One of the best things about the Catonsville Co-Op is the bulk section. Members can get as much as they want of rice, oatmeal, lentils, Michelle's Granola, or a variety of other favorites! I wanted to highlight one of my favorite items in the bulk section: Equal Exchange Coffee.

Equal Exchange started in the 1980s when a group of co-op managers from New England started meeting once a week to discuss how food could be better grown, sold, and bought. Nicaraguan Coffee was the first product Equal Exchange sold in 1986. By 1991, Equal Exchange was selling bins of their coffee beans to co-ops in different roasts and flavors. Today, Equal Exchange is one of the country's largest Co-Ops, with 130 worker-owners.

Equal Exchange products are Fair Trade Certified, meaning that their products are made according to rigorous social, environmental, and economic standards. People making Fair Trade Certified goods “work in safe conditions, protect the environment, build sustainable livelihoods, and earn additional money to empower and uplift their communities.”[1]

When you buy Equal Exchange, you are supporting another co-op, as well as Fair Trade Certified farms around the world. In addition to the bulk section, different Equal Exchange products are available through our membership with Frontier Co-Op.[2]