Weekly Bulletin
Today’s Palms
Our commitment to fair trade
Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem was accented by the jubilant waving of palm branches is re-enacted each Palm Sunday in Christian congregations worldwide as our observance of Holy Week begins. Unfortunately, for the communities where these palms are harvested, palm fronds do not always represent the same jubilation they do for us.
In Guatemala and Mexico, an effort is underway to develop a new structure for harvesting palms that protects the environment and also provides a fair income for the harvesters of the palms.
The palms we are handing out today are called an eco-palm. The palms are harvested in a more sustainable way, whereby the harvesters are paid on the quality of the palms they harvest rather than the quantity, which helps to limit the amount of palms taken from the forest. These communities have taken upon themselves to learn about harvesting practices that minimize impact on the natural forest where the palm grows, and ways to protect this wild species of palm.
In fact, in Guatemala, the palm harvesters have received SmartWood certification from the Rainforest Alliance, a “seal of approval” that ensures consumers that the wood products they purchase come from forests managed to conserve biodiversity and support local communities. In some areas where the waste ratio reached as high as 50% before, now the discarded palms count for only 5-7% of the harvested volume.
And, rather than sending the harvested palms off to a distant warehouse for sorting and packaging, the community members complete those tasks themselves and sell their palms directly rather than relying on middlemen—ensuring that more of the money paid for the palms actually goes to those who worked the hardest to provide them.
When done in a socially and environmentally just way, palm gathering protects valuable natural forests. Steady markets for palm prevent the forest from being destroyed for other uses. Eco-palms protect the unique and important biodiversity of the region and maintain the local communities' standard of living.
More than 300 million palm fronds are harvested each year for U.S. consumption alone—most of them for Palm Sunday, but also for floral displays for church-related events. Our purchase of eco-palms plays an important role in protecting forests, local jobs, and sustainable livelihoods in the harvesting communities.
Last Updated: Wednesday, February 6, 2008