Winter 2002

VOL. 11, #4, WINTER,2002/03

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

- Sierra Club Counters Klein
- OCCB: "Taking Stock"
- Toilet Paper Talk
- Charity Versus Justice
- Fair Trade Coffee Sites
- Lots of Environmental Alternatives
- Bulletin Board, Kudos and more!

SACRED HEART PARISH, WALKERTON: On November 25, this parish buried Pam Slosser, 38, after her two-year struggle with a form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. This mom's death created a big gap in the lives of many Walkertonians especially for her husband, Chris Peabody (a town councillor and a member of our diocesan Justice & Peace Commission), her two toddlers, Cody and Dillon, her parents, Alice and Dave (a separate school board trustee) who cared for her during her illness. As with all deaths, it will take time for God's grace to ease her loved ones from the gaping hole Pam's departure left in their lives. But it is a good time to reflect on her life. It is also good therapy for your social awareness director as Pam modelled how to live one's faith fully, to the point of holiness.

Pam, a Catholic elementary school teacher, got wrenched from her work as tragically as those justice-seekers who received national attention, such as the late Father Martin Royackers, SJ (a former diocesan Justice & Peace Commission member who was murdered in Jamaica over a land redistribution issue) and Brother Jim McSheffrey (a former Guelph Jesuit who was the Newfoundland Church's prime voice for justice until he died suddenly). Indeed, her death seems more cruel as she left small children behind. Moreover, Pam's lymphoma is apparently associated with nitrates, among other factors. (Walkerton, like many rural areas in our diocese, had high nitrate levels in their water.) Was she literally a victim of our "Culture of Death"? Especially since Pam did the "right things", like simple living, cooking whole organic foods as much as possible, etc.

Pam exemplified what some folks call a fully-formed Catholic. By "fully formed", we refer to a comment made by the former bishop of London, Bishop Sherlock, at the Hamilton Convention Centre several years ago. Someone had asked the bishop why so few Catholics act upon the Catholic social teachings if they are such a core part of evangelization. The bishop replied that such people "had not been fully formed in their faith". Her pastor's eulogy cited a very long list of her work for the common good.

"Doing justice" was as much a joy to Pam as preparing children for their first communion. She knew about our need for "an ecological conversion" as the Pope calls for. With Chris, Pam replaced her front lawn with a life-filled garden full of pesticide-free, butterfly-attracting perennials; she co-founded a food-buying club that brought more organic, local food to Walkerton. After being scared stiff (and pregnant) during the deadly "Walkerton crisis", she co-founded the Concerned Walkerton Citizens and then the Greening of Walkerton group.

While she shared the frustrations of ordinary living, Pam exhibited the joy and laughter characteristic of saints and gratitude for the people around her. One photo on the Social Awareness Office display board shows Pam, eyes gleaming, with her sister and their husbands pushing their babies in prams in a justice demonstration. During a healing service which area Catholics held for her two days prior to her death, Pam, in her wheelchair, expressed concern and a desire to do something for a group of people within her parish just like she fretted about the effects of her illness on her family.

Faith teaches us that Pam is a prayer away from those who grieve her loss. How her seemingly untimely death fits into the greater scheme of the cosmos remains a mystery but her life was not wasted. Life continues. Many signs of hope abound, including within her beloved Bruce County. (This issue lists some). Hopefully, Pam's life models how we should live out our own faith.

Diane P. Baltaz

THE SIERRA CLUB OF CANADA COUNTERS RALPH KLEIN

Editor's Note: Ontario's diocesan social awareness directors agreed at a recent meeting that emphasis must be placed upon relating our faith to the environment. It honours the June 14 Joint Declaration by Pope John Paul II and the Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew I, which decrees that we need an ecological conversion if we want to stop the world from going to environmental and social ruin this century. (See the Autumn, 2002 CONTACT for a summary of this declaration).

A good start for this "ecological conversion" is to convince the faithful to pressure their MPs to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. The diocesan directors noted that there is a massive propaganda campaign by business lobbyists against ratification by Parliament, the best known one being by Alberta Premier Ralph Klein (whose pro-oil, pro-privatization tactics and anti-Kyoto stand received full-page coverage in the December issue of The New Internationalist). In order to tackle the confusion about what the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol means to Canadians, we enclose an abridged summary of "What Ralph Klein Doesn't Want You To Know About Kyoto", from SCAN, the Autumn, 2002 newsletter of the Sierra Club of Canada. The Sierra Club is not only one of Canada's best-researched defendants of the Protocol, but David Suzuki recently called it Canada's most effective environmental action group. Abridged with permission.

Lie #1: "We can't afford the costs!" This tries to play on our fears of personal hardship...that taxes will go up, hydro rates double, gas prices soar, and millions of jobs will be lost... Two things need to be said. One is that climate change will not wait for further debate it is already devastating the country. The other is that joining the global crusade to stop climate change will actually create jobs and lower costs.

Lie #2: "Kyoto will ruin the economy!" ... By not ratifying the Kyoto Protocol, Canada's economy will rise 31.4% by 2012. But by voting it in -- and keeping our promise to reduce emissions our economy might rise only 29.3%. So by doing the right thing we might forego 2.1% of our growth over 10 years... It seems like a small price to pay for (reversing the environmental destruction of our country for our children and their children. (A recent poll by the National Post and COMPASS shows that 57% of Canadian CEOs feel that ratification can be done at little or no cost to the Canadian economy.)

Lie #3: "Kyoto will not stop climate change anyway!" We have a long way to go to stop global warming but the only way to get there is by starting now. Over 90 countries have ratified the Kyoto Protocol and are working urgently to reduce the emissions that are causing global warming. Even in the U.S., where George Bush refuses to sign, individual states like New York, Michigan, and California have launched programs to reduce their emissions. As ... a major polluter Canada has a responsibility to do its part. Remind your Member of this.

Lie #4: "There should be a made in Canada plan" It plays on our nationalism, claiming it will help us develop our own technology and allow for Canada's unique problems of northern cold. What this actually means is more procrastination... while the climate worsens ... Kyoto's targets were set as a minimum first step after intense study by international experts on climate change. ...We must get started now.

Lie #5: "Because the U.S. isn't in, they'll cream us!" This one assumes all kinds of ... handicaps, leaving us at the mercy of the U.S. and driving away jobs and investment. Like Lie #1, it is based upon nothing more than Alberta's "models" and ... distortions. The fact is, countries (and corporations) that are developing new technologies are already seeing economic growth. Germany has created 60,000 new jobs in the wind-power field alone.

Lie #6: "Jean Chretien is just looking for glory!" This is the sorriest argument of them all... Government has been concerned with climate change since long before it first signed the Rio Accord in 1992. To argue that we aren't in crisis is willfully irresponsible. Farmers are slaughtering cows because of drought. Forest fires have run rampant. Ontario seniors suffered 27 days of "smog alert" this summer, a three-fold increase in just three years. The signs of global warming are now everywhere.

Tell your member of Parliament that Kyoto is overdue. Just a few words from you right now will make all the difference. Call, write, or e-mail your Federal and Provincial Members of Parliament today and let them know you count on them to vote for Kyoto... For honest websites go to: www.climateactionnetwork.ca www.sierraclub.ca/national

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And the Ontario Conference of Catholic Bishops speaks out about the environment... "God has gifted us with a very rich and diverse atmosphere. He has also given us stewardship over it. We have a moral duty to preserve it. Even from the point of view of self-preservation, we must ensure that the air we and our children breathe and the water that we drink are as pure as we can make them by our moderation and conscientious care for them. This is a duty that we owe to all inhabitants of our globe."

- Taking Stock: An Examination of Conscience, p. 8, November, 2002

KAIROS ALSO WANTS PARLIAMENT TO RATIFY THE KYOTO PROTOCOL! You heard about our national, ecumenical justice coalition at November's Challenge for Change Conference. Their ecological Justice Program Committee issued a document, "Responding to Kyoto Opponents". Basically, it says that the protocol provides an internationally-agreed-upon framework for governments to meet targets within a specific timetable, meaning that each country can develop its own "made in Canada, etc." solutions to meet these deadlines. Copies can be had from www.kairoscanada.org

TAKING STOCK: AN EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE: The Ontario Conference of Catholic Bishops follow up their 1998 statement, "On Choosing a Government" -

Released in November, Ontario's bishops announced "Taking Stock" in advance by posting notices about it, as well as extracts of Catholic Social Teachings in parish bulletins across Ontario. Assuming that a provincial election will likely be in store within the year, the bishops ask Ontarians to "take stock" of the social changes that occurred since 1998. This statement says that "Much has changed since then", including:

*A powerful social movement in opposition to the prevailing culture of endless expansion (some would say greed) is emerging. A profound dissatisfaction with the status quo is being expressed and focussed on opposition to some features of "globalization". A significant number of people is becoming convinced that our world is moving in the wrong direction.

*The economic exuberance of the late 90s has faded. Our economy has stumbled. The gap between rich and poor has grown and child poverty, in spite of our rhetoric, has increased instead of being eliminated. 4

*The events of September 11, 2001, have affected us deeply. We are conscious of a change but we seem to be having difficulty in discerning its nature. It may take a long time for us to appreciate fully the nature and extent of the impact.

*As a people, we are not quite as confident of being in control. Perhaps we are learning a little humility...

Then, in alphabetical order, the bishops list the woes they see, from unemployment, health care, criminal justice, to the environment.

Accompanying it is a workshop format for parishes to study the statement. Both "Taking Stock" and the workshop material can be down loaded from the Internet: www.occb.on.ca/publications.html

NOTE TO PARISH SOCIAL JUSTICE GROUPS: SHOULD YOUR PARISH BE WILLING TO HOST SUCH A WORKSHOP FOR PARISHES WITHIN YOUR DEANERY, DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT THE SOCIAL AWARENESS OFFICE FOR ASSISTANCE.

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THE ENVIRONMENTAL "EVILS" OF REAL CHRISTMAS TREES

- from the November-December, 2002 issue of Sierra Magazine... The following are U.S. stats but chances are that it's not very different in Canada! - While the millions of acres of tree farms may provide some bird habitat, more than 40 different pesticides are used in tree farming, including atrazine, a hormone disrupter liked to prostate cancer and the fumigant methyl bromide. - the quest for a flawless tannenbaum leads some growers to spray trees with chemical colourants or even experiment with cloning - 10 million U.S. trees get land filled later, rather than chipped or mulched or used whole to stabilize wetlands. - "live trees" may have trouble surviving indoors after Christmas, even if kept free of hot lights; also, planting non-native trees outside in the spring may spread disease to native populations. - "options" plastic trees only burn petroleum once, are pesticide free, and are reusable. Try hanging orna- ments on potted plants or make your own tree of trimmed evergreen boughs or a storm-felled branch. A final fact: Each December, Americans throw away 25% more rubbish, producing an extra five million tons of garbage. They boost their hydro consumption by 27%, and harvest 32 million trees. "Alternative wrapping paper" can include old calendars, comic pages, children's artwork, sheets from old group presentation boards, etc. Using old Christmas cards or evergreen snippets to decorate a gift rather than bows and ribbons prevents more garbage. Indeed, if every American family wrapped their gifts this way, it would save enough ribbon to tie a bow around the earth and enough paper to cover 45,000 American-sized football fields.

Social justice in the bathroom: INFO FROM SOME TOILET PAPER PACKAGING There's more to being environmentally conscious about toilet paper than buying it in bulk to avoid excess packaging. The American firm, Seventh Generation, which sells non-chlorine-bleached toilet paper made from recycled and post-consumer waste paper, lists the following information on their toilet paper. While their stats are U.S. ones, presumably Canadians can heed its implications upon bathrooms in our home and native land. Their following PR assumes a Q & A format reminiscent of a Baltimore Catechism:

"If every household in the U.S. replaced just one four-pack of 500 sheet virgin fibre bathroom tissues with 100% recycled ones, we could save:

1.2 million trees; 5.1 million cubic feet of landfill space, equal to over 5,000 full garbage trucks; 537 million (U.S.) gallons of water, a year's supply for over 15,300 families of four; and avoid 230,000 pounds of pollution.

Why should we use recycled paper? Recycling paper prevents unnecessary land filling of valuable resources. In addition to saving trees, producing recycled paper uses less energy and water than paper made from trees.

What does "post-consumer" mean? Post-consumer materials are those that we recycle from our homes and offices which would otherwise be land filled.

Why is chlorine bleaching dangerous? The production and use of chlorine bleach creates dangerous toxins such as dioxin, furans, and other organochlorines. Once loose in the environment, these chemicals accumulate in both people and animals. Hundreds of studies have shown a direct link between dioxin exposure and cancer, birth defects, and developmental and reproductive disorders." (Editor's note: Seventh Generation bleaches their toilet paper with sodium hydrosulfite, a non-toxic biodegradable bleach made from salt and oxygen. This is the same issue involving bleached coffee filters and Kleenex tissue.)

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE & YOUR TELEPHONE BILL - One geographical feature that cuts through our entire diocese is the Niagara Escarpment recognized by the United Nations as a World Biosphere Reserve. You can help to keep it unpaved by changing your long-distance telephone carrier. Escarpment Telecom channels its profits toward building nature reserves along the Niagara Escarpment and to partner environmental charities.

This non-profit group offers five rate schedules for Ontario and Canadian phone calls that rival or even beat the corporate long-distance telephone carriers. They say that every dollar their customers spend conserves 87 square feet of the Escarpment. Escarpment Telecom is a fund-raising arm of the Escarpment Biosphere Conservancy, a registered charitable organization.

Costs are kept down by not mass advertising. Also, you get a tax receipt at year's end, because each phone bill includes a "donation". The conservancy also squashed the kinks in billing which plagued them in recent years. And they provide long-distance calling cards, an internet service, and a no-fee 1-888 number for those who request them.

For details contact Bill Barnett in Toronto at (416) 960-8121 or 1-888-815-9068. E-mail: rbarnett@escarpment.ca

HOW CAN ONE HAVE AN ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUNDER HOME? A visit to ECO-HOUSE at 22 Veevers Drive, Hamilton, may provide a few answers. The city and groups such as Green Ventures recently spent $75,000 retrofitting this home to demonstrate what families can do to keep energy consumption down. It also has features such as dual-flush toilets, which are common-place in water-strapped nations such as Australia. For information (905) 540-8787.

VOICES ACROSS THE BOUNDARIES is the name of the new, interfaith magazine on contemporary social issues. Issued by the educational group, Across the Boundaries Multi faith Institute, its advisors and writers range from folks like Catholic Theologian, Gregory Baum, to Thupten Jinpa, the Dalai Lama's principal English translator. Its managing editor is CONTACT fan, Bob Chodos of New Hamburg. The first interfaith issue comes out in May. The pre-2003 subscription price is $32 for nine issues. Phone Bob at (519) 662- 3390 or e-mail orders acrossboundaries.net for details.

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CHARITY AND JUSTICE THERE ARE DIFFERENCES

In the print edition of this issue of CONTACT, we ran a basic chart that clarifies the differences between works of justice and works of charity. It was taken from the web site of the Office for Social Justice, Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis which can be viewed at: Www.osjpm.org

More material about these differences will be published in the Spring, 2003 issue of CONTACT.

"Charity will never be true charity unless it takes justice into account... Let no one attempt with small gifts of charity to exempt themselves from the great duties imposed by justice." -Pope Pius XI, Divini Redemptoris, #49

LOCAL FOOD JUSTICE IN WATERLOO REGION

KITCHENER: If you translate the amount of vegetables that residents of Waterloo Region (population 450,000) eat annually into land mass, you'd get 10,000 acres. Yet only 2,000 acres of Waterloo Region's 230,000 acres of farm production are in vegetables.

That, according to St. Agatha resident Theresa Schumilas, a past president of Canadian Organic Growers (COG), is a "systems issue in which we are used to selling away what we grow" (for the export market) while importing what Canadians need.

Theresa, a food systems analyst who spoke at last year's diocesan "Right Living, Right Relationship" series, spoke at a brainstorming session of organic food activists at 43 Queen Street South, The Working Centre's meeting place. She desires to make Waterloo Region more food self-sufficient a feat that leaves more money in the pockets of local growers and marketers while at the same time reducing the environmental costs of transporting produce over thousands of kilometres.

"Localism" values a regionally-based system for economic, community and environmental sustainability. It is part of a global trend that was discussed at an international conference of organic agriculturalists which COG hosted in Victoria last August. Theresa attended this conference, which discussed how the parallel movement of organic growing has changed in the past decade.

Twenty years ago, organic farming in Canada and elsewhere was dominated by small, locally-based organic farms that depended upon few off-farm inputs, much regional marketing, and ran a biologically-diverse, labour-intensive crop rotation system with some livestock. Today, major corporations have become involved in organic marketing, resulting in some cases in large farms and retail chains that mimic the dominant food system that organic pioneers eschewed. This means that some organic farms now grow large hectares of only one or two crops and produce that gets shipped across continents 12 months a year. This process has dropped the farmgate retail price for small growers and processors (who previously received a better premium), sometimes squeezing them out of business.

Theresa said that delegates in Victoria called for a better convergence of organics with localism in order to combat these trends. Localism, Theresa said, links organic food production to dealing with current problems such as the low number of local processors, urban gardens, and community-based marketers, as well as environmentally-unfriendly trends such as marketing fresh strawberries 12 months a year.

"Over 80% of the (fresh and processed) food at my neighbourhood health food store is imported from the United States", said Theresa. "Why aren't we processing our own organic foods?"

The Waterloo Region Health Department made one unique government initiative effort to connect local health issues with food. They created Foodlink Waterloo Region, a coalition of local farmers, businesses, and urban groups to promote a healthier food system. In 2002, Waterloo Region issued a citizens' guide entitled, Buy Local! Buy Fresh! The guide listed farmers who sell meat, eggs, and produce from the farmgate. The 28 growers who participated in the 2002 guide reported such great success with farm sales that more farmers want to be listed in the 2003 issue.

Buy Local! Buy Organic! is sent to every home in Waterloo Region. For more information, contact the Waterloo Region Health Department at (519) 883-2004 ext. 5339 or e-mail lekathy@region.waterloo.on.ca

Theresa and other organic gardeners meet at 43 Queen the last Thursday monthly in order to thrash out other community-based alternatives. For information on Canadian Organic Growers, check out their website or call the Social Awareness Office, ext. 233.

Editor's Note: Another local alternative is an organic food box program of home-delivered, pre-packaged and custom boxes of fruit and vegetables offered by Pfenning's Organic & More of St. Agatha. They have four box programs, some of which feature local, in-season produce, which are delivered to the Kitchener- Waterloo, Guelph, Brantford/Paris areas weekly. For details, call (519) 725-4282 or e-mail wurzi@golden.net Also, there is a food-buying club which meets at 43 Queen Street South each month. For details, contact The Working Centre at (519) 743-1151.

KUDOS THIS TIME GO TO THESE INSPIRATIONAL PEOPLE:

the folks who joined the newly-formed social awareness group at St. Margaret Mary Parish, Hamilton. Any group of people who try to help their fellow Catholics learn about and act upon Catholic Social Doctrine for community betterment deserves credit! This parish has previously sold Sharing Fair goods and participated in Development & Peace actions.

the founding members of Positive Power Co-op, which will provide "green energy" to Halton, Hamilton, and Haldimand areas by erecting a wind turbine within this region. The co-op's chairperson is Martin Ince, husband of Notre Dame High School teacher, Marika. Another of the co-op's mandates is member lobbying of government for greener hydro sources. Positive Power has a precedent within this diocese to go by: On November 30, 2002, a private green energy consortium, headed by Guelph's Glen Estell, activated a 1.8MW (1,800 KW) Vestas wind turbine at Ferndale in the breezy Bruce Peninsula. For information about joining Positive Power, contact Martin at (905) 689-3900 or check website www.positivepowerco-op.com

John McCarthy, SJ, a CONTACT fan and an associate member of the Jesuit Ecology Project, won the Royal Canadian Geographic Society's award for environmental action for his work in preserving Newfoundland's boreal forests. For details, see the Canadian Geographic website. John is currently finishing his PhD thesis on forestry in Vancouver.

the youth justice panel which spoke at the Challenge for Change Conference in Kitchener. They shared their experiences in social activism (eg. School of the Assassins protest, human rights), explaining the panel's theme, "How can parishes support youth who do justice?" A Notre Dame High School, Burlington, teacher told them at its end, "You are an inspiration to us. You are light years ahead of many adults. We need you!"

Christine Mazur, of our diocesan Justice & Peace Commission, for winning the Jericho House Youth Ministries Award. The award recognizes youth leaders doing justice in the Diocese of Niagara (Chris lives in Grimsby but teaches here), which in Chris' case, focuses on her leadership in the Dominican Republic Faith Experience Group. For information on the DR Group, either e- mail Chris at ejmazur@vaxxine,com or leave a message at (905) 383-5484.

the 46 youth and adults from this region who went to the "School of the Assassins" protest in Georgia, November 14-18. This is the U.S. military training school for Third World allies that is nicknamed as the "School of Assassins" because of its infamous, well-documented reputation of dealing with opponents of U.S.-backed governments. (The man who assassinated Archbishop Romero was one of its alumni.) The local co-ordinator of this for the past five years is Lori Ryan. Another participant, Dwyer Sullivan, shared his experiences in Georgia with a Stratford youth at the recent Challenge for Change Conference.

Pat McNeice, who took over as chairperson for The Bridge: from Prison to Community transition program in Hamilton. The Bridge provides transitional homes for those who just left the correction system but have not yet established new lives. Previously, the Community Action Plan on Homelessness in Hamilton-Wentworth has documented the housing gaps for this group. Now, The Bridge is struggling to open a new home on Barton Street. They also completed an educational, inter-faith worship service for "Restorative Justice Sunday" on November 17. For details, e-mail hamiltonbridge@netscape,net

St. Michael's, Waterloo, Social Justice Committee. They joined forces with the Canadian Landmine Foundation and the "Night of 1000 Dinners" movement to raise funds for eradicating landmines in countries such as Bosnia, Vietnam, and Afghanistan. The potluck dinner fund raiser this year is on December 6. Earlier this season, they were one of several parishes in this diocese to host an education session on Biopatents, this year's Development & Peace action.

 

to the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace on their 35th Anniversary. Founded by the Canadian bishops, D & P transcends mere "charity" and focuses on work with "partners" overseas, as well as educating Canadian Catholics on social issues. They are also one "charity "that can boast that at least 75% of donations go directly to projects. (Some groups consume as much as 60% of donations to administration and fundraising!) As Bishop Jacques Berthelet, president of the Canadian Conference writes in a letter to D & P, "We applaud the fact that solidarity and dialogue is the approach used by Development and Peace in all its activities, including development assistance."

BULLETIN BOARD

Friday, Dec. 6 "Night of a 1000 Dinners" at St. Michael's, Waterloo, a meal for the eradication of landmines in places such as Croatia, Mozambique, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Bosnia, and Herzegovina. This year's dinner, sponsored by the Social Justice Committee, will be held at 6:00 p.m. Bring your favourite dish (salad, entr‚e, or dessert), plate, cup, and utensils and come join us in support of this worthy cause. All monetary donations (suggestion $5 - 10/person) will be forwarded to the Canadian Landmine Foundation. Tax receipts are issued for donations of $10 or more. For additional information, call Diane Jones (519) 725-2226. Visit the website at www.1000dinners.com

Dec. 13-14 Peace in Justice: A 24-hour Retreat for Those in Social Ministries. Offered by the Jesuit Centre for Social Faith & Justice at Loyola Retreat House, Guelph. An Ignatian directed retreat - $60. For information (519) 824-1250, ext. 266.

Jan. 23-26, Organics Goes Mainstream: Canada's largest organic agriculture conference & trade show 2003 at University of Guelph, featuring keynote speaker, Dr. Thomas Cowan on "Organic Food & Human Nutrition" (Saturday morning). Noteworthy events include an evening public forum on organic food and social justice ($10 admission) and Thursday as International Organic Day, and a Faith Forum with Bernie Fox of Brantford, an Anglican organic food activist. The trade show on Saturday and Sunday includes many organic folks who produce or sell products that are usually not part of the conventional food system, such as organic ice cream hemp ice cream, regional organic co-ops such as Durham's Ontar-bio Co-op (founded on Catholic Social Principles) and New Hamburg's Oak Manor Milling. There are 30 workshops, seminars, and food events which help people to "make a difference", and learn about some critical issues. Highly recommended by your social awareness director clergy have preached homilies on what they've experienced here! For info.: (705) 444- 0923 or e-mail organix@georgian.net Detailed web site: www.guelphorganicconf.org

May, 2003 Living the Social Teachings: A World Youth Day Follow Up - The diocesan Justice and Peace Commission is currently organizing a day-long youth day in the central part of this diocese with a big-name speaker, T-shirts, and the works. It will look at what the Pope meant about the youth being "the salt of the earth" during World Youth Day. Schools and parishes will be notified directly about the place and location.

June 19-21 Jesuit Ecology Project Weekend Retreat at Loyola House, Guelph. For information call (519) 824-1250, ext. 233 or follow the phone links to Loyola House.

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"The most profound motive for our work is ... knowing that we share in creation. Learning the meaning of creation in our daily lives will help us to live holier lives. It will fill the world with the Spirit of Christ, the spirit of justice, charity, and peace." JP II Laborem Exercens #25 9

SOME FAIR TRADE TEA AND COFFEE SALES SITES WITHIN HAMILTON DIOCESE

Increasingly, more people request fairly-traded coffee, tea, and chocolate; for while it comprises less than 2% of Canada's market share, they know that its purchase benefits the families who produce it. Also, because about 30% of fair trade caffeine is certified organic, it benefits the environment too.

According to Trans Fair Canada, the certification agency that ensures that fair trade criteria have been met, there are now 61 licensed fair trade coffee roasters and importers within Canada. Thus, it's easier to obtain fair trade coffee in our diocese!

Also new is Ottawa's La Siembra Co-op, which sells organic cocoa, sugar, and chocolate bars. (Visit their booth at the Organic Agriculture Conference at the University of Guelph, January 25-26). Visit their website at www.lasiembra.com

Known fair trade coffee sales sites within our diocese include:

* 10,000 Villages - the fair trade marketing agency of the Mennonite Central Committee. Most sites are in Waterloo Region, although 10,000 Villages holds "festival sales" in Hamilton and Owen Sound during the church bazaar season. Brands include Equal Exchange and Nova Scotia's Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op. They sell loose-leaf teas, green tea, have discount purchasing cards, and bulk rates for 10 kg. up. Retail outlets in New Hamburg, Kitchener, Waterloo, St. Jacobs, Elmira. For details, call (519) 888-7180 or 1-877-289-3247, www.10,000villages.com

*Planet Bean - the coffee roasters' co-op within our diocese! Outlet and roastery is at 21 MacDonnell Street, Guelph (within eyesight of Church of Our Lady). They also sell La Siembra products. Phone: (519) 837-3242. Also sold at What's Cookin' in Erin at (519) 833-0909.

*St. Jerome's University Social Justice Group sells coffee and tea at the public lectures by the St. Jerome's Centre for Catholic Experience. Brands include Planet Bean. Contact Carol Persin (519) 884-81110, ext. 259.

*Ebytown Food Co-op at 280 Phillip Street, Waterloo. It's a member of the Ontario Natural Food Co-op (ONFC) of Etobicoke, which also has buying clubs throughout Ontario. Brands include Green Mountain Coffee and Choice Organic Tea. Phone (519) 886-8806. To learn about the ONFC, call 1-800-387-0354.

*OPIRG McMaster, Hamilton's affiliate of the Ontario Public Interest Research Group, sells coffee at cost ($11/pound), from their campus office. Their current brand is from the Toronto-based co- op, Alternative Grounds. (905) 521-0017, ext. 27289. And check their website for McMaster's fair trade purchasing policy: opirg.org/mcmaster/edocs.html *Mostly Organic Juice Bar Caf‚, 119 King St. West, Kitchener, sells planet bean (519) 745-4884.

*IDEA Burlington: Call Glynis Maxwell at (905) 637-3110.

*Java Fair, 8 King Street East, Dundas (beside The Thirsty Cactus). Hamiltonians who get gifts of aromatic coffee in a plain, brown bag can likely trace its source to this cozy, community-based alternative to Starbucks. (905) 628-6537.

*St. Michael Parish D&P Group, Sewell Drive, Oakville (905) 844-7971

10 Note: The better health food stores carry fair trade products and often unbleached coffee filters. These include Paris Health Food Store, Grand River Street, Paris (519) 442-7817; Goodness Me! Natural Food Market, 880 Upper Wentworth, Hamilton (905) 388-8400; Pfenning's Organic Food Market, St. Agatha (519) 725-4282; The Stone Store, 14 Commercial Street, downtown Guelph (519) 821-2120; Chicory Common, the co-op food store in Durham (519) 369-2046.

COFFEE BY THE CUP:

Muses Caf‚, 10 King Street East, Kitchener (519) 742-3087. Staircase Theatre Caf‚, 27 Dundurn Street North, Hamilton (one block east of the chancery office), (905) 529-3000. Email: info@staircase.org 43 Queen: at 50 cents per cup at The Working Centre's meeting place-storefront at 43 Queen Street South, Kitchener; McMaster University, Hamilton

Finally, remember that it is not fair trade coffee unless it carries the Trans-Fair label, meaning that it meets the following criteria set out by Fair Trade Labelling Organizations International (FLO):

- pay a set minimum price that covers the costs of production - advance payments or extend credit to producers to help avoid debt while financing the next year's production - agree to longer-term trading relationships that provide producers with added security to plan for the future and promote sustainable production practices

According to a recent feature story about fair trade coffee on CBC Radio, the demand for fair trade coffee is growing at 20% per year (like organics); thus, someday, it will not be a "niche" market but instead will outsell "unfair trade" coffee!

For more information, including addresses of licensed fair trade roasters and dealers within Canada, look at this website: transfair.ca

A RELATED NOTE: HEMP COFFEE is organic coffee roasted with hemp seeds. Hemp provides the perfect balance of omega 3 & 6 fatty acids necessary for healthy human functioning, and it grows so well under so many conditions that it requires no chemical fertilizers and pesticides. A Manitoba hemp processor, Hemp Oil Canada Inc., markets this full-bodied coffee. While the coffee beans are not fair trade beans, it like the hemp, grows under environmentally-friendlier conditions than mass-marketed coffee. The one sales outlet for this coffee which your social awareness director knows about is at an independent store operated by a 23-year-old woman. It's Earth Goodies, at 395 St. Paul Avenue (Highway 24), Brantford, which also sells other hemp products, unbleached paper, solar-powered radios, co-operative games, etc. Call (519) 753-5656.

THE GUNN REPORT

Joe Gunn, Social Affairs, Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB)

1. New Address! The CCCB has purchased a new office building in southeast Ottawa; so please note the new address: 2500 Don Reid Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K1H 2J2. You can still use the current e-mail address (mchabot@cccb.ca) and phone numbers for the Social Affairs office but we will no longer be able to use the dedicated fax line (613) 241-5087. Come check out our new digs if you ever come to Ottawa!

2. At a Parliament Hill press conference on October 31, 2002 the Common Frontiers coalition launched the campaign "The Free Trade Area of the Americas is Hazardous to Your Health". This was the same day that thousands of persons were demonstrating against the FTAA in Quito, Ecuador as the Trade Ministers from the Americas met there and took place only a few weeks after 10 million Brazilians voted against the FTAA in a popular referendum supported by the bishops there. The Canadian campaign points out how trade and investment provisions of NAFTA, extended to the FTAA, could damage our publicly-funded Medicare system and prevent its necessary expansion into the areas of homecare and pharmacare.

As Vice-Chair of KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives I chaired the press conference in Ottawa. For more information, visit the Common Frontiers website and watch for animation materials from KAIROS in early 2003. (Contact Rusa Jeremic at rjeremic@kairoscanada.org) KAIROS is also organizing regional workshops on the FTAA/Medicare link as well as the Romanow Report, which was released on November 28, 2002. (For information, contact Dennis Howlett at dhowlett@kairoscanada.org) You may also care to refer to the background paper prepared by the Social Affairs Commission and sent to you in early 2002. "Trading Away the Future" which is available in English, French (www.cccb.ca) and in Spanish (from the CCCB office).

3. For those of you working with anti-poverty groups, watch the Campaign 2000 website (www.campaign2000.ca) after November 25th for the release of this year's "Report Card" on child and family poverty in Canada.

4. Kyoto Protocol: The CCCB Permanent Council supported Kyoto in its June 12, 2002 statement regarding the G-8 meeting in Kananaskis, and the Social Affairs Commission wrote to Minister David Anderson on June 25th (see: www.cccb.ca)

5. Iraq: At their October Plenary meeting, the bishops unanimously agreed to send a letter to the Prime Minister opposing war with Iraq. It is posted on the CCCB website and is quite similar to the September 25th letter of 15 Christian church leaders (including the CCCB President, Mgr Jacques Berthelet C.S.V.) which has been posted on the site of the Canadian Council of Churches, as well.

6. "Faith and Freedom": A new book has been published about a former Director of the Social Affairs Office, Fr. Bill Ryan, s.j. (It's nice to know someone from here "made good!") Available from Novalis.