These are shots from my most recent trip to Mexico, which was March-April, 2010.

Morelos was the first state I visited during this project.  I was in San Augustin, a tiny village and Tlalquiltenango, a medium-sized city.  I photographed people working in nopal (an edible cactus), jicama and sugar cane. 

I spent a week in Cuetzalan, a lovely village in the mountains of Puebla.  Tosepan Titataniske (a Nahuatl phrase meaning "Together We Will Overcome") is a Fair Trade Cooperative there, selling coffee, honey and black pepper among other things.  They also have an ecotourist site called Tosepankali, which is just outside of the village. Tosepan does a lot of great things in the area; in addition to promoting Fair Trade, they have a bank which offers low interest loans to campesinos, they promote sustainable living and women's rights.

Veracruz was once famous for its vanilla, which has a place in Mexican mythology.  According to legend, which was related to me by David Blas of the Mexico Vanilla Plantation, a Mexican goddess was attended by six virgins.  One of them fell in love with a prince and one day they ran off, only to be pursued and captured by a monster.  They were brought back and the prince (I'm not sure about the virgin) was sacrificed by a priest.  His heart was ripped out and buried.  Some time later, people found a plant growing from the spot where the heart was buried.  That plant was vanilla.  It's a vine--an orchard, in fact--that must have other trees to provide support and shade.  It's pollinated by hand in April and the long pods collected in early December.

Mexico was once one of the world's top vanilla producers but production has dramatically declined since WWII.  The Mexico Vanilla Plantation--a Fair Trade organization--is working to reclaim Mexico's place in the world's vanilla production.

I was intrigued at the tenderness with which campesinos handled their vanilla.  They clearly have   affection for the vanilla.  Sadly, the campesinos here are also impoverished.

This is a gallery I'm devoting to raising awareness about Fair Trade coffee. I'm also using it to raise funds to support projects I'm doing in Mexico.  All Fair Trade sales will go toward upcoming projects in Mexico's rural areas and half of all card sales will also go toward these projects.

Greeting cards are all hand-made.  They are approximately 4x6 inches and the image is a 2x3 print.  The card stock is white and comes with a matching envelope.

PLEASE NOTE: GREETING CARDS ARE ONLY SOLD IN LOTS OF FOUR; YOU MAY BUY FOUR, EIGHT, ETC.  THEY MAY BE A MIXTURE OF CARDS OR ALL OF ONE IMAGE. PRICE INCLUDES MAILING CHARGES.