The Marketplace Magazine May/June 2012

May June 2012

Where Christian faith gets down to business

Is this child our boss?

Advice from Luke for today’s managers Tasty encounters a scoop at a time The coming wave of jobless youth 1

The Marketplace May June 2012

Roadside stand

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In this issue

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Working for The Boss

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Zacchaeus — modern manager?

Using Luke’s story of the famous tax man, a business scholar examines an early “company” and unpacks first‑century management practices for the 21st century. By Bruno Dyck

Dispensing treats, mentoring youth. Page 14

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How Anabaptists worked

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The blooming of an entrepreneur

Departments 2 4 19 20 22

Roadside stand Soul enterprise Reviews Soundbites News

Editor: Wally Kroeker Design: Ray Dirks

While the 16th century Mennonite forerunners would become prosperous in trade and industry, the first generation were regular working folk, like the rest of society. By Peter J. Klassen

After a career in education she found a new mission in a family business — dispensing treats a scoop at a time, and developing relationships with customers. By Lucy Brubaker

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Volume 42, Issue 3 May June 2012 The Marketplace (ISSN 0199-7130) is published bi-monthly by Mennonite Economic Development Associates at 532 North Oliver Road, Newton, KS 67114. Periodicals postage paid at Newton, KS 67114. Lithographed in U.S.A. Copyright 2012 by MEDA.

Who is The Boss in your place of work? Is it the CEO? The board of directors? The shareholders?

The bank? Or could it be the customer, the ultimate beneficiary of your efforts?

The coming wave of youth unemployment

Aid experts are grappling with a global youth bulge that is fostering unrest and has yet to peak in some of the more conflicted regions of the world. By Scott Ruddick and Leah Katerberg

Change of address should be sent to Mennonite Economic Development Associates, 32C E Roseville Road, Lancaster, PA 17601-3681.

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Postmaster: Send address changes to The Marketplace 32C E Roseville Road Lancaster, PA 17601-3681

Published by Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), whose dual thrust is to encourage a Christian witness in business and to operate business-oriented programs of assistance to the poor. For more information about MEDA call 1-800-665-7026.

Web site www.meda.org

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The Marketplace May June 2012

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who cor‑ rectly handles the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15).

These are words that Barry Rempel’s grandfather instilled in him as a child and which he carries with him in his job as chief executive officer of the Winnipeg Airports Authority. For more than 10 years Rempel has overseen a burgeoning aviation corporation that employs 150 people directly (and thousands more indirect staff including airlines, airport concessions and restaurants, cleaners, couriers and ground transportation providers such as taxis and limos). Most recently, he oversaw the completion of the new airport terminal, “the largest construction project that has ever happened in Manitoba, at $600 million,” he says.

Rempel, a Christian, acknowledges that unless he maintains a close relationship with Christ, “the spokes of my wheel, no matter how strong they individually are,” are insufficient to carry him. Nurturing the “hub,” that relationship to Christ, is Barry Rempel in Winnipeg’s new Richardson Internacentral to him. tional Airport on opening day, Oct. 30, 2011.

Growing up in a Mennonite home, Rempel’s family moved in 1969 to Vancouver, where his father was the director of maintenance for Air Canada.

Rempel started out in maintenance and eventually took time off to get a business degree. He feels fortunate to be one of a few to bring a well‑rounded aviation background to his position, having spent Dave Anderson doesn’t have much patience 27 years with an airline before switching to the airport side of the with unprepared job candidates. Being a business. “I got to do almost everything except be a pilot,” he says, Christian boss doesn’t mean lowering stanincluding working as a flight attendant. dards, he writes, adding “Hasty hiring brings The lessons of servant leadership that he learned from his grandeventual firing.” When his company posted a father and the Mennonite church are central to his understanding of job opening for an administrative assistant on his role and the vision he brings to the aviation industry. “They are a college web site it was deluged with e-mail biblical principles that have stuck with me throughout my career,” applications. In How to Lead by The Book, he Rempel says. “Our values of respect, integrity and service are consistdescribes what made it easier to cull the list: ent with the ministry that Jesus extended to people.”

1. Some applicants had multiple spellAt times the business of faith has not intersected easily with the ing or grammatical errors on their e-mails or business of the world. It is “difficult in this day and age in Canada resumes. (One of the company’s core values is because you cannot be seen as being the preacher or be seen to be attention to detail). leading for the purpose of converting people to your way of think2. Some sent e-mails in all-lowercase ing,” he says. “The only way allowed in today’s environment is to letters, as though they were writing a text inspire people to a vision of common good. I hope to lead by example message. and then hope people ask me about my faith.”

3. An applicant failed to call back at the One resource Rempel has found helpful is “a group of people in appointed time we had scheduled in reply to similar positions like myself — presidents of companies, people that her resume. hold positions with a fair significance on others. Originally we were 4. An applicant called one hour before a group of eight, six of whom were Mennonites.” This group meets the interview to cancel and move it to another regularly to share experiences, learn from each other and bring their day. faith perspective to the challenges they face.

5. While speaking with the applicant on Rempel attends Grant Memorial Baptist Church in Winnipeg. “At the telephone, it was obvious that she did not Grant I realized there was a connectivity with a broader cross‑section speak clearly or coherently. of the Christian family,” he says. “I started to learn things there that 6. The applicant spelled his own last name I didn’t appreciate until I went there.” — Evelyn Rempel Petkau, Can‑ wrong! He spelled it differently in two differadian Mennonite ent places on the resume.

You’re hired (not)

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Photo courtesy of Winnipeg Airports Authority

Faith that flies

For students “I was asked once which was most important in life: competence or luck. It’s kind of a silly question, because luck is by definition something outside of one’s control. But I also believe that luck is the intersection of preparation and opportunity. You are now in preparation mode and that may continue for some time. That’s the easy part. The tricky thing about opportunity is that it can be hard to recognize because it doesn’t always look like what you expect or hope for. But if you walk through an open door, it will very often lead to another. It’s OK to walk the first mile without knowing where the last mile will take you. It’s also OK to be in a situation where you feel like you’re trotting along, just barely keeping up with all that’s going on around you. You are already fortunate because you have an amazing and enviable network available to you — starting right here in this room. Don’t be shy about using all the resources available to you, and as you embark on your journey, you too will be humbled and grateful for the people who give you a lift on the road and on whose shoulders you can stand, lean, and even cry.” — Microfinance specialist Joyce Bontrager Lehman, in an aside to students during her 2011 MEDA convention speech, “From Kalona to Kabul and Beyond: A Journey from an Amish Community to Global Economic Development”

What’s your story?

“What is the church’s story of itself? Who and what are central to the narrative? For a simple test, visit the Web sites of a few churches and notice the images describing the congregations and their priorities. You will likely find many depictions of worship, youth activities, service projects, clergy, and perhaps a foreign missionary or two. Seldom will you see photographs or other descriptions of church members in their weekday work. Too often we reduce the church’s rich story to a collection of programs, inevitably dampening the vitality of a community of believers serving Christ through their everyday living.

“How different might our understanding of discipleship be if the church’s narrative told of bankers, bakers, teachers, and truckers — the living body of Christ in action? Perhaps we would begin to see work life within the scope of a shared Christian vocation, rather than as something ‘other’.... There is arguably no more important issue on the horizon than the church’s need to explain itself — to itself and to others — in a way that connects with where real people spend their daily lives.” — John C. Knapp in How the Church Fails Businesspeople (and what can be done about it)

Overheard:

“The more I know of a man’s business, the better I can preach to him.” — Topeka pastor Charles M. Sheldon in 1890, later author of In His Steps: What Would Jesus Do? 5

The Marketplace May June 2012

Photo by Carl Hiebert

The Marketplace May June 2012

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Working for The Boss

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ho is The Boss in your place of work?

Is it the CEO? The board of directors?

The shareholders? The bank?

Maybe it should be the customer. Viability slides when customers are dissatisfied. It’s so easy to let the daily grind become internal churning — keep the machinery humming — and neglect the consumer who ultimately buys the product or service.

Roger Martin, one of North America’s top management thinkers, uses the image of professional football to re-focus attention on customers (as in ticket-buying fans).

His new book, Fixing the Game: Bubbles, Crashes, and What Capitalism Can Learn from the NFL, urges businesses to serve the “real market” (the customer) rather than the “expectations market” of stock options and shareholder value. The National Football League, he says, has wisely concentrated on delighting the real cusThe pivotal tomer, namely the fans in the stand, rather than and persistent on making team owners richer. Happily, the more question — “How it has dazzled fans with its product on the field, will this project the more team owners have thrived as well. improve the life of He cites companies that have become ultrasuccessful by targeting The Boss?” the needs of customers rather than being diverted by secondary (if occasionally more alluring) preoccupations. At one of them, Martin writes, the pecking order is clear: “customers come first, employees are second, communities third, and shareholders absolutely last.” But, he adds, by serving the customer (The Boss), shareholders have done well, too.

In all this he echoes the late management guru Peter Drucker who had blunt words for businesses and institutions: “Any enterprise begins to die when it’s run for the benefit of the insiders rather than for the benefit of the outsiders.”

objective is that “every person should have the opportunity to live a healthy and productive life.” As with MEDA, it was a goal she could embrace with passion and “give poor people the opportunity to live more productive lives and to experience the dignity that comes with being able to provide for your family.”

At Gates, where she worked in Financial Services for the Poor, the daily goal was to have an impact on the life of The Boss. Before any grant was approved, her team had to be able to answer, “How will this project improve the life of The Boss?”

That Boss, she said, was not who people might think.

It was not the billionaire Bill Gates, nor his wife Melinda.

Rather, she said, flashing a photo on the screen, it was a plaintive little girl, obviously impoverished, and obviously from a developing country. That child [not the same one pictured here] was The Boss, and everything Lehman’s team did was supposed to improve the life of this child or millions like her. That child’s welfare was the reason why she and her colleagues went to work every day.

“The Boss not only lives every day with financial uncertainty and risk,” said Lehman, “there is a good chance she does not have access to clean water, to sanitation, to health care, to education, and she surely does not have access to the range of formal financial services and tools that we enjoy in the rich world.”

Then, connecting the dots, she linked the welfare of The Boss to a new strategy that deploys modern cellphones as an “electronic wallet” that allows them to store and transfer money on a simple handheld device.

How did that help The Boss?

Lehman explained with an illustration from Kenya, where electronic banking has taken root.

“She is a toddler living in a rural village and has developed an eye infection. Her father is working in the city and her mother does not have on that day the few dollars needed to purchase the medicine. The infection worsens and over time could even lead to blindness. In Kenya, her mother can call the family member working in the city.

He can instantly transfer electronic value from his mobile phone to hers and she can go to an agent, cash out and purchase the medicine — that very day.”

The point of the story was that a sophisticated application of technology could be interconnected with the simple persistent question back in the office: “How will this project improve the life of the Boss?”

A good question in any line of work. ◆

How does this relate to development aid (and the child in the adjacent photo)?

Joyce Bontrager Lehman gave some clues at last fall’s MEDA convention. A former MEDA microfinance specialist in Afghanistan, she moved on to become a program officer with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, whose 7

The Marketplace May June 2012

Zacchaeus — modern manager?

A business scholar unpacks first‑century management practices for the 21st century

by Bruno Dyck

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oney, business, salvation and the kingdom of God. You won’t often find these words sharing the same sentence, but they do belong together in the Gospel of Luke. It turns out Luke has a lot to say about how we manage organizations that produce goods and services, and about how this is very closely related to salvation and God’s kingdom.

Luke’s passage about Zacchaeus provides an excellent example of this, although it may not be obvious at first for many modern readers. In this passage Jesus visits the house of a rich chief tax collector named Zacchaeus.

When Zacchaeus says that he will give half his money

The Marketplace May June 2012

to the poor, and repay fourfold anyone whom he has defrauded, Jesus responds by saying: “Today salvation has come to this house” (Luke 19:9).

To unlock how passages like this one are exploding with meaning for management, it is helpful to examine three key words — “house,” “rich” and “salvation” — in the larger context of Luke and first‑century Palestine.

House

Consider the word “house.” The Greek word for “house” is oikos; the Greek word for management, oikonomia, is the source of the English word “economics.”

It is a travesty that the word oikos is translated as “house.” The modern word “house” has a very different meaning than You may have the first‑century word oikos. Today we take heard oikos “house” to be the place where we live with our defined as families, and from which go to our jobs in or“house.” A better we ganizations that produce goods and services. definition would In contrast, in the first century, an oikos referred be “company.” to the goods‑and‑services‑producing organization of the day. An oikos was 8

where you lived and where you worked. A husband and wife and their children formed an important part of an oikos, but it also encompassed other people who were not relatives, such as slaves. For example, the Roman Empire was sometimes called the oikos of the emperor. In the first century there was no equivalent word to what we call “family” to refer to a biological‑kinship unit.

The Gospel of Luke mentions the word oikos more than 50 times! And it refers to 50 additional goods‑and‑services‑producing organizations without using the word oikos.

Consider what happens if, rather than translating oikos as “house,” it was translated as “goods‑and‑service‑producing organization,” or perhaps as “company.”

Greater awareness of its meaning helps readers to see that an oikos is key to understanding how the kingdom of God is put into practice. An oikos is the location for 10 of the 12 passages in Luke that describe how the kingdom of God is enacted by followers or outcomes associated with the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is evident when you have a banquet and invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind; when people come from the east and west and north and south; when people are willing to leave the oikos of their parents and siblings to join a new kind of oikos.

today as it was two millennia ago, since there is now also growing disparity between rich and poor within organizations and countries, and between countries.

Rich

Zacchaeus is about as close as we get to a rich businessman in Luke. He was sort of like a district manager of tax collectors in the area around Jericho. And because of this, he was despised by just about everyone. The crowds did not want Jesus even to visit the oikos of Zacchaeus, because Jesus would be guilty by association.

There are 18 passages in Luke that talk about money, wealth or possessions. Nine of these passages do not use the word “rich.” In these nine passages, the use of money is seen as normal and a non‑issue: the Good Samaritan pays the innkeeper, women provide resources for Jesus, and soldiers are to be satisfied with their pay.

The other nine passages about money that do use the word “rich” are very different in tone: The rich will be sent away empty, woe to the rich, the rich should sell all their possessions. When read as a whole, the message in these passages is pretty clear: The kingdom of God is about reducing the disparity between rich and poor.

And the passage about Zacchaeus is one of the two passages in Luke that both uses the word “rich” and describes how the gap between rich and poor is actually being reduced. This is a special passage. Rather than condemn the rich, the passage ends with salvation coming to Zacchaeus’s oikos because of the way he manages it.

Zacchaeus essentially turns conventional management thinking on its head. Instead of using money to make more money, or instead of following the increasing first‑century tendency toward conspicuous consumption, Zacchaeus institutes organizational structures and systems that decrease the gap between rich and poor, and that promote social justice.

An important part of the message in Luke is

that conventional first‑century oikos structures and systems were not working well. In fact, Luke consistently challenges classic ideas about oikos management regarding the nature of husband‑wife, parent‑child and master‑slave relationships. In particular, in first‑century Palestine there was growing disparity between rich and poor, and about 10 percent of the population did not belong to an oikos.

This included many of society’s sick people, who were cast out due to their leprosy or other conditions. Without the security that comes from being a member in an oikos, the average lifespan of these social outcasts was between five and seven years. One of the consistent and dominant themes in Luke is that new forms of oikos should be developed that are inclusive of the 10 percent of the population who are outcasts, who do not belong to a conventional oikos.

This message is certainly as pertinent

Zacchaeus, who is about as close as we get to a rich businessman in Luke, turns conventional management thinking on its head.

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The Marketplace May June 2012

Could it be that “salvation” happens when managers enact systems that foster social justice?

Salvation

four other occasions: “Your faith has saved [verb] you [person]”? Why use a strikingly different phrase in the Zacchaeus passage: “Today salvation [noun] has come to this oikos [goods‑and‑services‑producing organization]”?

Is this merely a case of adding some variety in word choice to keep things interesting? Or does it underscore the fact that salvation is something that happens in community? And, more to the point, does it suggest that salvation is something that happens in the goods‑and‑services‑producing organizations of the day? Perhaps salvation is something that happens when managers enact organizational structures and systems that decrease the gap between rich and poor, and that foster social justice.

Which brings us to the third keyword in the Zacchaeus passage: “salvation.” Two insights are particularly helpful to understand what Luke says about salvation: • First, in the first century salvation usually meant either being saved from something, or being saved for something. The former meaning was associated with the Jews, who were waiting for a savior to save them from their oppressive Roman overlords. The latter meaning was associated with the Greco‑Romans, and referred to the advent of a new blessing. So, for example, the Roman emperor was called a savior because he provided Pax Romana for the people.

• The second insight that is helpful for understanding what Luke meant by salvation is that Luke uses the verb form of salvation differently than the noun form. Luke uses the noun form eight times, which includes references to “salvation” or a “savior.” And Luke uses the verb form 17 times, which refers to people “being saved.”

This is where it gets interesting, and a bit complicated.

Seven of Luke’s eight references to the noun form of “salvation” occur prior to Jesus’ baptism (Luke 3:21); in each case it refers to a group of people — house of David, Gentiles, all people — receiving both dimensions of salvation (saved from/saved for).

All 17 subsequent references use the verb form of “salvation,” and each refers to individuals being saved. In passages where specific people being saved are identified, they are usually being saved from something, from being social outcasts, for example, when they are healed. In passages where people being saved are not specified, they are being saved for something new, which usually involves establishing a new, more inclusive oikos.

There is only one time in all of Luke where Jesus uses the noun form of salvation, which is in this Zacchaeus passage. And this passage is also the only time Jesus refers to salvation coming to an oikos, rather than to a person.

Why did Jesus not use the same phrase he used on The Marketplace May June 2012

Reading the Bible through a first‑century lens helps to see it in a new way. In regard to what Luke says about management, there are three implications for the church that may be especially important: • Don’t overlook the role of organizations that produce goods and services. Such organizations are an important part of everyone’s lives today, just as they were in biblical times. To ignore them is to do a great disservice to understanding the Bible, and to do a great disservice to people who seek to integrate their faith in their everyday lives.

• Don’t overlook management, which plays an important role in all organizations that produce goods and services, whether they are businesses or church‑based organizations. Failing to deliberately think about what a biblical approach to management looks like makes people vulnerable to follow mainstream management practices, perhaps thinking they are value‑neutral. Because there has been very little research on what the Bible teaches about management, we are left with books with titles like Jesus CEO and Jesus on Leadership, which have been criticized for doing little more than sprinkling Bible verses to “bless” mainstream business practices.

• Don’t ignore people who manage goods‑and‑services‑producing organizations. Don’t ignore the Zac10

chaeuses in your church. Don’t treat them as outsiders, as people who do not have much of a role in the church or in the kingdom of God. Don’t dismiss them as a necessary nuisance. They have an important role to play in the kingdom of God. Indeed, if the Gospel of Luke is any indication, they play a much more central role than any religious leaders. It is Zacchaeus, not a Jewish leader or someone in Jesus’ inner circle, whose managerial actions prompt

Jesus to say: “Salvation has come to this oikos.” It is a Roman centurion of whom Jesus says: “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith” (Luke 7:9). And it is the Good Samaritan, who was probably a trading merchant, whose actions prompt Jesus to say: “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37).

May we all become more like Zacchaeus, and do our part to help salvation come to the organizations of our day. Go and do likewise in deed. ◆

Lessons for the church

Bruno Dyck, business professor at the University of Manitoba, is a specialist on multi‑stream management, which balances financial, social, ecological, spiritual and physical well‑being for business stakeholders. This article (which appeared first in Canadian Mennonite, is based on meditations he presented last fall at a MEDA event at Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Va., and draws from a book he is completing, tentatively entitled Luke on Management: A First‑Century Analysis for 21st‑Century Readers.

• Don’t overlook the role of companies • Don’t overlook management, in both businesses and church organizations • Don’t ignore the Zacchaeuses in your church, or treat them as outsiders

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The Marketplace May June 2012

The first Anabaptists – how they worked What kinds of jobs did the earliest Mennonite forerunners have? In time, they would prosper in trade and industry, but the first generation were regular working folk, much like the rest of society.

by Peter J. Klassen

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side from those who chose to adopt communal living, most of the early Anabaptists were economically quite similar to the rest of the society in which they lived. They were drawn mainly from the working classes, and their occupations showed nothing unusual.

Especially in the early years of the movement, members were often town craftspeople of various sorts. Then, when persecution drove many from the urban centers, Anabaptism came to be increasingly confined to the agricultural classes, especially in Switzerland and Germany.

Anabaptist is described as well-to-do.

In the rural areas, Anabaptism gained a strong following among the farmers. Of the approximately 90 farm-owners in the village of Zollikon, some 30 joined the movement. Here again the adherents of the fellowship were not necessarily drawn from the poorest class of farmers. Sometimes, records indicate that Anabaptists

Switzerland

Anabaptists

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could be found in

From weavers to millers,

hen the movement first gained a following in the urban centers of Switzerland, it naturally attracted a large number of artisans, for these constituted a major part of the townspeople. There is no evidence to suggest that Anabaptism had a special appeal to any particular economic class here; rather, its membership was drawn from the typical elements that made up the population of the towns. The notion that the discontented, destitute and disinherited flocked to the movement in hope of getting easy material gain bears neither critical historical scrutiny nor logical evaluation, for Anabaptism stressed giving, not receiving, much less grasping. Few vices were so severely castigated as those of greed and avarice.

It is therefore natural to find that the first congregation of Basel consisted largely of weavers and tailors, as well as printers, representatives of common trades in the city. Similarly, Zurich Anabaptists reflected the artisan population of the city. Frequently, records of trials in this center indicate the occupations of the defendants.

Among those brought into court there were teachers, booksellers, weavers, furriers, millers, bakers, hatters, cartwrights and simply wage-earners. Occasionally, an

The Marketplace May June 2012

practically every occupation found in the city. were wealthy “Bauern.” Ordinarily, however, little reference is made to their economic circumstances, for there was nothing unusual to relate. They were simply typical citizens whose religious offence bore no obvious relationship to any economic factors.

Germany

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ven a quick perusal of the Anabaptist chronicles for the various German regions indicates a wide diversity of occupation among the Anabaptists. In the city of Strassburg, many of them were artisans plying their trade in their own little shops. Goldsmiths, locksmiths 12

and watchmakers could be found in the congregations. A number were active in various facets of the leather industry, engaged as tanners, saddlers or cobblers. Substantial numbers were employed in the different aspects of the textile and clothing industry. Some were cloth-shearers, others weavers or tailors.

Carpenters and cabinet-makers likewise joined the movement, as did turners, coopers, furriers and cutlers.

Among those brought to trial there were also some vinedressers and gardeners, as well as millers and blacksmiths.

Occasionally, Anabaptists would be merchants, having their own shops where they sold wares. More often, they would produce articles for sale, such as hats, rope, sacks and soap. Or they might be bakers or butchers. Indeed, Anabaptism had its representatives in practically every trade and industry found in the city.

only incidental to the task of disseminating Anabaptist doctrine. Thus, Wendel Mueller, a miller of Barbelrode, incurred the wrath of local authorities when he successfully combined milling with the propagation of Anabaptist teachings.

The Netherlands

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mong the Dutch Anabaptists, there was a heavy predominance of craftspeople. Many were employed in the clothing industry, as weavers, tailors, hatters, tawers, thread-twisters, button-makers and cloth-shearers. Others were active as cutlers, cobblers, potters and glaziers, and wagoners. Dutch Anabaptists were more liberal in their attitude toward business than were some of their counterparts in central Europe, especially the Hutterites. A substantial number were merchants, engaged in earning a livelihood by buying and selling wares. Booksellers and goldsmiths were also to be found in the ranks of the Anabaptists. Here, too, reference is sometimes made to well-to-do members of the persecuted movement.

A few of the Anabaptists were members of the medical profession. Others were artists and painters, while some were printers. On the whole, Anabaptism in the Netherlands did not draw its strength from any particular class or profession. The suggestion that Anabaptists belonged to the unpropertied class does not bear investigation. The frequency and severity of the fines imposed upon them — and the regularity of their payment — demonstrates that adherents to the movement came from the various strata of the population. There was no such thing as the class appeal of Anabaptism.

Of the many Anabaptists tried in the cities and towns of South Germany, a large number were local craftspeople. Although court records often make no reference to occupations, where this information is given, the textile trade is especially strongly represented. Thus, many of the defendants were weavers, while their related tradespeople, such as cloth-shearers, cloth-workers and tailors, were hardly less numerous. Some were carpenters and masons; others, such as blacksmiths and cobblers, had their own shops. Sometimes the Anabaptists were engaged in quillmaking or in bookbinding. Among those brought to trial, there were also some merchants who plied their trade in various towns and cities.

Others were peddlers, like Hans Nadler, whose occupation was selling needles to shoemakers and tailors. Teachers are also listed among those appearing to explain their religious practices. Most of those tried were craftspeople of average means, although a mason of Regensburg is described as “very rich.”

Similarly, records of Hessian Anabaptists often do not indicate any profession or occupation, but sufficient evidence is available to show that members were drawn chiefly from the peasantry. In addition, a substantial number were craftspeople of various sorts.

Among the various trades represented, the cloth-making and clothing occupations were especially strong. Tailors and weavers, as well as cloth-workers, were among those tried for their Anabaptist views. Others were engaged in various phases of metal-working, like the blacksmith of Nonenweier, or in carpentry, like Hans Gentner, a preacher of Sulzfeld who later sought refuge in Moravia. A considerable number were engaged in construction trades, such as bricklaying and stone-masonry.

Repeatedly, occupational pursuits were regarded as

This lack of emphasis upon any specific economic

class or practice was also apparent in the attitudes of the Anabaptists themselves. They never stressed any particular vocation as being most honorable or desirable, although they were prepared to abandon any trade that they felt to be at variance with New Testament teachings. Much more important than the kind of occupation or profession was the spirit in which it was pursued. Any attempt to become a status-seeker would meet with swift denunciation. All outward show and extravagance could never be acceptable to a fellowship that constantly taught and practiced simplicity, thrift and humility.

The preaching of the day, often with more than a touch of pietism, showed a great concern with responsible stewardship. Extant sermons indicate that ministers were more interested in moral and ethical problems than in exploring the subtleties of doctrinal questions. The emphasis was practical rather than theological. ◆

Peter Klassen is professor emeritus of history and dean emeritus of social sciences, California State University, Fresno. His article is excerpted with permission from his book, The Economics of Anabaptism 1525 to 1560.

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The Marketplace May June 2012

The blooming of an entrepreneur After a career in education she found a new mission — dispensing happiness a scoop at a time

by Lucy Brubaker after several seasons that we began to experience, along with the benefits of owning a business, the many challenges that go along with it as well.

Being open seven days a week, managing a staff of high school and college age workers, balancing home life and being a hands‑on operator were just some of the challenges.

Ed’s job was also changing as he took on more responsibility facilitating an affiliation between several retirement communities in our area. He had less time to help me. I was feeling inadequate as a business owner, having had no training in that area, and questioning the mission or purpose in my work. As an educator I had felt like I was making a difference in the lives of children. But I was not seeing a mission or purpose in serving water ice to customers.

I was at a point where I wanted to either sell the business, or do some things that would help me feel more confident in this role and help me to feel like my work had meaning.

The question I am asked more than any other is: What do you do in your off-season? And the second most asked question is: How did you end up owning a Rita’s Water Ice? About eight years ago my husband, Ed, first mentioned the idea of buying a Rita’s Water Ice franchise.

At the time there was no longer a Dairy Queen in Harleysville, Pa., in fact there was no frozen dessert business in town at all. We as a family really liked Rita’s products, and we knew there were benefits to owning a family business. The biggest draw to Rita’s however, was that it is a seasonal business, open for seven months of the year and closed for five. So we processed the idea as a family, visited other Rita’s, interviewed owners, and made lists of pros and cons. As this idea approached reality, we faced the biggest decision: who would run the business?

At the time we both had very good jobs. Ed worked for Dock Woods, a large retirement community in Lansdale, Pa., and I was a 5th grade teacher in the Pennridge School District. We enjoyed our jobs, were making good salaries and had good benefits. It was difficult to think about giving any of this up. But we were sure of one thing: we did not want to add something to our lives without giving something up as well. In the end we decided that I would resign from my job in the Pennridge School District after 20 years of teaching.

Then someone suggested I talk to Ken Byler,

owner of Higher Ground Consulting. Ken and I knew each other from growing up in Belleville, Pa. We went to the same church, Maple “A business Grove Mennonite. He and his wife, Melody, were my mentor became youth leaders. He knew me and my family, and sitting a great sounding down with Ken that day was like sitting down with a good friend. board and kept After meeting with Ken, I felt encouraged me accountable that there were resources available to help me. At to the goals I Ken’s suggestion I began meeting with a business had set.” mentor. I asked Glenn Bau-

With that decision behind us, we began look-

ing for a location for the store. I took a weeklong training course at Rita’s Corporate Center. We began to build out the store, and opened in July of 2005. It was a short but very busy three-month season. We felt very welcomed into the community and realized that many people shared our love of the Rita’s product. We closed in September of that year. The payoff for our very busy short season was winning the Rookie of the Year Award at Rita’s annual business meeting in January.

The following spring we experienced our first full season, opening in March and closing in September. It was

The Marketplace May June 2012

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trips; help plan the Advent services at our church, take classes through our community education program, and catch up on projects at home.

Three years ago I joined the board of the Material Resource Center. MRC’s mission to provide resources to those in urgent need around the world is a mission that I believe in.

I love the people on the board and the volunteers that come there on a weekly basis. Along with my board responsibilities, I also volunteer there once a week.

Lucy Brubaker: There is a season ... for tasty treats, mentoring youth and nourishing encoun‑ ters with guests.

A few years ago

I began getting e-mails and mailings with words that caught my attention. Words like: Unleashing Entrepreneurship, Business as a Calling, and Calgary, Alberta.

These words described the MEDA convention taking place in 2010. I thought this might be a good opportunity to learn more about MEDA and also rub shoulders with business leaders. So I called my friend, Donna, and soon she and I were off to Calgary.

It was there that I first began to understand the impact that MEDA was having in the world. I was struck by the quality speakers and engaging seminars. I remember the opening speaker talking about integrity in the workplace.

I remember eating a Ukrainian meal and learning about how life was improving for people in Ukraine because of MEDA’s presence there. I remember Sunday morning speaker Jane Hoober Peifer talking about how entrepreneurs see opportunities, take risks and empower people.

A highlight was sitting in the general sessions with people who in many cases were successful entrepreneurs themselves, committed to helping others break down barriers and finding ways to create business solutions to poverty.

Buying a Rita’s Water Ice franchise seven years ago was a risk. But for all the challenges along the way, there have been twice as many positives. And most of those positives come in the form of relationships that have developed as a result of owning my business. I’m grateful for the support that I have received from the business community where I live, and will look for opportunities where I can lend help and support to others. ◆

man, a successful businessman who had just retired from Swartley Brothers Electric, if he would be willing to meet with me each month for the next year. He agreed and was a great sounding board for my human resource questions, and kept me accountable to the goals I had set for the season. I also read some business-related books, and participated in a church seminar on John Maxwell’s book, Developing the Leader Within You. I began taking more interest in the financial piece of the business, and was able to relieve Ed of some of that responsibility.

This was a turning point for me and I began to feel more confident as a business owner and to see myself as part of the business community. I also began to see meaning in supporting organizations, encouraging and mentoring young workers, and developing relationships with my guests. My staff and I work hard to provide a place where folks can come to experience happiness in their day, and what could be more meaningful than that?

What do I do in my off-season?

A benefit of working an intense on‑season is the five-month off‑season. Spring used to be my favorite season of the year, now it is autumn. It is obviously a more relaxed time for our family. So having more time to do things I love, like gardening, cooking, entertaining and reading, is wonderful. And now with our only daughter, Brandi, in college, Ed and I are more free to travel.

During the first couple of years I did some substitute teaching and tutoring, which helped me to stay in touch with the field of education.

I’ve participated in several Mennonite Disaster Service

Lucy Brubaker’s article is adapted from a presentation she made this spring at a meeting of the Delaware Valley MEDA Chapter.

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The Marketplace May June 2012

The coming wave of Aid experts are grappling with a global youth bulge that is fostering unrest and has yet to peak in troubled regions

by Scott Ruddick and Leah Katerberg

W

to be unemployed, and if they do find work, it is more likely to be in unsafe working conditions and for lower wages than other workers.”

It is a view shared by a growing segment of the aid community. “The reality is that there are not enough jobs,” says Reeta Roy, CEO of The MasterCard Foundation, a major funder of youth programs worldwide. “In many developing countries, formal sector jobs are few and largely inaccessible to young people — especially disadvantaged youth.”

Most worrisome is that this looming “youth bulge,” already fostering unrest, has yet to peak in the more troubled, conflicted areas of the world. Sub‑Saharan Africa, Afghanistan, Iraq, West Bank and Gaza, and the Republic of Yemen will all hit their peak number of young people in the next 15 years or more. “If you look at Sub‑Saharan Africa, the region has the highest proportion of youth out of its total population. In addition, it has the highest rates of youth living in poverty, the largest population of out‑of‑school youth and the highest rates of youth unemployment,” explains Roy. MasterCard is one of several philanthropic organizations that have thrown their support behind youth economic development as an answer to solving systemic poverty. Says Roy, “Investing in young people is an opportunity to invest in long‑term growth and prosperity. (Youth) form the basis of the current and future workforce, and are leading important change in their communities.”

hen the Arab spring erupted across the Middle East last year, the issue of youth unemployment was seen by many as a major catalyst. Young people, tiring of double-digit unemployment and poor prospects, took to the streets. As protestors clashed with security forces in running battles, the world community came to see this as a predominant challenge in the second decade of the 21st century.

With this sudden and dramatic focus on the destabilizing effect of youth unemployment, many in the aid community were quick to propose youth entrepreneurship as one prescriptive toolset. Yet, as a mechanism to address poverty alleviation, youth entrepreneurship remains a controversial concept. Seen by some aid practitioners as an underutilized source of job creation and economic development in a rapidly globalizing world, others are not convinced by optimistic projections and prefer to focus on adult‑based entrepreneurial programs.

While the debate on the effectiveness of youth‑focused entrepreneurship continues, all agree that the number of unemployed youth continues to swell. Globally, there are 1.5 billion people between the ages of 12‑24, 1.3 billion of whom live in developing countries, a historical high.

The challenges in absorbing such an unprecedented influx of labor force new entrants are staggering.

Jennifer Denomy, who heads up youth programming for MEDA, is blunt in her appraisal. “The demographics and economics are about to collide in a spectacular way,” she says. “Statistically, the deck is stacked against young people, particularly in developing countries. They are likely The Marketplace May June 2012

While youth entrepreneurship has promise to

become a key part of poverty alleviation, it is not without its challenges. Youth entrepreneurship is more difficult to ignite, and programs focusing on youth entrepreneurs

16

youth unemployment face hurdles that adult‑targeted programs do not. Youth have lower skill sets; they face problems of access to resources such as capital; and the potential for exploitation is considerable, with the often‑substantive power imbalances between youth entrepreneurs and adults.

Many of the systemic challenges facing young entre-

in which business failure is treated as a useful learning experience rather than a source of stigma, will generally be more conductive to entrepreneurship.”

“Cultures that are more traditional and risk adverse, that stress formal employment over business, are difficult environments for young people to establish businesses in,” says Julie Kantor, executive director of Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship and a veteran in the field of youth entrepreneurship programming.

Hand in hand with a cultural openness to entrepreneurship is the significance of positive enabling environments for youth entrepreneurship: business climates and government regimes that are conducive to youth‑run businesses. Heavy institutional and regulatory frameworks, intended for large enterprises, often dampen entrepreneurial creativity.

The deck seems stacked. If they’re lucky enough to find work, it’s

As daunting as these systemic

likely in unsafe

issues may seem, aid organizations can do much to spur youth entrepreneurship. Indeed, entrepreneurship education, improved access to financing, and stronger linkages to established businesses and markets are all achievable means of promoting an enabling entrepreneurial environment for youth without the need for significant policy‑level adjustments.

Though the vast majority of young entrepreneurs in developing countries enter business through economic necessity, aid professionals who work in youth enterprise are quick to point out that youth entrepreneurs tend to fall into one of two classes: the choice ◆ entrepreneur, who makes an active choice to grow their business; and the default entrepreneur, whose economic situation negates the option of obtaining formal employment. The latter start up small micro businesses as a default fall‑back, scratching out a living selling cell phone

conditions and for lower pay.

preneurs are rooted in cultural norms. The International Labour Organization (ILO) has taken an interest in youth entrepreneurship and produced a number of informative studies.

A 2006 working paper from the ILO pointed out that social and cultural backgrounds influence an individuals’ approach to entrepreneurial activity and enterprise culture. The paper noted that “a cultural environment in which entrepreneurship is respected and valued, and 17

The Marketplace May June 2012

set them up for

go on to start their own business, the skills they learn and the perspective they gain sets them up for success in the working world.

They learn how to read the business landscape, and how to be a strategic partner.”

Such alignment with the real world can also translate into vastly improved school retention rates. Research by Kantor’s own organization reveals that over 80 percent of students who leave secondary education prior to completing cite lack of relevance as a major reason for abandoning their studies.

success in the

As critical as capacity building is

Even if they don’t start businesses, new skills can

to successful entrepreneurial programming, other interventions are equally significant.

Access to financial services has proven to be a key component of successful youth programming. Micro‑enterprises, like any business, depend on banking services and credit to allow for expansion and investment. Young people often lack access to credit, and establishing connections to financial services that are fair and affordable is another conduit aid practitioners can introduce. In some cases this is as simple as linking youth with existing microfinance banks. In other circumstances, where micro‑banking is unavailable or the existing banks will not work with young people, then creative “work arounds” need to be introduced.

Building equitable market linkages, allowing youth to gain an understanding of market demand in order to identify opportunities, is another important piece of the youth entrepreneurship puzzle. This includes training youth to look at the entire chain of production and delivery of goods and services, and to determine how and where they can add the most value and in turn build their business.

While youth entrepreneurship programming offers a promising set of interventions to address burgeoning unemployment forecasts, it is not a panacea. “People working with youth are hoping that youth entrepreneurship will provide opportunities for growing numbers of youth who need work but cannot find jobs in the formal system,” declares Denomy. “But we also have to recognize that entrepreneurship is only one answer to a large and growing problem.”

That large and growing problem — unemployment among young people — is shaping up to be one of the definitive challenges for aid in the 21st century. Empowering young people and equipping them with the skill sets and resources to enable them to pull themselves and their families out of poverty is a critical part of the solution. ◆

working world.

cards or other products at street level. Not surprisingly, it is the former that is much more likely to succeed in growing their businesses, providing for their households past a subsistence level and employing others.

Ensuring a successful mindset can be critical to ensuring a young person’s success. Entrepreneurial skill building can be an important part of that. In addition to giving young people the requisite skills to succeed, it can also help shape their outlook and perspective on the opportunities that exist in business.

Kantor believes that entrepreneurship skills are a missing component in formal education systems, both domestically and in developing countries. “Even if young people who learn the key principles of entrepreneurship never

Why youth entrepreneurship?

Researchers say youth entrepreneurship programming yields substantial gains beyond income and assets.

Such as: • Creates jobs for young people. In addition to the work created by the young entrepreneurs for themselves, research shows they are more likely to hire fellow young people as well.

• Creates a better quality of life. Youth who are self‑employed have a higher “life satisfaction.”

• Heals communities in conflict. It is an effective tool to reintegrate marginalized and at-risk youth into the community and the economic mainstream.

• Fosters high economic growth areas. Young entrepreneurs are particularly responsive to new economic opportunities and trends; and young people are more present in high‑growth, emerging sectors. ◆

The Marketplace May June 2012

Scott Ruddick is MEDA’s director of Integrated Support Services.

Leah Katerberg, until recently, was MEDA’s program manager for Measurement and Evaluations. Their article appeared earlier in Monday Developments Magazine.

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Reviews

Deploying the power of your job Kingdom Calling: Voca‑ tional Stewardship for the Common Good. By Amy L. Sherman (IVP, 2011, 271 pp. $16 U.S.)

M

ost working Christians have more power than they know what to do with, says Amy Sherman. It’s the hidden power of their daily job — often underutilized as a means to advance God’s kingdom.

Sadly, she says in Kingdom Calling, most Christians don’t get much help from their church in deploying this power, so they lapse into an anemic vision of how they fit into the divine purpose.

Sherman is well-versed in faith/work issues. A PhD graduate in economic development, she is a senior fellow at the Sagamore Institute where she directs the Center on Faith in Communities.

She’s also a senior fellow with International Justice Mission, a human rights organization that rescues victims of violence, sexual exploitation and slavery.

Twenty years ago she wrote an insightful book titled Prefer‑ ential Option: A Christian and Neoliberal Strategy for Latin America’s Poor (Eerdmans).

Here, she focuses on that great block of Christians who have sometimes been called the “frozen assets” of the church. Her intended audience is pastors and ministry leaders, who she contends are missing a great opportunity to equip parishioners for creative ministries of their own.

By “ministry” she does not mean only “church work.” She means the 9-to-5, Mondayto-Friday realm which most of us inhabit, and which consumes the bulk of our energy and thought. That realm, she argues, must be deployed for

Christian mission, and not just as a Trojan Horse from which to witness verbally to co-workers.

If Christians want to participate in God’s plans for the world, they have plenty of opportunity to do so through daily work, she says.

That’s where they can offer the world a “foretaste of the kingdom,” kind of like the little plastic spoon Baskin-Robbins provides to

“All Christians should consider what degree of in‑ fluence they possess in their work setting — and how it can be used creatively for good.” major — avenue believers have for learning to live as foretastes.”

Leaders can help parishioners strategically deploy their vocational power in various ways. One, of course, is to “remind their people that they can indeed, through Christ’s power, be different kinds of workers than the nonbelievers around them.”

Another is to creatively grasp the ways in which workday skill sets can be put to work for the common good.

“All Christians, regardless of their position within an organization, should consider what degree of influence they possess in their work setting — and how that influence can be used creatively for good,” Sherman says. “Sometimes people are so used to simply performing their jobs that they don’t often stop to take stock of the many different skills

taste-test a new flavor.

Jesus scooped out a hefty serving of this kingdom with his missional priorities — defined by Sherman as evangelism, compassion and justice.

His followers, she says, can do the same.

“Believers advance foretastes of the kingdom when they devote themselves to the great work of relief and development; to hunger alleviation; to microenterprise; to sustainable agriculture; to efforts to find new ways to provide everyone with adequate shelter and clean water; and to advocacy for the rule of law so that just, free enterprise can flourish.”

But, she adds, they could use a lot more help from their congregations. “If church leaders don’t help parishioners discern how to live missionally through that work, they miss a major — in some instances the 19

they are using in the process.”

She suggests four “pathways” of vocational stewardship: 1. Bloom‑ ing where you are planted.

“The first place believers should look to conduct their foretastebringing mission is right at the current job they hold.” In numerous ways they can advance biblical “shalom” (wellbeing) in their job, perhaps as an “intrapreneur” who innovates needed reform within a firm or industry sector.

2. Donating your skill-set to charitable ministries. “In most congregations, there is little or no effort to mobilize members for service according to their vocational talents.”

3. Inventing new social enterprises that advance the kingdom in a fresh way.

4. Investing in targeted church initiatives that serve needy segments and “create on-ramps for service by members of all different professional skill sets.”

Whichever path is chosen, says Sherman, “congregants need to understand that wherever they are, regardless of their status, they can probably do at least one thing that advances kingdom values like justice or beauty or compassion or economic opportunity or creation care.” — Wally Kroeker The Marketplace May June 2012

Soundbites

The church as a business The church is a business, and a sizable one at that. Taken as a whole, churches and other places of worship continue to receive the largest share of Americans’ charitable giving, more than education, human services, health, and other categories.... Whether or not we are comfortable with acknowledging it, business management is an indispensable facet of ministry. Churches hire and pay staff, own and manage property, invest money, keep accounting records, file financial reports with government agencies, hire management and fund-raising consultants, comply with employment laws, own fleets of vehicles, purchase goods and services, and advertise their own services to the marketplace.

Larger churches frequently hire business managers supervised by clergy. Some churches own broadcast facilities, recreational complexes, day schools, night

shelters, and medical facilities.

— John C. Knapp in How the Church Fails Businesspeople (and what can be done about it)

to be from 30 percent of annual salary for an entry-level employee to 400 percent of annual salary for a high-level employee. — Joy Powers in Ragan Report

How can I serve?

Ask yourself this question every day: “How may I best serve the most people?”

Money is a function of value creation.

The more value you create for other people, the higher the sales of your organization.

— Leadership expert Robin Sharma in Up Magazine

Having fun yet?

Trying to boost your company’s bottom line? Invest in employee morale. Happy workers are 12 percent more productive, according to a study from Warwick Business School.

Conversely, unhappy employees hurt your business. Not only are they less productive and absent more, but you will pay the price for months or years if they walk out the door.

Turnover costs are estimated

Through a glass...

Few churches appreciate their business people as a window on the world, and fewer still provide business people with opportunities to discuss in depth the integration of business and Christian values. — Edward R. Dayton in Succeed-

Ethics 101 Moral actions begin with “ethical intelligence,” says ethics consultant Bruce Weinstein in his book, Ethical Intelligence.

Developing the capacity to make the right choices hinges on five basic principles: 1. Do no harm. Don’t hurt people. If you have to make a tough call, like downsizing, do as little damage as possible.

2. Make things better. Aim to help others, such as by providing excellent customer service or by starting a business to address a social need.

3. Respect others. Honor other people’s values, preferences and rights.

4. Be fair. Give others their due when allocating scarce resources, disciplining and rectifying injustices.

5. Be loving. “Love is like the WD-40 of relationships. It’s not absolutely necessary, and you couldn’t be blamed for not using it — but it does make things flow better.”

Bottom line: Ask these questions: Will it avoid causing harm? Will it make things better? Is it respectful? Is it fair? Is it a loving thing to do?

These principles, says Weinstein, can ease any ethical dilemma, from the glaring lapses of Enron to deciding whether to stay home when you have the flu. (Globe & Mail)

The Marketplace May June 2012

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ing in Business without Losing Your Faith

Failing well On average, successful people have had many more failures than unsuccessful people.

This seems counterintuitive.

How could successful people have failed more often than everyone else? Failure is unavoidable and sometimes happens randomly. It’s what you do after the failure that is important. Successful people have a stick-to-it-iveness. They don’t quit. From the president of FedEx to the novelist Jerzy Kosinsky, from Van Gogh to Bill Clinton to Fleetwood Mac, successful people have had many, many failures, but they learn from them and keep going. — Daniel J. Levin in This Is Your Brain On Music: The Science of a Human Obsession

Workplace justice Seldom if ever are Christians addressed as influential actors responsible in their vocations

for seeing that, within their power, justice is done. They are not seriously challenged to ask questions about the human impact of their actions as workers, managers, consumers, and owners on their fellows. — Theologian and business ethicist Paul Cam‑ enisch

Bloody hands Failing to communicate the truth of expectations and accountability to your associates puts “blood on your hands” when you terminate them and they don’t see it coming. If you catch employees by surprise when you fire them, you have failed as a leader. You either failed to set clear expectations,

waiter they give a tithe, but unto God they give whatsoever they think will get them by. Verily, does a person fear the waiter more than they fear God? — Quoted by Tom Cooper, City in Focus

failed to give honest feedback on their performance, or failed to hold them accountable throughout their tenure with your organization.... No one working with you should ever have to guess where they, or you, stand concerning your expectations or their performance. Give fast, honest, specific feedback to reinforce productive actions and confront errant behaviors. — Dave Anderson in How to Lead by The Book

Farm-a-care If you care about the poorest, you care about agriculture. Investments in agriculture are the best weapons against hunger and poverty, and they have made life better for billions of people. — Philanthropist Bill Gates speaking to the Interna‑ tional Fund for Agricul‑ tural Development

A tip for God? For the proverbial tip must be at least a tithe, lest the waiter turn against you. Few people treat their God as well as they honor their waiter. For unto a

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The Marketplace May June 2012

News

Ukraine farm project beats 5,000 target a large‑scale buyer A MEDA project to will arrive and offer help Ukraine farmhigher prices. He will ers boost production know that we offer and income has a good product and surpassed its target an honest deal and of enlisting 5,000 so he’ll be back. The farmers. project has changed The Ukraine Horour way of thinking, ticultural Developwhich is very imment Project (UHDP) portant. Otherwise, educates farmers in everyone would be modern cultivation so secretive, never practices to grow letting neighbors into berries, vegetables, his yard. We used to table grapes and be competitors, but medicinal herbs. It now we are partaims to improve their ners.” standards of living through innovative Last fall the project technology, increased organized Ukraine’s cooperation and first tomato festival market linkages. to showcase clients’ “The social aspect production, including is also quite impora contest for growing Farmers hoist trophies for winning the biggest tomato contest at the 2011 tant, such as helping the biggest tomato.

Tomato Festival. “It’s great to see how proud they are to show off what poor and socially Major distributors, they had grown,” says project director Stephen Wright. “This is the first vulnerable individusuch as the country’s time in their lives someone has shown appreciation for their work.” als so they may find largest supermarket profitable work in their own chain, were introduced to the and farmers together. Lead curate decision making.” village,” says project director region’s tomatoes and other Lead farmer Diogen Karelov farmer Mikhail Dzhorkashvili Stephen Wright. greenhouse produce. says that in his village more says cold‑storage technology Farmers in the Crimea and A web‑based weather serthan 40 members were actively facilitated by UHDP has been a Zaporozhye regions now are vice was introduced so farmers engaged in the consolidation big help. “There was a period can easily access weather foregrowing more diverse crops, efforts, “and their number is this year when the prices for casts and data about potential utilizing better technology constantly on the rise. People cucumbers fell sharply,” he plant diseases. “This is crucial such as greenhouses and irsee a promising future and says. “We decided not to for us,” says lead farmer Vera rigation, and gaining synergies want to band together to sell at this price, and instead Morozova. “When you bus in from marketing together. ensure mutual success.” moved all the produce into a team of workers from the The project selects “lead Another lead farmer, cold storage. After five days city and take them to the fields farmers” known for skill and Reshat Bilyalov, credits UHDP the price more than tripled, to harvest crops, but then it entrepreneurship and provides and a buyer emerged who was for showing farmers how to starts raining in half an hour, special training which they “work in a completely new extremely pleased with our you have to stop the work but pass on to others in their vilway. In the past, we would refrigerated produce.” still pay for the bus and the lage clusters. never tell our neighbors what Centralized trade venues labor. It’s the same with the Through these efforts crop varieties we were planbrought wholesale buyers watering. If we see that we are farmers in the project last year ning to plant. But now we going to have some rain in the consolidated and sold more “We’re learning how have come to the realization next few days, we can reduce than 3,000 tons of produce, that consolidation is the way to work in a com‑ our watering so the plants says Oleg Osaulyuk, UHDP to go — more produce means pletely new way.... don’t get oversaturated.” deputy manager. “The project more buyers. We are also now The five‑year $10 million expanded its computer‑based aware that we have to help We used to be com‑ project is supported by the Camarketing information system, each other. There is a clear petitors, but now we understanding that if I do well, nadian International Developwhich ensured effective sales are partners.” monitoring, analysis and acand so does my neighbor, then ment Agency (CIDA). ◆ The Marketplace May June 2012

22

“Hidden hunger” of the poor: new target for development Nutrition is getting new attention in the development industry.

At one time, ending hunger was seen as a matter of helping poor countries grow more crops. That changed with the Ethiopian famine of 1984 where starvation occurred

despite the availability of food.

People started listening to Indian economist Amartya Sen, who pinpointed the real problem as individual access rather than overall supply. Aid agencies concentrated on reducing poverty and making markets more efficient, producing a

dramatic one-third reduction in the number of people living on less than $1 a day.

Now “hidden hunger” is increasingly seen as a matter of nutritional deficiency, not only food supply. Having enough to eat does not translate automatically into good health if

Feeding a multitude with wonky veggies

real culprit, says a Canadian vegetable producer whose company discards an estimated 100,000 pounds of produce every year and feeds some culls to cattle.

“If people would go into the store and buy the ugliest potatoes and apples, we wouldn’t have this problem,” he says. “Everyone picks the nicest-looking fruit.” ◆

Last time you shopped for produce, did you select the oddshaped potato, or the bruised apple that a previous customer may have accidentally bounced off the floor?

Those orphans of the food chain could feed a lot of people, but how to get them into the shopping cart?

A public event in London’s Trafalgar Square drew attention to the issue when it offered a free lunch of curry made from wasted food.

Organized by a “Feeding the 5,000” team of organizations to encourage households and businesses to reduce food waste, the meal was composed entirely of ingredients that otherwise would have been discarded, such as cosmetically imperfect fresh fruit and vegetables, like wonky carrots. The misshapen ingredients were supplied by farmers who sell their goods to stores.

“The supermarkets have strict cosmetic standards, so if a carrot is too long or slightly bent, it either goes in the bin or is left out in the field and simply ploughed back into the ground,” said food waste expert Tristram Stuart in a Guardian article..

He hoped the event would inspire people to stop wasting food and end the practice of dismissing unsightly goods.

Experts say many countries discard up to 40 percent of their food, putting unneeded pressure on the environment and global food supplies.

Who is to blame? Exacting market standards, or fussy shoppers who want their food to look as good as it tastes?

Businesses may not be the

23

children lack adequate micronutrients. The ripple effects are significant, as malnourished children are less likely to go to school and perform poorly even if they do. Later on, says The Economist, “they earn less than their better-fed peers over their lifetimes ... and die earlier.”

The magazine says new attention to micro-nutrient deficiencies has a great payback rate. “The good news is that better nutrition can be a stunningly good investment....

Nothing else in development policy has such high returns on investment.”

For its part, MEDA’s new Ghana project is helping 20,000 women to bolster nutrition and family food security by growing soybeans. ◆

The Marketplace May June 2012

Another business solution to poverty

Smallholder farmers in Tajikistan. Photo by Carl Hiebert

The Marketplace May June 2012

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