Impact ID: 981
fair trade organic pears
interrupcion* organic
Organic Patagonia Pears are grown in Argentina’s Rio Negro Valley, where perfect growing conditions combine with clean, nutrient rich Patagonia water to create delicious fruit. Enjoy fresh or dried as a snack. Also great baked, sautéed or poached and used in salads or deserts. Pears are one of the most fiber-rich fruits on earth and contain potassium and Vitamins B and C, which help regulate blood pressure and may reduce the risk of stroke.
1. Edgardo Costanzi
Organic Apple Cultivation
On Edgardo Costanzi’s medium-sized organic apple and pear farm in Rio Negro quality is first priority, but respect for people and the planet is a given. “We’ve always believed in the well-being of our employees, our community and the environment”, Edgardo explains, “Organic and Fair Trade just make it official.”
Edgardo had an early realization that sustainability and quality go hand in hand. One of the “early-adopters” in the Rio Negro Valley to convert to organic production, Costanzi knows that every investment in sustainability and employee well being is an investment in the quality of the harvest. That’s why Costanzi makes an annual ‘asado’ (barbeque over wood coal) for his workers and uses a part of that time to train them in the finer points of picking apples for a good harvest. He also pays his ‘cosechadores’ (harvest workers) close to double the industry average. “I pay them well, so they have a sense of how important their job is. It creates pride, which shows in the harvest.”
Premium Investments: 2008-2009 Asociación Civil Interrupción, our non-profit partner in Argentina, conducted several worker assemblies to decide the fair trade premium investments. The workers decided to: * Supply a rural school of tools to teach students on how to create and run an organic orchard. * Buy school supplies to the sons and daughters of the workers. * Supply a health community center with medcines and specific instruments to improve the health services * Create a health and emergency fund for workers * Buy shoes and appareal to workers sons and daughters
Premium Investments: 2008-2009 Asociación Civil Interrupción, our non-profit partner in Argentina, conducted several worker assemblies to decide the fair trade premium investments. The workers decided to: * Supply a rural school of tools to teach students on how to create and run an organic orchard. * Buy school supplies to the sons and daughters of the workers. * Supply a health community center with medcines and specific instruments to improve the health services * Create a health and emergency fund for workers * Buy shoes and appareal to workers sons and daughters
Fair Trade Certification
Edgardo Costanzi´s farms are Fair Trade Certified. We did during march the first annual assembly where workers discussed about how to invest the social premiums. Workers proposed:
1) Trailer. The proposal came from a permanent worker who considers that during the winter, workers don’t have enough shelter to rest and to eat.
2) Transportation to home. Renting a bus during the harvest for transporting workers from farms to their houses. This works for temporary and permanent workers.
During the assembly, workers elected a committee of workers to oversee the process of investing the premium so as to assure that this premium is invested accordingly into a social project. The committee was chosen in a democratic way.
