Author: Rob Vander Giessen-Reitsma

World Fare introduces the Fare The Well Box, a personally-curated box of fair trade and earth-friendly goodies!

World Fare introduces the Fare The Well Box, a personally-curated box of fair trade and earth-friendly goodies!

Gift Box

Looking for a creative way to support your local community fair trade store? Need a pick-me-up delivered to a loved one’s door, or even your own door? Then select from a variety of sweet themes and we will fill your Fare Thee Well Box with beautiful, creative, and delicious items from World Fare.

Many of the economically-disadvantaged farmers and artisans World Fare supports are struggling to make ends meet as COVID-19 hits their communities and vendor orders decline. These boxes of bounty lift up our values of justice and solidarity by investing in the good work of our partner organizations as they continue to prioritize people and planet during this difficult time. Thank you for your partnership and friendship!

How it works:

  • Review box sizes and themes to make your selection.
  • Fill out the order form.
  • A World Fare volunteer will confirm your order.
  • You’ll receive a Square invoice by e-mail that you can pay online.
  • We’ll pack and ship your order to the recipient.

Box themes 

Choose your budget with classic ($35-$40) or deluxe ($55-$60), and then choose your theme! We’ll pack your box with unique items based on your budget, theme, and any notes you include on the order form about your recipient’s preferences. Visit our web site for more information about these fun themes:

  • Fashion Distraction
  • Jolly Good Time
  • My Cup Overfloweth
  • Meditative Moments
  • Sweet and Spice
  • Pamper
  • Nourish with Flourish
  • Creature Comforts

Love chocolate? Love baking? Enter A Chocolate Affair!

Love chocolate? Love baking? Enter A Chocolate Affair!

February 9
2:00-4:00p.m.

A Chocolate Affair

Join us for our annual celebration of love and chocolate on February 9, from 2:00 to 4:00p.m.! We need all the bakers and chocolate maestros out there to enter their creations for the chocolate-loving public to enjoy and vote on. You can enter online now; just remember to purchase your fair trade chocolate from World Fare for your delicacy!

Then we need folks to come out to taste and vote! Voting for A Chocolate Affair will take place from 2:00-3:30 p.m. during the event. First place in People’s Choice, the top prize, will come with a $50 gift certificate for World Fare, and additional prizes will award second place, third place, Most Original and Best Presentation.

A Chocolate Affair is always a wonderfully tasty way to get ready for Valentine’s Day. Come on out!

Celebrating our 15th Anniversary

15th Anniversary

On Sunday during the 25th Annual HarmonyFest in Downtown Three Rivers, our little store celebrated its 15th Anniversary! During those 15 years, our faithful volunteers have spent more than 31,000 hours running the store and connecting our community with artisans and farmers from around the world. To celebrate, we gave away 15 prizes throughout the day, served special treats in the store, and commissioned our friend Elisabeth Wenger to write a poem, which she read from the main stage at 6:30 (see below). Thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate … and here’s to 15 more years!


World Fare’s 15th Anniversary: An Exhortation

A store is never just a store.
While it’s true that a business is not a person,
no matter what our government says,
A business is made by people,
peopled, populated and conceived
of, in minds expansive and strange.

Make a choice—to what business
will you give the strength in your arms,
the branching electricity in your brain?
To what group of people,
with what dream,
will you go?

And the work of the people of the business
takes on the life its been given,
as long as the people keep caring.

Fifteen years these people have cared for a store!
Remember fifteen?
The hot passion, the standing up for what you believed in
with the thrill of standing for justice,
with the strength of a David
facing down Goliath. Impossible.
Magnificent. Teenaged energy
and clear sight, acknowledging the impossible
and attempting it anyway.

May the people who people this store
keep dreaming, keep the passion.
May they imagine new worlds
or ways to be, may they fight
with fifteen’s fervor for an impossibility,
And, most of all,
may they remain people,
individual and uniquely strange,
caring about people.

2016 Chocolate Affair a gooey, delicious success!

2016 Chocolate Affair a gooey, delicious success!

Pictured from left to right: Elisabeth Wenger, Karen Keefer, Becca Sonday and Lorie Minor.

The weather outside was frightful, but inside World Fare on February 13, the crowds were warm with good conversation and tasty treats as we celebrated A Chocolate Affair 2016. Seven area bakers brought their best recipes for visitors of all ages to taste and vote on, with celebrity judges Tricia Meyer (Three Rivers Downtown Development Authority) and Brother Abraham (St. Gregory’s Abbey) offering their professional opinion on the best presentation and most original.

And the winners were:

  • Elisabeth Wenger with Chocolate Lavender Cake with Earl Grey Mascarpone (Most Original, Second Place People’s Choice)
  • Karen Keefer with Chocolate Pumpkin Almond Butter Cups (First Place People’s Choice)
  • Becca Sonday with Goat Cheese Espresso Brownies (Third Place People’s Choice)
  • Lori Minor with Triple Chocolate Chip Layered Cookie Cake (Best Presentation)

Thank you to all who came out to make the Affair such a successful event in support of World Fare’s fair trade mission!

Winners of 2015 Chocolate Affair

Winners of 2015 Chocolate Affair

Well, the weather outside was frightful, but frigid temps and blowing snow are not enough to keep our local chocolate lovers away!  The 2015 A Chocolate Affair was a great success with over 120 people coming through to try the delectable treats dreamed up by a dozen different bakers and baking teams.  World Fare sends a huge thank you to all who entered, and a big congratulations to this year’s winners, who each went home with a World Fare gift certificate and a special edition, handmade Valentine’s vessel from our resident potter, Elizabeth Brouwer.

  • People’s Choice First Place: Cian Monroe (Chocolate Bark with Peanut Butter)
  • People’s Choice Second Place: Lorie Minor (Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Brownies)
  • People’s Choice Third Place: Elisabeth Wenger (Cappuccino Fudge Cheesecake)
  • Most Original: Lorie Minor (Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Brownies)
  • Best Presentation: Michaela Kitzinger & Patti Eberhard (Chocolate Coca Cola Cupcakes)
Thank you also to our local celebrity judges, who braved the cold to select our winners for Most Original and Best Presentation: Beth Hubbard (Corey Lake Orchards), Melissa McPherson (Three Rivers Public Library), and Brian Persky (Three Rivers Downtown Development Authority).  World Fare continues to be able to pursue its mission of supporting economically disadvantaged communities around the world because of the amazing support of our local volunteers, customers and chocolate aficionados!

Local celebrity judges for A Chocolate Affair 2015

Local celebrity judges for A Chocolate Affair 2015

World Fare is delighted to announce our three local celebrity judges for A Chocolate Affair 2015!

We are so thankful to our judges, not just because they’ll join us tomorrow to determine the awards for Most Original and Best Presentation, but for the good work they do in our community in such a wide variety of areas.
Join us tomorrow 2-3:30 p.m. to taste and vote for delectable fair trade chocolate goodies!  Tasting is free and voting tickets start at $1, with all proceeds supporting World Fare’s mission of partnering with economically disadvantaged communities to encourage a living wage for our world’s most vulnerable workers.  What a perfect way to spend Valentine’s Day: celebrating the love that goes out to cocoa farmers around the world through our conscious choice for fair trade chocolate!
P.S. – Fun Winterfest activities will be happening throughout downtown Three Rivers from noon-4:00 p.m.  Come out to enjoy the snow and see how our local merchants are brightening up the season!

Get your chocolate fix on Valentine’s Day!

Get your chocolate fix on Valentine’s Day!

Join us this Saturday, February 14, for our Annual Chocolate Affair bake off!  From 2:00 – 3:30 p.m., taste delicious treats from 10 local bakers for free; then vote for your favorites to win People’s Choice awards.  Voting tickets start at $1 each, with quantity discounts. All proceeds from voting go toward World Fare’s efforts to support economically disadvantaged farmers and artisans around the world.

And while you’re downtown, be sure to check out all of the WinterFest activities happening throughout downtown Three Rivers from noon – 4:00 p.m. Bring someone you love to celebrate Valentine’s Day in a PLACE you love!

We look forward to seeing you there!

Join us this Saturday for Small Business Saturday!

Join us this Saturday for Small Business Saturday!

Join us this Saturday, November 29, during the annual Three Rivers Christmas Around Town celebration to also celebrate Small Business Saturday! Every year, after folks have gotten crazy deals on products on Black Friday, we like to encourage shoppers to get out on Saturday to support their local, small businesses in their communities. Not only will there be events for Christmas Around Town throughout downtown all day, but the first 15 customers in World Fare will receive a free canvas tote bag courtesy of American Express.

Join us for a great day of supporting local businesses in Three Rivers on Saturday!

Take some music home with you

Take some music home with you

Just in time for our 11th Anniversary Celebration and HarmonyFest, we’ve got a bunch of great, new music in stock. While you’re enjoying the tunes from the stage in downtown Three Rivers this weekend, stop by and grab some music to take home with you! We’ve got everything from blues to salsa, African beats to French cafe, lullabies to party music. You’re sure to find something you’ll love to hear over and over!

Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate!

Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate!

We just got a shipment of chocolate in from Equal Exchange, so our stock is filled with great chocolate options!  Try dark chocolate with lemon, ginger and black pepper. Or milk chocolate with a caramel crunch and sea salt. And there’s always the classic 85% dark chocolate. So many choices!

And remember:  our Higher Grounds coffee in their old packaging is at least $1.00 off per pound (and some is 25% off)! Stop by quick to take advantage of a great deal.

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