Bronner Family Commitment to Social Responsibility Benefits Organic Farmers
ESCONDIDO, Calif. -- Family owned Gertrude & Bronner's Magic Alpsnack(tm) is pleased to announce that beginning in April 2006 all five flavors of their popular snack bars will be made with certified organic 'fairDeal' hemp nuts. The fairDeal' is domestic fair trade certification for North American organic family farms. The 'fairDeal' ensures that farmers receive a fair price for their organic crops. Based on fair trade regulations these prices guarantee enough to cover the cost of production plus labor and profit which can be reinvested back into the organic family farm or local community.
Since 2003 Alpsnack(tm) has demonstrated a commitment to fair trade by sourcing certified fair trade chocolate. Now with the 'fairDeal', for the hemp nut in Alpsnack(tm), they are able to reaffirm this commitment in a domestic context. The 'fairDeal' is third party certification that will ensure fair trade practices for family farmers and farm workers in North America. The Bronner family will be the first manufacturer to receive 'fairdeal' certification for hemp seed, a popular ingredient in health foods ranging from bread, cereal and salad dressing.
"This is really a domestic fair trade program that will help small to medium size family farmers," says Alpsnack(tm) President David Bronner. "When people think about fair trade it's often associated with farmers in poor countries, but with family farmers in North America under attack by mega agribusinesses and unstable prices, this program will bring price stability and fairness farmers want."
Fair Trade rules guarantee: a living wage in the local context, offering employees opportunities for advancement, providing equal opportunities for all people, particularly the most disadvantaged, engaging in environmentally sustainable practices, being open to public accountability, building long- term trade relationships, providing healthy and safe working conditions within the local context, providing financial and technical assistance to producers whenever possible. "Fair Deal" takes many of these "Fair Trade" practices in the developing world and applies them to the developed.
"One of the reasons that consumers purchase organic food is because they want to support the family farm," says Rachel Swenson, fairDeal program manager. "Unfortunately because of the greater role of mega agrifood corporations in organics and the dumping of cheap offshore crops with dubious organic certification this is no longer the case. The fairDeal is a third party assurance to the organic consumer that they are in fact supporting the domestic family farm", adds Swenson.
The Bronner Family is committed to help transition our major industries away from polluting, unsustainable materials and methods to cleaner, sustainable ones. To that end Alpsnack(tm), is a certified organic nutrition bar made with organic hemp nuts, almonds and fruits, that is dairy, gluten and wheat free, with over 500 mg omega-3 essential fatty acids. Hemp nut is the shelled seed from industrial hemp (non-psychoactive cannabis grown for fiber and seed) and is an ancient food source that supplies high amounts of omega-3 compared to other seeds and is an easily digestible, well-balanced protein.
All profits from Alpsnack(tm) are devoted to industrial hemp advocacy. The Bronner family is supporting Vote Hemp (
http://www.VoteHemp.org) and the Hemp Industries Association's (HIA,
http://www.theHIA.org) legal, media, grassroots and lobbying efforts to re-commercialize industrial hemp farming in North America. Alp Snacks are sold in thousands of stores and online at
http://www.alpsnack.com
