 |
| A few of the fair trade products now available for pasalubong at the Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center. |
 |
| Left to right: Mr. Ueda Makoto, Alter Trade - Japan president, Mrs. Gilda Caduya, Alter Trade - Philippines president, and Mr. Angelito Gabriel, CCT Inc. executive director. |
Fair trade products are now sold at the Pasalubong Center of
the Tagaytay Retreat and Training Center (TRTC) following the signing of a
memorandum of agreement between Alter Trade Corporation, a fair trade
corporation based in Bacolod City, and TRTC.
The products include muscovado sugar; banana chips;
jams made from jackfruit, coconut, mangosteen, pineapple, papaya, and guava;
juice concentrates made from mangosteen, guyabano, calamansi, and passion
fruit; wild honey; lemon grass oil, syrup, and powder; cocoa and chocolate.
Fair trade, according to
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary is a movement whose goal is to
help producers in developing countries get a fair price for their products so
as to reduce poverty, provide for the ethical treatment of workers and farmers,
and promote environmentally sustainable practices.
Alter Trade Corporation was established in 1988 in response
to the worsening situation of Negros sugar workers caught in an island-wide
crisis caused by plummeting world sugar prices in the early 1980s. After
a series of feeding and relief operations to thousands of displaced families,
women and children, progressive Japanese consumers and development
organizations in the Philippines hatched the concept of ‘trade not aid’ as a sustainable
intervention for the crisis victims. In 1988 the first shipment of Mascobado
sugar arrived in Japan and Balangon
bananas began to be shipped to that country a year later.
Anjji Gabriel, CCT Inc. executive director, said CCT is pleased to have a partnership with an organization that also serves the Filipino poor.
 |
| Mr. Makoto speaks of doing people to people trade, specifically by directly linking Filipino producers with Japanese consumers. |
 |
| Mrs. Caduya: "As Alter Trade continues to expand its partnership and relationship building within the borders of our country, we will do so working with organizations that put the interests of marginalized people in the forefront of its operations." |
 |
| Mr. Angelito Gabriel: "I sincerely hope and pray that this joining of hands will truly make a difference in thousands of lives, that it will have a deep and lasting impact on needy families and in the communities from where these products come." |
 |
| A sampling of the bite-sized goodies prepared for the MOA signing event by Chef Harlequin 'Queenie' Boloron using organic muscovado sugar, jams made from local fruit and other Alter Trade products. |
Photos: Michelle Taway and Myra Gaculais del Rosario
