We Are Fairtrade

IT-RA Icons

Lawrence, Kansas

October is Fair Trade Month, and to celebrate Fairtrade America held their annual ‘We Are Fairtrade’ campaign to generate broader awareness of Fairtrade certified products. Fairtrade America targets grocery co-ops belonging to National Co+op Grocers (NCG) as partners for mural installations. In the fourth year of the campaign, the co-op’s Lawrence store was selected to be one of three recipients of a mural, courtesy of the organization.

WHY PUBLIC ART?

Art has sparked conversations on social justice issues and hope for change for generations. That’s why Fairtrade America decided to create a mural campaign — to celebrate the often unseen people who grow the products we use every day like coffee, cocoa and bananas, and to bring to light the challenges that they face because of unfair trade.

Employing local artists, these murals connect consumers to the origins of their food and the positive impacts of Fairtrade. By choosing Fairtrade, you are choosing a world where farmers and workers get a fair deal, women thrive and the environment is prioritized.

Good Food Brings Us Together

The Merc Co+op is passionate about connecting our shoppers with the farmers who grow their food. This mural illustrates that desire for connection. As a cooperative, we champion the concept that individuals have the power to influence the market when choose products that align with their values.

Thinking Globally. Connecting Locally.

Fairtrade America and The Merc Co+op worked together to determine what Fairtrade farmer would be featured, how and by whom.

We wanted to highlight a brand available at our Lawrence store that aligned with our commitment to Inclusive Trade. Inclusive Trade businesses are owned by people who identify as women, Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), LGBTQIA+, persons with disabilities and veterans.

Fairtrade America researched and worked to meet farmers that grow and sell Fairtrade goods. They presented a variety of farmers to choose from, all women operating farms in Latin America. As a co-op, we were inspired most by Joselinda Manueles for her leadership in co-founding her own cooperative. And, as the operator of our region’s largest solar installation, Joselinda’s own 30-year use of solar panels resonated with us.

About the Fairtrade Farmer

Joselinda has a coffee farm called Los Cascabeles in the south-western La Paz region of Honduras. She and Enrique Mario Pérez have been founding partners of the Café Orgánico Marcala (COMSA) cooperative since it helped them buy land 19 years ago. They agreed to share the land, and Joselinda grows her own coffee — full of stories, vitality and strength.

“When we talk about gender we are also talking about family and the generational succession,” says Joselinda.

Growing coffee is not Joselinda’s only focus; she has turned her farm into a larger project. Los Cascabeles is part of a carbon footprint capture project, one of the farms that is capturing more — and emitting less — pollution. The farm has been running on solar panels for 30 years and is committed to being a biodynamic farm and mitigating climate change.

‘Innovate’ is a key word for Joselinda, that’s what she’s been doing for 30 years, ever since she first learned about the coffee process.

“I believe that I will never die because when I am no longer physically here, my life will continue through the more than 2,000 trees that I planted. My farm was a desert when I arrived and look how it is now.”

About the Fairtrade Brand

Joselinda is one of the farmers who provide beans to Kicking Horse Coffee, a specialty brand that uses only 100% certified Organic and Fairtrade Arabica beans.

Coffee is one of the most-traded commodities in the world. The trade can be volatile, unpredictable, and subject to dramatic price fluctuations. Kicking Horse, a woman-founded business, is interested in using coffee that is good and fair for both their coffee drinkers and for farmers, like Joselinda. They believe we can’t have one without the other.

About the Artists

The Merc Co+op assisted in the research of local artists and participated in the artist interviews. IT-RA Icons stood out as muralists with experience in high quality portraiture that would do Joselinda justice.

IT-RA Icons is a collaboration of Kansas City Muralist duo Isaac Tapia and Rodrigo Alvarez. The duo began working together in the summer of 2017. Since then, the artists have been commissioned to paint over 60 murals in the Kansas City metro area and beyond, including several pieces at the new Kansas City International Airport. Their diverse body of work is united by vibrant colors, evolving designs and themes that celebrate their communities and honor their identities as artists who migrated to the U.S. at a very young age.

Good Local Food

JT Daniels

Kansas City, Kansas

In partnership with the Unified Government (UG), our co-op selected local artist JT Daniels to design and install a mural on the corner wall of the grocery store's Kansas City, Kansas, location at 5th & Minnesota Ave.

Art had been in the plans for the east-facing corner long before the store was built. And, that intersection is identified as a "catalyst block" in the UG’s Master Plan for Downtown KCK — as it serves as a gateway and focal point that welcomes people to the area. Per our management agreement with the UG, funding for this mural is coming from the city.

"Our co-op's mission is to be an inviting, multi-cultural urban market that offers a hybrid variety of affordable, conventional, local and organic products. Much like food, public art has the power to connect people and community," said Rita York Hennecke, General Manager. "With input from our neighbors, the goal is for the finished piece to resonate with local residents as a physical representation that this community-owned store is a neighborhood hub where everyone is welcome."

The artists who submitted proposals explored themes of food, diversity and inclusion, community and empowerment. Consideration was given to local Kansas City-based artists with professional qualifications and artistic excellence.

An eight-person selection committee collaborated to review the submitted proposals, interview the artists and select who would complete the work.

"We had a number of excellent submissions by local artists making it a very difficult decision for the selection committee," said Laura Marsh, Outreach Manager, The Merc Co+op. "Ultimately, JT Daniels' proposal which exhibited his experience utilizing community input in the design process, his profound knowledge and mastery of the medium, and his genuine connection to Kansas City, Kansas, made him their top pick."

About the Artist

"JT Daniels started pursuing art in elementary school, where he became infatuated with comic book art and illustration. Later, he graduated from Park University with a BA that was focused on painting.

After graduating, he began working as a youth development coordinator, where he helped to establish an art program that produced murals by creative professionals partnered with at-risk youth. After leaving the non-profit organization, he transitioned into mentoring adults with varying mental and physical disabilities and assisted them as they pursued art as employment for JCDS. In 2019, JT began working as an artist full time, where he uses his art to support and uplift the community through murals.” from JT Daniels’ website

"I grew up in Wyandotte county, which was my home, officially, for 30 years before I moved into Missouri," Daniels said. "I have an affinity for my home town, as I spent many a year dreaming of opportunities to see my community flourish and change like those around me."

Community Driven

As part of the partnership and Daniels' design process, the co-op reached out to the KCK community for insight and ideas on what this community means to you. We offered a variety of ways to engage, including:

• An Artist Meet + Greet

• Digital and paper surveys

• A coloring sheet where individuals can design and share their own mural ideas. This was a great way for kids to participate!

• Co-op representatives made the rounds at neighborhood association meetings to invite folks to share their ideas.

The final design incorporated those themes and images, reflecting the community and their input.

The Merc Co+op would like to thank the Mural Selection Committee, including: Chris Green, Director of the Alcott Arts Center; Karen French, Turtle Hill Neighborhood Association Member; John Kelly, Director of Building and Logistics for the UG; Stephanie Moore, Analyst for the UG and Board Chair of KCK Farmers Market; Deon Whitten, JAG Educator at F.L. Schlagle and Board Treasurer of The Merc Co+op; Anthony Lang, Board Member of The Merc Co+op, and Rita York Hennecke, The Merc Co+op General Manager.

A special thanks to José Faus and Pat Alexander with Charlotte Street Foundation for their insight into the process of requesting proposals and for helping to make connections with local muralists. Additional thanks to Dave Lowenstein for his consultation and expertise in community-based murals.