If you start your day with organic, fair trade coffee, like to cook with organic olive oil, and treat yourself to gourmet fair trade organic chocolate on occasion — then you’re a lot like me. And you might want to sign up for one of these environmentally and socially conscious eco-educational vacations coming up to get a closer look at the coffee, chocolate, and olive oil you love:

Sip fair trade coffee in Chiapas, Mexico: February 22 – March 1, 2009

Higher Grounds Trading Company, a socially-conscious fair trade company in Michigan, wants to take you on a Harvest Tour. The trip promises an “adventure through the Mayan Highlands of Chiapas, Mexico,” visiting “organic farmers, women’s fair trade artisan cooperatives, Fair Trade coffee co-ops, traditional healers, biodiversity and economic rights activists, and autonomous indigenous communities and leaders.”

The $750 price tag includes double occupancy lodging, all in-country transportation, and 2 meals a day — in additions to guides, translations, and donations to each organization and community visited. Email Higher Grounds or call 231.922.9009 for more information and to sign up.

Taste fair trade chocolate in Belize: September 4 – 12, 2009

Sustainable Harvest International, a nonprofit that works to empower farming families in Central America, invites you on a Smaller World Sustainable Chocolate Tour — described as “an unforgettable journey into the ecology, history and culture of chocolate.” Get ready to get your hands dirty on this trip, because you’ll be planting trees and building wood-conserving stoves! You’ll also visit family farms, local Mayan ruin sites, and jungle water falls.

The $2,500 price tag includes double occupancy accomodations, all in-country travel, meals — as well as tours, translation, staff support, and a $500 donation to the local program. Call Sustainable Harvest International at 207.669.8254 to reserve a spot. Can’t take the trip in September? More choco tours are planned for January 3 – 10 and March 6-13 in 2010.

Enjoy olive oil in Palestine / Israel: October 30 – November 09, 2009

Global Exchange wants to take you on its first Fair Olive Harvest Reality Tour. You’ll get to travel with Kirsten Moller, Global Exchange’s executive director and co-founder, to learn “about the connections between peace, economic and environmental justice in Palestine and Israel.” You’ll also harvest olives with fair trade farmers, celebrate the harvest festival, and even enjoy a harvest meal in the olive orchard.

The trip costs $1,800, which includes double-occupancy accommodations, all in-country transportation, and 2 meals a day — plus guides, translation, staff support, and honoraria to the speakers, organizations, and communities that participate in the tour. In addition, all tour participants will get a 1-year membership to Global Exchange. Reserve your spot online or call 800.497.1994×251.

Want to take a fair trade tour without leaving the U.S.? Here’s how:

>> In Grist, Sarah van Schagen writes about one of the daily tours she took at Theo Chocolate, an organic, fair trade chocolate company in Seattle.

>> Stephanie at Metropolitan Mama big ups Camano Island Coffee Roasters, which sells organic, fair trade coffee — and offers tours at its headquarters in Camano Island, Washington.

>> Marisa Avelar wrote a guest post on Design*Sponge about Savannah, Georgia — with details on where to find a good cup of fair trade coffee in that town.

Photo by javaturtle, mattwitmer, jurvetson

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