Brazil Nut products from Candela Peru

We have many products in the store that appear relatively hard to find elsewhere, not just as Fair Trade products, but in any form.

Brazil Nut oil from Candela Peru

One such product is Brazil Nut Oil.

We’ve carried Brazil Nut oil from Candela Peru since we first opened, and it has always attracted a loyal following – whether because of its great taste, or because of its good qualities is hard to say…..people just love it!

Candela Peru works with 273 Brazil nut gatherers (castañeros) and their families who live along the Madre de Dios River in the Peruvian rainforest. Candela’s Brazil nuts are harvested from trees that grow naturally in the rainforest and reach heights of over 150 feet. The nut pods fall from the trees, are gathered, and then the pods are cracked open with machetes to extract the nuts, which are used for food or oil. The nut gatherers’ livelihood depends on the sound management of forest resources, and they are working closely with the staff of Candela to improve the quality of their organic product.

Candela Peru is a non-profit alternative trading organization, founded in 1989, which offers training to the nut gatherers in the areas of administration, sustainable resource management, and export procedures. Candela is committed to improving the living standards of the Brazil nuts gatherers through better income and to help build local capacity and empowerment.

Purchases of Candela’s Brazil nuts and Brazil nut oil provide an income to the nut harvesters and their families and promote sustainable use of the Peruvian rainforest.

As for the health qualities of brazil nuts, here’s what Sixwise.com, who ranks them #5 on the nut ‘top health’ list, has to say about them:

These nuts are extremely nutrient-rich and contain protein, copper, niacin, magnesium, fiber, vitamin E and selenium. Selenium is a powerful antioxidant that works to neutralize dangerous free radicals. A study at the University of Illinois even found that the high amounts of selenium in Brazil nuts may help prevent breast cancer.

Organic brazil nut oil, as well as organic dry roasted brazil nuts, is available from Global Fayre in our downtown Springfield location, and in our online store.

Traditional Copper Measuring Bowls from Nepal

We got some beautiful new pieces yesterday from our friends at Ganesh Himal Trading. (we’ve been dealing with Ganesh ever since we formed Global Fayre and got involved in the Fair Trade movement)

Amongst them was a set of traditional copper measuring bowls from Nepal. They are so beautiful that we had to add them to the Global Fayre Online Store.

Of course, they are on the shelves in our store in downtown Springfield as well, so hopefully some of our regulars will get to see them before they are snapped up…..

Here’s an image of one of them:

Large copper measuring Bowl from Nepal

First Friday – March 7th, 2008

We’re really excited to be featuring work from the Purepecha Indians of Central Mexico, who have been working with copper since pre-Columbian times and still use the bonfire method to heat and hammer a range of vases, bowls, mirrors and plates. 

Cobre–Copper in Spanish–has been made by the Purepecha Indians of Central Mexico since pre-Columbian times. When the Europeans arrived in the 16th century, they found the Purepecha making domestic implements and weapons from copper found in local, above-ground mines. Father Vasco de Quiroga introduced a few refinements; however, little has changed in how the copper is worked and finished. Because the copper mines have long been closed, today the smiths gather and melt discarded copper for use in their workshops.

You can read more about the Purepecha Indians here