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At the end of my missions trip to Manila last summer, I wrote down one of my prayers and stuck it in my Bible.  Here’s a piece of it.

My God, I confess that I turn a blind eye when I buy clothes or food, not thinking about the wages of the people making the clothes in sweatshops.  Give me discernment to know where to shop and where to buy things to better support them rather than supporting companies which [do the opposite]…help me to steward my money wisely, give generously, and use it to the support the poor in their situation.

One of the verses that really stuck out to me was James 5:4 – “Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you.  The cries of the harvesters have reached the Lord Almighty”.  There were a lot of things that God taught me that summer, but one thing that I really took home was how to better steward my money to further God’s kingdom.

So, how does this have anything to do with being a Steazer? And what is a Steazer anyway?

Well, I think one answer to this and a step in the right direction is Fair Trade.  Fair trade helps farmers and farm workers receive fair prices for their products, ensuring livable wages and protecting children against forced child labor.  One of the hardest realities that we faced during the missions trip was that for not highly-educated women in Manila, prostitution seemed like the only way that they could earn a living.  In some cases, we saw women leave prostitution to join Samaritana, only to find themselves caught back in prostitution because they needed money.  Thanks be to God that Samaritana is now able to offer a type of employment now with the women making handmade cards.

I realized how hard it is to find employment and a decent wage, which is why now, while I am “comfortably” in America now, I can hopefully at least use my weekly visits to the grocery store  as a way to support and promote living wages for workers across the globe.  I know it’s not a solution but I think that it is a step in the right direction and it’s a way to better steward money that I would already be using to buy food.

Which brings me to Steaz.  I discovered it with my friend at Whole Foods yesterday.  We were looking to try a new beverage and stumbled across this organic free-trade amazingness.  I don’t just support this product because it’s fair trade and organic, it’s also delicious and healthy.  Steaz offers a variety of healthy iced teas, in addition to some other products all of which look great too I just haven’t had a chance to try yet. 

The power in Steaz lies in the ingredients.  None of that high fructose corn syrup disgustingness. One of my pet peeves about iced tea is that it’s always over-sweetened to the’ point where I don’t even taste the tea anymore and I am convinced that I’m simply drinking just sugar water.  Steaz has the perfect balance.  A little added cane sugar just to enhance the flavor, but it doesn’t overdo it.  Each tea also has some added flavor, ranging from the antioxidant-full blueberry to lime to pomegranate.  Plus, it’s about 40 calories/serving.  Talk about healthy.