October is Fair Trade Month!

As we leave September behind, we begin to see the changes that come with each autumn season. The weather is cooler, the days are shorter, and, unless you're in LA, the leaves turn red & yellow and begin to fall. As the physical world around us changes, we can also choose to change our social world for the better.

October marks Fair Trade Month, and this is the perfect opportunity to spread awareness and improve lives all over the world. As mentioned in the previous blog post, 'fair trade' refers to business practices that condone fair wages, community development in impoverished regions, and environmental sustainability. Sweat shops are still a very prominent reality, and fair trade organizations are doing their part to encourage humane treatment and economic responsibility.
Happy to do our part, here at Sencha Naturals we incorporate Fair Trade certified green tea in our breath mints and snack bars. Sourced from three different plantations in India and China, this organic tea benefits the health of consumers as it benefits the growth of plantation employees and their families.

We can only hope that Fair Trade certification will one day be unnecessary, as all workers will be treated well by their employers, paid fairly for their hard work, not discriminated based upon age or gender, and general social injustice will cease to exist. However, that day may be long in coming; until then, TransFair USA and various other fair trade organizations will continue spreading awareness and encouraging consumers to support the cause by voicing their opinions and voting with their dollars.

There are many ways to make an impact! Even switching your weekly indulgence of dark chocolate for a Fair Trade chocolate bar makes a difference; it only costs pennies more, but the social benefits are priceless. For more information on purchasing Fair Trade products or to get involved with an event, please visit Trans Fair's Get Organized! page.

Calling all Conscious Consumers!

Perhaps you've seen one of these labels on your coffee or tea products, but what do they mean?


The various Fair Trade organizations certify hundreds of products imported into the US, including tea, coffee, spices, flowers, sugar, and arts & crafts. Fair Trade promotes:

*Fair wages *Good working conditions
*No child labor *Fair treatment/pay for women
*Sustainable land use *Fair working hours
*Ability to unionize *Community development

And this weekend, the 2nd annual Fair Trade LA event is hitting Hollywood, CA. It will feature live music, guest speakers, and vendors all involved in the Fair Trade movement.

So come down for the nearby Hollywood Farmer's Market to support your local economy by buying fresh produce, and browse through the various Fair Trade vendors set up in the Washington Mutual parking lot. We will also be there with our Fair Trade Green Tea Mints & Bars (certified by TransFair USA), so stop by the Sencha Naturals table for some yummy samples!

SEN CHA Speaks!

Sencha Naturals founder David Kerdoon spent the morning speaking to culinary classes at John Marshall High School in Los Angeles. He was invited by teacher Andi Phillips to share his experience with entrepreneurship and the food industry.After handing out product samples, David demonstrated how our Green Tea Mints are manufactured using a simple tool to compress powder into the trademark leaf-shaped mints. He discussed current industry trends, gave tips on starting a new business, and ended with a Q&A session.

David discovered that some of the students were eager to embark on their own culinary careers, while others were planning to use the course's food training to assist them as dorm-dwelling college students. All in all, he was glad to see a diverse group of young adults interested in a more hands-on approach to food preparation and appreciation.

Andi Phillips is a recipe developer for Better Nutrition Magazine. She collaborates with friend & colleague Ayn Nix (text writer) on articles concerning functional foods. They call themselves the Functional Foodies. They have recently been contracted to write a functional food cookbook for Basic Health Publications.
Andi loves writing but her true passion is her classroom at John Marshall High School in Los Feliz, CA. There she teaches 5 classes per semester to a wonderfully enthusiastic group of students. She has been there for 9 years and does everything from teaching basic food & nutrition to coaching students for grueling culinary competitions. Procuring industry support for her program is one of the important facets of her job at the school and that is where her path crossed with path of the fine people at Sencha Naturals.

An Enlightening Weekend...

September marks National Yoga Month, and yogamonth.com is promoting a 10-city yoga tour. The free festival is hitting Los Angeles this weekend, September 20 & 21, and is sure to inspire attendees into a healthier lifestyle.

Held at Loyola Marymount University, the event will feature workshops, movie screenings, free concerts, and over 100 exhibitors promoting their healthy, empowering products. Sencha Naturals will also be exhibiting, so stop by & say hello!

The festival will also hit San Diego on September 24th, and end its California leg of the tour next weekend in San Francisco (September 27th). Even if you can't make it to an event, you can still take a moment out of your day for a simple yoga break:

Sit or lie down in a comfortable position, and close your eyes.
Inahle deeply & feel your breath traveling down to your toes, then

visualize your physical and emotional tension being released with

each breath that is exhaled. Repeat until relaxation is achieved.

Just a few minutes of mindful breathing will rejuvenate your mind and provide mental energy for the remainder of the day. Namaste

Enlighten your mind, body, and beyond...

For those of you in the Los Angeles area, this weekend brings about the 5th annual Mind, Body & Beyond Expo. The event focuses on green/conscious living, and will feature free yoga sessions, special guest speakers (including Mallika Chopra and Ed Begley Jr.), and over 100 companies offering samples of their natural/alternative products & services.A two-day pass at the door is only $20, and free tickets are also available at Whole Foods markets in the LA area; simply purchase $25 in groceries and you will receive two tickets to the event. What a deal!