Students from George Washington, Georgetown, Catholic and American joined forces for a dinner and discussion with farmers from the Kuapa Kokoo Cooperative called "A Taste of Justice". In conjunction with the Divine Chocolate tour, the women from Kuapa Kokoo treated the audience to lively music and spoke about their cooperative and cocoa production in Ghana. Attendees seated at round tables got to know each other and collectively come up with questions for the speakers. Directly following, the women asked the audience questions. The dialogue touched upon how Fair Trade benefits the coop but still stands at only 3% of sales, gender dynamics within the cooperative, organizing farmers, farmer ownership through Divine and how students participate in the Fair Trade movement.

Also, can't forget the food. The crowd munched on a delicious array of appetizers and sandwiches kindly donated by our friends at Java Green (www.javagreen.net), as well as some yummy baked goods.

This event helped raise about $300 for the upcoming Northeast/Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference. Speaking of NEMA, a friendly reminder to register at http://www.usft.org/fairtrade/registerNEMA.

With about 50 people in attendence, engaging discussion and good food, the event was a great sucess, or better yet, pa pa pa! (the best of the best!)

Look out DC, word on the street is the Mid-Atlantic crew is thinking about another event for spring semester... contact Mid-Atlantic Coordinator Christina Lizzi (christina.lizzi(at)gmail.com) or myself (domesticft(at)gmail.com) to get involved!

fair trade love,

Ashwini