New Fair Trade Bananas Appeal to Health
and Sense of Justice

September 16, Adrian, Michigan – People have known for years that bananas are a healthy fruit for breakfast or a snack. But now, thanks to the efforts of Oké USA and its partners, banana cooperatives in Peru and Ecuador, consumers can benefit not only their own health, but also the lives of farmers, their families, and communities – simply by buying fair trade bananas.

Oké USA sells their bananas under the brand of Equal Exchange, a worker-owned cooperative that, since 1989, has brought fair trade coffee to the U.S. market. Through the years, they have expanded to offer fair trade tea, chocolate, cocoa, nuts and berries, sugar – and now bananas. Oké USA is owned in part by Red Tomato, which has received low-interest loans from the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ Community Investment Fund.

Oké USA brings bananas to the United States through two cooperatives: the Central Association of Small Producers of Organic Bananas (CEPIBO) in Peru and El Guabo in Southwestern Ecuador. CEPIBO, which first exported bananas to Europe in 2008, consists of 1,400 families operating their own farms. Because of the fair wages they are receiving, the farmers in CEPIBO are able expand on their operations and their livelihoods. El Guabo, a cooperative of 450 farmers, has raised enough money to open a free medical clinic in their community, improved the education of their children dramatically, and provided a social security and retirement system for their members.

Oké USA, Equal Exchange, CEPIBO, and El Guabo are “excellent examples of the right fit with the Adrian Dominican Mission and Vision,” said Lura Mack, Community Investment Coordinator for the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ Portfolio Advisory Board (PAB). Through the Community Investment Fund, the Adrian Dominicans make low-interest loans to community-based organizations such as worker-owned cooperatives, credit unions, housing projects, and loan funds.

Lura noted that the Adrian Dominican Sisters were among the first to take a chance on Red Tomato, which works with family farmers in the northeastern region of the United States, but partnered with Equal Exchange and Oké USA to bring organic, fair trade bananas to the U.S. market.

The PAB has a strong belief in the benefits of fair trade for both producers and consumers. Fair trade products bring in a sustainable wage for the farmer – a wage that helps their communities and improves their families’ lives. But the system also benefits those who eat their crops, since they are healthier and less processed than produce grown on large, corporate farms, she said.

Fair trade products used to be much more expensive than their counterparts, Lura said, but the more people purchase them, the lower the prices can go. Even buying fair trade coffee once in awhile helps to bring down the cost, she explained, adding that the Adrian Dominican Motherhouse serves exclusively fair trade coffee. In addition, fair trade chocolate bars are available in the Weber Center Shop.

Oké USA markets their bananas in the northeast, as well as in parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin. They are also available in Hancock, Michigan. For a map of states where Oké USA’s bananas are available, click here. More info on Equal Exchange and CEPIBO.