In 2005, Wholesome Sweeteners pioneered Fair Trade Certification for sweeteners. Our first contracts for Fair Trade Certified sugars were with farmers cooperatives in Malawi, Africa and another country. That's the answer to this month’s Where in the World mystery.

• This small, landlocked, very productive South American country is home to more than 6 million people, but most of the country is rural and agricultural.
• Among all South American nations, it ranks 5th from the lowest in terms of GDP, with average incomes just above $2500 a year.
• Sugar cane is a leading cash crop.
• And our cooperative partner invested their first Fair Trade social premiums (remember, social premiums are paid above and beyond the fair market value of the cane) in the big red tractor you see pictured above. With the tractor, they can get their cane to the mill in those critical 24 hours after harvest--and receive full value for their crop. These are the farmers who benefit from your support of Fair Trade Sugar and Molasses. We all thank you!

So, where in the world are we? Send the name of this country to info@OrganicSugars.biz by September 30, 2009. Please note "Where in the World" in the subject line and be sure to include your shipping address. Three Sugar Club members who correctly answer our geo-quiz will be selected at random to receive Wholesome Sweeteners Care Packages. We look forward to hearing from you. 

Speaking of the golden rule (see "School Days" above), we don't often mention media coverage of Wholesome's products here, but this is such a great story of "do unto others" that we wanted to share it with you. 

Large bags of Wholesome’s Fair Trade Organic Sugar were on the small screen across the country in July--along with apples, flour and secret spices. It's all part of an inspiring story about New Jersey mother of three, Angela Logan, who literally had a bake sale to save her home. With the family recipe for her kids' favorite cake, one oven, and four baking tins, she started baking. As her story spread among friends and neighbors, it was eventually shared with news media and, in no time commercial kitchens stepped in eager to help, too. Within a couple of weeks, she'd sold more than 400 hundred cakes, saving her home, and in the process starting a new and very successful business venture, one that gives back (a portion of the proceeds from her sales go to non-profits that help other families facing similar situations). To order your own Mortgage Apple Cake, and learn more about Angela's story, please visit Bake-Me-A-Wish. Since we can never have enough cake--or love, send a cake to someone near and dear, and pass the sharing along!

Sweet September: It's Organic Harvest Month ...

The USDA Organic logo is your guarantee that the product inside the package is certified USDA Organic. All of the products, processes and facilities are produced to National Organic Program Standards and are independently inspected annually by a third party auditor to assure you that what's in the package is organic. For Wholesome Sweeteners, "Organic" means that our producers meet or exceed the USDA's National Organic Program standards for growing, harvesting and milling cane and agave, and collecting honey. Farmers don't use synthetic chemicals on the crops or hives; we let the trimmings lay where they fall to restore nutrients and help the soil retain moisture; we don't burn our crops before harvesting, and we recycle everything we can--from the spent cane that fuels our mills to the excess beeswax left over from the honey harvest, which is molded into honeycomb-formed plates and slipped into the hive boxes to help the bees build new hives each spring. Learn more. While we love to talk about organic sweeteners, September is Organic Harvest Month, and in celebration of all things organic, we'd like to introduce you to a few great resources that help explain all that's involved in "organic", and how you can make your own home, school and community more attuned to locally produced, organic and sustainable foods and products. The USDA's National Organic Program (the agency defining certification standards) The Organic Center (peer-reviewed scientific studies on the benefits of organic farming) The Organic Trade Association The O'Mama Report (a consumer-oriented update on what's new in the organic world)  Kiwi magazine online (one of our favorite resources for organic family living--great parenting tips and kids activities)