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What do you think about Fair Trade?

Interest in the Fair Trade movement has grown over the last few years, but the movement hasn't received enough attention from the research community. Below is a link to a dynamic survey about ethical consumerism, which is part of a study looking at fair trade consumers. Why do some people integrate fairness into what they buy, while others do not? This study is being conducted by Caroline Doran, a PhD candidate at Capella University. We, at The Groovy Mind, invite you to participate because it will offer an inside look and help activists like us understand how to further the movement.

Fair Trade Survey Link
Click here to take survey

Do the right thing!

The ground breaking documentary Black Gold clearly illustrates the horrific human cost for a cup of cheap coffee: starving children, the desperate decision to grow chit (a narcotic) rather than coffee beans, the abject poverty. Ethopia can't take it anymore. Host a Black Gold House Party! Join TransFair USA supporters nationwide for the PBS broadcast of Black Gold on April 10. Share the importance of Fair Trade with family, friends and colleagues. Buy Fair Trade and see "Black Gold."

The Suffolk Times, August 17, 2006 - Julie Lane

"We at www.thegroovymind.com would like to see Fair Trade become the norm for social and economic justice," said Melanie Mitzner, who operates the e-commerce site with her partner, Nicke Gorney. But she's concerned about the motivations of a big-box retailer like Wal-Mart latching on.Wal-Mart coined the term "trend right" to describe its move toward Fair Trade. But Ms. Mitzner sees Fair Trade not as a "trend, but a human right."
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Afternoon Tea With The Groovy Mind

- TreeHugger, February 16, 2006 - Erin Oliver

On a recent snowy afternoon a group of friends and I gathered beside the fire to experience three of the world's finest organic fair trade teas: Pai Mu Tan White, Darjeeling Green and Earl Grey. Called "Transcendental Tea" by tea traders The Groovy Mind, this collection represents the three most distinct members of the tea family: white -a relatively new arrival admired for its impressive antioxidant properties; green - which became popular in the late '90's and has since found its way into everything from ice cream to air fresheners; and black, a simple and elegant classic with a fascinating and sometimes sordid history. READ MORE >>

Make a Difference with The Groovy Mind

- TreeHugger, Oct 13, 2005 - Kara, Newport, RI

For the past week, it’s been raining here in the Northeast and needless to say, we needed a cup of coffee pretty badly this morning. We brew our own at home instead of hitting up the local Starbucks and it seemed like the perfect time to dive into our “Groovy Gift Box” we received from The Groovy Mind. Melanie Mitzner and her business partner, Nicke Gorney, launched their Fair Trade, organic and eco-friendly online store to trade in higher consciousness and to further the movements of environmental sustainability and social and economic justice. The site sells delicious coffee and tea, luscious chocolate and yummy snacks in addition to handmade crafts and toys. People love to both give and receive socially responsible and environmentally sustainable gifts so in addition to the gift boxes they also offer “Gourmet Gift Certificates” and “Gourmet Gift Memberships” to either the coffee or tea club. So as we sit here and sip our Smooth Groove (delicious!), we read the information card that Mitzner and Gorney included for us: “change the world one sip at a time.” Today is already looking better.

Want to increase your brain power? Eat chocolate!

Megan Rauscher's article for Reuter's reports that chocolate contains "substances...previously been found to increase alertness and attention and what we have found is that by consuming chocolate you can get the stimulating effects, which lead to increased mental performance."
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L.I. @ WORK

- THE NEW YORK TIMES, September 18, 2005 - By Stacy Albin

Ask Melanie Mitzner what she and her business partner, Nicke Gorney, are doing, for example, and she answers, ''Trading in higher consciousness.''

Their company, www.thegroovymind.com, sells socially responsible gift boxes including organic coffees, tea, chocolate and eco-friendly goods online, stressing that no pesticides or chemicals are used in growing or manufacturing. The company makes an effort to buy many of its products from countries with ''fair trade'' policies meant to guarantee farmers a certain income regardless of fluctuations in world commodity prices.

The company's organic and fair-trade policies mean its costs are higher and its profit margins narrower than they might be otherwise, but the owners don't mind. Making a living is important, Ms. Mitzner said, but the main goal is ''buying, selling and promoting products that are socially responsible and environmentally sustainable -- because after all, that's all we've got as people on this planet.''
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Commercial Conscience

- THE SUFFOLK TIMES, August 2005 - By Julie Lane

"We in the free world live a life of luxury at the expense of others," explains Melanie Mitzner who launched the Fair Trade, organic and eco-friendly online store www.thegroovymind.com with her partner Nicke Gorney. By giving Fair Trade gifts of organic and Fair Trade products, everyone can make a difference.

Fair Trade workers receive triple the average wage for growing and harvesting organically Fair Trade coffee, Fair Trade tea and Fair Trade chocolate. By receiving educational and health care benefits, Fair Trade helps break the cycle of poverty while providing a healthy environment free of pesticides, herbicides and hormones. Americans are very shortsighted. Whatever is done to exploit the land in other countries will affect us here...
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by Melanie Mitzner. NFWFWF newsletter Winter 2006

Buddhist monks brought the first seeds of the tea plant to Japan from China in the eighth century A.D. after discovering that it kept them from falling asleep during meditation. Compressed tea became a form of currency in Asia by the 10th century. It wasn’t until the early 1600s that Dutch traders brought tea to Europe. And finally by the 17th century it reached North America. Not surprisingly, it took three more centuries before Western medicine acknowledged the health benefits of tea—its antioxidant, antiviral, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties have been widely used in Eastern medicine for millennia.

Black, green and white teas all come from the same plant Camellia sinensis but white tea is the least processed. The leaves and buds are picked and air dried whereas other teas are oxidized, rolled, bruised, steamed, aged and/or fired reducing their polyphenols or catechins, antioxidants with the powerful ability to fight virus and bacteria and stop the mutation process of carcinogens on DNA... (read more link)
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Small Planet

Founded by authors Anna Lappé and Frances Moore Lappé (Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet), the Fund supports courageous movements bringing to life on-the-ground, citizen-led solutions to hunger, poverty, and environmental devastation around the world. The volunteer-run Fund raises money from individual donations, book sales, and fundraising events. Their principles include: