Two churches support unique organic coffee co-op

By TOM KANE

BEACH LAKE, PA - You can purchase high-quality organic farm products at a low price and support a unique trade partnership that empowers both farmers and consumers. Particularly, you can purchase organically grown coffee and chocolate products from global farmers at two local church groups, both located in Beach Lake, PA.

The trade partnership is called Equal Exchange and it aims to support family farms that use organic methods, rather than industrialized agribusinesses that rely on harmful chemicals. Besides coffee, the coop produces organic tea, chocolate and cocoas from around the world. It also offers a line of snacks that support U.S. almond, cranberry and pecan growers.

Equal Exchange, now in its 20th year, continues to find new and powerful ways to build a better food system at a time when mega-farm companies are pushing the small farmer out of the food market.

The two church groups that sell Equal Exchange products are the Beach Lake United Methodist Church (BLUMC) and the Upper Delaware Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (UDUUF).

“Consumers and farmers must continue to walk together,” said Methodist pastor Mark Terwilliger. “This is a cooperative effort for the good of all. We are in the same struggle for a life of peace.”

The churches seek to support sustainable agricultural practices by participating in a network that is working directly with small, independent producers, thus eliminating the infamous “middle man.”

“Knowing that folks share our values makes doing business that much easier,” Terwilliger said.

On a regular basis, the United Methodist church receives a supply of various kinds of coffee as well as chocolate that has been manufactured from organically grown beans. Anyone can stop in at the church, which stands opposite the Beach Lake Fire Company on Route 652.

The fair trade products can also be purchased from the Unitarian Universalist fellowship, which meets on Sunday mornings at the Beach Lake Community Center, a few hundred yards east of the Methodists. Stephen Stuart, a UDUUF member who facilitates the program, sells and delivers the products to consumers throughout the valley.

“Equal Exchange partners with faith groups through their Interfaith program,” said Stuart. “When I buy coffee and chocolates through the Interfaith program, the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC), which promotes human rights and social justice throughout the globe, receives a portion of the sale. The UUSC uses those funds to support the social justice work of community-based cooperatives in coffee-growing regions, he said. Unlike the Methodists, which sell all of the products at cost, the fellowship sells the coffees at the suggested retail price and donates the difference to local social justice organizations.

Equal Exchange offers more than 40 varieties of organic specialty Arabica coffees from co-ops in Latin America, Africa and Asia, Terwilliger said. “Coffee is available in bulk, packaged and pillow packs, with whole bean and drip grind options.”

Terwilliger can be reached at 570/729-9126; Stuart can be contacted by email at stephenstuart.2000@gmail.com or by calling 845/252-6626.