciate the opportunity to participate in your Positive Change program in August. Thank you for your generous donation to the Friends of the Library from your many loyal Bloomingfoods’ customers. We are honored to recognize you in the circle of Friends contributing to an award-winning Library for everyone in the community.

We celebrate Friends like you who make a difference for the Library every single day. Libraries are places where communities connect—to things like broadband, computers, programs and classes, meeting and study rooms, books, movies, video games, and more. But more importantly, libraries connect us. I am filled with gratitude for Friends like you who give people opportunities to learn and grow by funding Library resources. We look forward to more opportunities to read, learn, connect, and create in the year ahead. Some upcoming Friends events:

Dine out for the Friends! Try a different restaurant each month. Next up: Choose from a diverse selection of breakfast, lunch, and dinner items centered around Cajun and Creole cuisine when you dine at The Uptown Café on Tuesday, September 23, 8 am to 9 pm. Show your flyer and Uptown will donate 20% of your bill to the Friends of the Library to help make amazing Library programs possible.

Shop at the Friends Bookstore. The Bookstore offers great bargains on books, music, videos, and art. Our literary-themed tote bags, socks, and pins make delightful gifts. The Bookstore is open five days a week, Tuesday and Thursday through Sunday.

Coffee with Friends. We welcome playwright Jennifer Blackmer for a talk on her upcoming play Predictor. Join us on Sunday, October 12 from 2-3 pm in Meeting Room 1B at the Downtown Library. Our wonderful Hospitality Committee will provide refreshments. This program is free and all are welcome!

For more regular reminders of Friends programs like us on Instagram or Facebook @MCPLfriends.

We are grateful for your gift that demonstrates how you value your public library. Thank you for your donation of $8,252.47 which is tax deductible to the full extent of the law. No goods or services were provided in exchange for your contribution. Thank you for being a Friend!

Sincerely,

Neil Klein
President
Friends of the Library

FairTrade Producer Story

By FairTrade America
Producer’s name: Evelio Ricardo Garcia Cordoba
Location: Peru
Co-op name: Centro Café
Commodity: Coffee

“My name is Evelio Ricardo Garcia Cordoba. I am 49 years old. Since I was 10 or 12 years old, I have already started growing coffee. At that time I learned coffee production from my father. My father was a coffee farmer. We are seven brothers and sisters in the family. My siblings all studied and worked, only I stayed in agriculture. But coffee growing is going very well in everyday life, so it has done something positive for my life, in which I also raised my children. It is going well on the basis of coffee. And we belong to the cooperative Centro Café. We have been working with this cooperative since its start in 2001, and thank God it has provided us with the facilities. Many thanks also to you that we have Fairtrade.

Fairtrade has taught us what we did not know about coffee. Now we work with more technology, and the cooperative Centro Café even has engineers who are responsible for training and technical support, both for Gropal and for the Association, and they also help the partners. For example, we produce an organic fertilizer that we make ourselves. As you have seen, we have animals, from where we produce manure mixed with the pulp of the coffee, which is an everyday product of ours. We sow coffee and make our own mixtures, which are also influenced by our fertilizing. We have this situation here through tree shadows, from so many manageable shade trees, which are equilateral fruit trees, and we also have wooden trees that are useful to us. This is how we live. It is nice to protect the environment. We live a harmonious life with our family and friends who visit us.

Through Fairtrade we also benefit from lower costs. We take organic fertilizer to have a good production on our coffee plantations. And when it comes to fighting diseases, for example, there is a product that is easy to control. And because we are partners, we get it at a lower cost, for example, half the price. Even if we want to know which of our soils need fertilization, we also have a soil analysis. Such a soil analysis is worth 150. The partner sets 75 soles and 75 is paid by the cooperative, as a support of Fairtrade, and that is good for us, the farmers, to have this equipment.

In Centro Café we have a trial plot today, which is located in the Champol area, also within the Fairtrade framework. There are also some new varieties of seedlings that are newly produced and have a very good taste (good cupping coffees). So, as long as I am able, I would like to continue working as a coffee farmer and from there my children will see how it will be, but in the meantime I would like to continue growing my coffee varieties, now also with these new varieties that practically motivate us to plant.

I would like to tell them that we, as coffee farmers who have dedicated ourselves to coffee, are anxious to sell an even better one - with great care, under healthy, hygienic conditions and well-prepared coffee. Even before sowing and harvesting, we are concerned about ensuring that the beans are well shucked, fermented and dried so that they (the consumers) can enjoy our product, which we produce here.

Apart from the coffee, we also benefit from Fairtrade in the families. My wife used to work with small animals. Fairtrade helps us a lot that we have a certain economic income for the families by selling coffee, and that is good.”

Celebrate Co-op & Fair Trade Month with us all throughout October!

Bloomingfoods Spooktacular & Annual Meeting!

Spooktacular & Annual Meeting!

Friday, October 24th, 2025

Owner-Members, you are invited to join Bloomingfoods’ Board of Directors and General Managers at the Spooktacular & Annual Meeting on Friday, October 24th, from 6-8pm, to have some fun and hear about the year in review and bright future of the co-op!

There will be food & drinks, live jazz music featuring Paul Kirk, Neal Heidler, & Danny Deckard, a costume contest, and an opportunity to learn more about the 2026 Positive Change candidates on the 2025 election ballot! Bloomingfoods Board of Directors will also be announcing the 2025 Annual Bill Krejci Memorial Award recipient, and this will be the last opportunity for you to vote in person for the 2025 election.

The Spooktacular & Annual Meeting will be held at WonderLab Museum of Science, Health and Technology, 308 W 4th St, Bloomington, Indiana, from 6-8pm. Owner-Members who RSVP will be entered into a gift basket giveaway ($100 Bloomingfoods gift card, branded merch, and fair trade and environmentally friendly products)! RSVP by Friday, October 17th, at www.bloomingfoods.coop/2025-annual-meeting-rsvp.

For more information about the Board and Positive Change candidates and to cast your vote online in the 2025 Annual Election beginning Wednesday, September 24th, please visit www.bloomingfoods.coop/2025-election.

🧡 October is Co-op & Fair Trade Month!!

October is Co-op & Fair Trade Month!!

Celebrate with us all October & enjoy special promotions, local vendor demos, giveaways & a farm tour!

Special Promotions in October!

🧡 Get a $25 Bloomingfoods gift card when you sign up for a new membership in October!
🧡 Owner-Members who spend $100+ in one transaction throughout October will get a $20 coupon added to their account! One coupon per week per Owner-Member.
🧡 Owner-Members get 15% OFF their purchase every Tuesday in October!

Events in October!

🧡 Local Vendor Demos will be hosted at our East & Near West stores throughout October!
🧡 Let's talk, neighbor to neighbor–with the Board! Stop by our stores Saturday, October 4th, from 11am-2pm, and say hi to your Board of Directors and find out what’s happening at the co-op!
🧡 Twin Springs Creamery Farm Tour – Sunday, October 12 (National Farmer's Day!), 2-3pm! RSVP required–visit our Co-op & Fair Trade Month page on our website to RSVP.

Giveaways in October!

🧡 Co-op & Fair Trade Month Giveaway – accepting entries October 1st-31st!
🧡 Name That Produce Game!

To learn more about Co-op & Fair Trade Month promotions, events, & giveaways throughout October, visit www.bloomingfoods.coop/coop-and-fair-trade-month or click the button below.

New Local Jam — Fish Lake Organic Berry Patches!

New Local Jam — Fish Lake Organic Berry Patches!

We are so happy to have new organic jams from our neighbors to the north, Goshen! Fish Lake Organic Berry Patches have been growing and supplying organic berries since 2003. Chemical-free and sustainably grown on Fish Lake in Elkhart, Indiana. To ensure his jams are organically certified, Fritz Miller spends countless hours planting, harvesting, dealing with weeds and pests using organic methods, and keeping track of all the numbers to meet federal organic reporting standards. You can taste the difference; these are truly fantastic jams. Next level scrumptious in the world of fruity spreadables.

Check out some local Fish Lake Organic jam and spread it on your favorite local bread for a treat you can’t beat!

New Local Produce – Sungate Farm!

New Local Produce – Sungate Farm!

Sungate Farm is in its second year of business, growing for local wholesalers, schools, food banks, and restaurants. They focus on organic specialty produce on half an acre or about 70, 3ft by 50ft beds. They recently received their USDA Organic Certificate through OEFFA. This spring, they also received a Harmonized Good Agricultural Practices (HGAP) certification through Sustainably Fresh, which is one of the industry standards for food safety.

Sungate Farm grew out of George Armstrong's interest in the productivity, quality, and diversity of vegetables from small farms developed during his Food Studies MA and (in-progress) Anthropology PhD at Indiana University. They like to think that farming is about much more than just growing-it’s also about the environment, community, and visions of alternative food systems that are local, socially just, sustainable, etc.

In the IU Food Studies community, Sungate Farm started to learn more about policy changes in the local and regional food system, including federal grant programs for helping bring local food to Indiana schools and regional food banks. In 2024, they were very excited to supply specialty produce to Indiana schools in the IN Local Foods for Schools (LFS) program and to food banks in the Ohio CAN program. Though these federal programs were defunded in early 2025, it is still an important time to be part of strengthening local food and changes in the food system, as new connections continue to develop between small farms, schools, and food banks as the local food system is growing beyond farmers markets and CSAs.

This year, Sungate Farm is building key infrastructure such as a second high tunnel, an irrigation and drainage system, and an additional 40 beds, which are 3 feet by 50 feet (approximately 90cm x 15m), managed using the popular minimal-tillage deep compost mulch system. Their farm relies heavily on the low tunnels and high tunnels from EQUIP grants through the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service since these covered growing spaces allow them to protect from insects, intense sun, frost, and freezing rains throughout the year. Their produce is available at both of our stores.

New Fair Trade Products at Our East Store — Silk Flowers!

NEW Fair Trade Products at Our East Store — Silk Flowers!

This Silk Paper Flower Hibiscus Collection features a selection of five tropical flower stems in purple, pale yellow, soft peach, pink, and orange that look like the real thing but are actually meticulously handmade using carefully crafted silk paper petals and jute paper wrapped wire stems with vibrant green leaves. Stay tuned as our East Store will soon have more varieties of flowers, such as cosmos and dahlias.

Prokritee (meaning "nature" in Bengali) manages several handicraft enterprises and helps other groups sell their products in local and foreign markets. Prokritee and its enterprises provide jobs for marginalized rural women in Bangladesh. Equity for women is one of the fair trade principles, and a very important one since women often do not have opportunities for income in the global south, especially in rural areas. By providing these job opportunities, Prokritee improves women’s standard of living and helps them send their children to school. The organization provides skills development training to their artisans. Prokritee creates and promotes income–generating projects that benefit the artisans, adhere to good safety and environmental standards, and provide the potential to become self–reliant. Prokritee was established in 2001 as an independent organization. Ten Thousand Villages has purchased products from Prokritee and its predecessor MCC Bangladesh since 1986.