International Folk Art Market--Celebrating 10 Years of Bringing the World Together

By Jasmine McBeath

From the moment I learned about the International Folk Art Market, I knew I had to visit the one-of-a-kind fair that empowers artisans and sustains traditions from across the globe. 

I got my chance the weekend before last, and even the rain couldn't dampen my spirits. The market seemed endless as we visited hundreds of vendors from sixty different countries and were serenaded by a Latin folk fusion band. I knew I had to buy something; with 90% of sales going directly to the artists, the market profits help sustain entire communities. In 2012, an average booth made $18, 253. That's more than ten times what artists might make in a year in their home countries.

Meeting artists in person and seeing their crafts was inspiring. A painter from Cuba saw us eyeing her "Gallo Soñador," a rooster standing proudly in front of a bright cityscape. She explained that their artists paint like children, with open minds. If they feel the sky is yellow, then it is so and no one tells them differently.  She said this to us in Spanish, not pausing to ask if we understood. I translated for my friends later, but even in the moment everyone understood her passion. I couldn't help but admire her confidence. She was like the colors she described: she didn't need to change anything to fit, and she didn't let anyone tell her differently. We went back at the end of the day to see the rooster again, but someone had already bought the painting.

My biggest purchase was at Nusulah's stand, showcasing raffia and banana stalk baskets from Uganda. They were beautiful, though what drew me in was their straw-like scent. I picked one up and remembered the baskets that decorated our kitchen counters when I was a child. My grandparents gave them to us when they returned from their Peace Corps stay in Kenya, and I used to smell the raffia every time I took an apple from our fruit bowl. Childhood memories aside, I was happy to support Uganda Crafts 2000. The fair trade retailer creates jobs for widows, orphans, and people with disabilities; preserves artistic traditions; and fosters environmental and economic sustainability.

As impressive as it is, Uganda Crafts 2000 is not alone in its compelling background and mission. The IFAM is full of success stories, strengthening artisan cooperatives in Brazil, creating livelihoods for women in rural Indian, fostering opportunities for girls in Pakistan, and changing the future for children in Madagascar.

Below is an especially moving piece illustrating how the market changed the lives of silk weavers and their community in Sandrandahy, Madagascar:

The stories go on and on, and I wish we could have spoken with everyone. As we were leaving, and a poster caught my eye. It boldly announced, "It's not a market, it's a miracle."  As Oxfam's well aware, empowering people to influence decisions that affect them and improve their lives really does cause wondrous changes. I thought of the artists I'd met on the way home as I held Nusulah's basket in my lap and imagined the dreaming rooster riding in someone else's car.

Project Share Dinner

by Jasmine McBeath

Last Tuesday I spent the majority of my day chopping--onions, tomatoes, squash, mushrooms, and potatoes. As I'm still learning the art of cooking, I was more than happy to cut veggies and take orders from our head chef Kathy Chavez. And, under her fearless direction, we prepared food for 180 people at Project Share in a little under four hours.

It all began when one of our volunteers, Pat Zimmerman, asked if Oxfam could partner with a local organization to provide fresh produce to hungry people. Everyone thought applying the GROW Method was a great idea, so Pat and Kathy met with the director of Project Share the next week and learned more about the nonprofit that has been feeding hungry people in Albuquerque for almost thirty years. I was impressed to learn that Project Share is open six nights a week and serves nearly 40,000 meals a year. Plus, almost all their meals come from the generosity of churches and civic groups. 

The meeting was a great intro to Project Share. We still need to discuss further the idea of delivering produce on a regular basis and increasing community participation at the on-site garden. Long-term, we recognize it's important for Oxfam to partner in a way that raises awareness, educates, and empowers the community. For the time being though, we learned a lot about the site and had a great time preparing and serving dinner at Project Share on Tuesday.

We took on the challenge of creating a GROW meal from donations, farmers market produce, and a few choice meat and cheese items. We made enchiladas (more veggie than meat), rice, refried beans, calabacitas, papas, green chili, and served these with a side of watermelon and fresh green salad. 

Diners had nothing but compliments and many sang praises to the New Mexican flavors. Others appreciated the flowers in recycled glass bottles that decorated each table. I was grateful for everyone's help in the kitchen and the team effort that transformed so many raw ingredients into a wonderful meal.  I believe Pat said it best with, "It was hot, intensive work, but all involved came away with a full stomach and a little more joy in their hearts. We look forward to another foray into the battle against hunger."

Thank you!

Dinner Organizers/Coordinators

Kathy Chavez and Pat Zimmerman

Head Chef

Kathy Chavez

Project Share Employees

Ernest Jaramillo and Noel Aragon

And a shout out to our WONDERFUL volunteers!

Gloria

Jasmine

Jesse

Kalen

Kathy

LaVita

Pat Z.

Patricia B.

Tessa

Tomas

Summer is here--a great time to GROW

From the Oxfam International Blog: 

The ‘GROW Method’

Here are five easy ways to change the way you shop, cook and eat to make the food system work better for everyone:

Support small-scale farmers

We need to protect the 1.5 billion people living on small farms around the world growing food to feed themselves, their families and their communities. Looking out for Fair Trade products and brands when we shop is a great way of doing this and it gives us a connection to producers that we have lost.

Save food

In rich countries, we throw away almost as much food every year as consumers as Sub-Saharan Africa produces in a year (222 million tonnes), creating harmful greenhouse gases when it ends up at a landfill. We can create less waste by storing our fruit and veg better and using up leftovers in inventive ways.

Cook smart

Turning your stove down to simmer after the water in your pan has boiled may seem like a small thing but if all urban households in Brazil, India, the Philippines, Spain, UK and US did it every time they cooked for a year, over 30 million megawatt hours of energy could be saved. The benefit for the environment would be greater than if these same households each planted a tree seedling and let it grow for ten years. And what about if sometimes you used no heat at all?

Buy seasonal

A lot of energy is wasted creating the conditions to grow out of season. By discovering what’s growing near us, we’ll find fruit and veg that not only tastes sweeter because it's in season, but is also using a lot less energy to get to our plates.

Less meat and dairy

Think you know what you’re putting in your chilli con carne? You might be shocked to read that a 500g packet of beef contains 6,810 litres of water. OK not literally, but that is how much water is needed to produce just enough meat for one meal. If just one family swapped beef for beans in their chilli, they could save nearly 6000 litres of water in just one meal, creating less harmful greenhouse gas emissions from food production and cattle, in the process.