Fair Trade Blueberries, Tucuman, Argentina.

Fran Estrada & Pablo Ballazini

In the rich soils of Tucumán, interrupcion* fair trade blueberries soak in warm sun while surrounded by the high Andes mountains and sugarcane fields. Berries del Aconquija S. A. & Berries del NOA are farms founded by Francisco and Pablo, two entrepreneurs that made social responsibility and sustainability their guiding principles. Back in 2005, when they were writing their business plan they contacted interrupcion* to help them to measure and maximize their social and environmental impact. We worked with them to identify their communities and their needs. At that time, they built strong ties with the local organizations giving them support and guidance in understanding of the main issues facing the community. As soon as both companies were formed and the farms went into production, Pablo and Fran decided to certify their operations with Nature´s Choice Certification and Global Gap Certification. Both certifications guarantee safe labor conditions, monitor and regulate environmental impact and establish guidelines for good relationships with workers.

One of the first projects implemented was to invite local bank representatives to the farm to help permanent and temporary workers open their own savings accounts, so they can manage their money safely and take the first steps toward establishing credit. They then realized that some local labor contractors were using false registrations to avoid paying the national minimum wage to temporary workers. In response, Pablo and Fran rewrote their agreement with labor contractors to guarantee proof of payment for each temporary worker and installed a fingerprint scanner on the farm to ensure that those working on the farm are getting paid.

In 2007, interrupcion* started the fair trade certification program and Pablo and Fran were enthusiastic about getting involved and working towards fair trade certification.

The good relationships that they had cultivated with workers, their genuine concern for labor & social issues, and their well defined and documented processes helped them to obtain Fair Trade certification. As time went by, sales of Fair Trade berries made the social Premium fund grow and the workers showed a serious commitment to their communities, eager to create positive social change. In this rural and poor area. Workers decided to invest some premium money to solve urgent problems that their community was facing: a lack of shoes for the children of the community school, a necessary but expensive surgery for a very ill child, and the purchase of a specialized wheel chair for a severely handicapped child. In addition, as Pablo, Fran, and interrupcion* taught during assemblies, workers need to be organized to create an institution governed by themselves to address the most important issues that they face as a community. From this awareness came the decision to create an independent branch of Asociación Civil Interrupción* in Tucumán to provide goods and services for all the workers and their communities, goods and services often basic but difficult to obtain. Two main projects are being evaluated by the workers and Asociación Civil Interrupción:

- The creation of a community bakery to provide affordable and healthy bread

- The creation of a community factory to produce bricks and provide affordable materials for housing and small construction projects in the community.

Fran and Pablo are supporting these projects on their farms through a commitment to Fair Trade practices and are advising and assisting workers by providing the tools and freedom necessary to create make them a reality. Asociación Civil Interrupción is working closely with the workers committee to bring their projects to life and to continue to define and implement projects that can harness the benefits of Fair Trade in this community.