May 13, 2025 • 35 mins
What happens when rural indigenous women gain access to global markets? Lives transform, cycles of poverty break, and daughters begin to dream of careers unimaginable to their mothers. This powerful story unfolds as we speak with Ruth Álvarez-DeGolia, who started Mercado Global as an Ivy-League university sophomore selling handcrafted items on campus, and has since built a movement empowering thousands of women across rural Guatemala.
The magic happens at the intersection of traditional craftsmanship and economic opportunity. Through a partnership with Food for the Poor that provides industrial sewing machines, looms, critical training and more, these artisans are creating products now carried by Levi Strauss, Stitch Fix, and Stuart Weitzman. But the transformation runs deeper than fashion – with 75% of participating women now sending their children to school and many opening their first bank accounts.
Discover how beautiful, handcrafted products are creating generational change, and why Ruth believes indigenous Guatemalan women deserve to be recognized as some of the world's most innovative rural entrepreneurs. Support this work by visiting foodforthepoor.org/mothersday or following #MercadoGlobal.
@levis
@stitchfix
@stuartweitzman
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Beyond the Plate a Food for the Poor
podcast.
I'm Paul Jacobs here.
Food opens the door to powerfulstories of hope, connection and
transformation.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
And I'm Daniel Patino .
Each episode we go beyond themeal to the heart of the people,
places and purpose behind it.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
This is Beyond the Plate, where every story starts
with what's on the table.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Welcome to Beyond the Plate a Food for the Poor
podcast, where we share storiesbehind the hands that heal, feed
and lift up communities acrossLatin America and the Caribbean.
I'm your host, Daniel Patino,and today we're looking at how
Mercado Global is turning bagsand bracelets into food.
And, trust me, you're going towant to hear this.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Trust me, you're going to want to hear this.
Hey, I'm Paul Jacobs, and we'reso grateful that you get to
share this episode with us,because what I really love is
the fact that we're going touplift mothers.
This is our Mother's Dayepisode.
That's why I dressed up alittle bit today.
Ah, I see you did.
Yeah, I mean we both did.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
I'm standing up straight.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
I'm sitting up straight.
We both did we both.
This is amazing.
We get an opportunity to trulyshow you what it means to uplift
moms and uplift women in a waythat you probably thought it was
just you know.
You know you're running themill online shopping, but beyond
that, there's a purpose in allof it, and so our guest is going
(01:17):
to really help us to understanda little bit deeper how
important that is right, that'sright.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
And Mercado Global, if you don't know, has worked
with Food for the Poor in thepast and we've been doing
miracles, we've been makingthings happen, folks, and we're
doing it through empoweringwomen.
Yeah, and that's why there's alittle correlation here Mother's
Day as well, because some ofthese women are mothers,
daughters, wives.
People are the pillar of theirhousehold and it's amazing what
(01:46):
mercado global is doing day inand day out, and the fact that
food for the poorest cross pathsalso.
I love it.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
It's it's like joining another party when
there's another party going on,but this is a party for good
yeah, no, exactly, and I've gotfor those of you that are
watching us on youtube, I've gotsome of these really cool
products that that, uh, mercadoglobal and these.
This is my favorite, becausethis is a very manly wallet it
is.
We'll talk more about it onFather's Day episode.
Okay, yeah, all right, that'sgood for now.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
But the bracelets, but the bracelets and the other.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Jewelry is again one handmade and two beautiful,
exactly, and you know it'sinteresting, danny One of the
things that was so striking whenwe were looking at, you know,
the purpose behind the creationand the really the legacy that
(02:33):
is being created by MercadoGlobal and this partnership with
Food for the Poor.
We came across this quote fromLydia Garcia, the director of
operations in Guatemala, and shesaid something that I think
really is well.
It's an eye opener to whyMercado Global exists and why
Food for the Poor has partneredfor these many years.
And so she said, talking aboutthe women right, the moms.
(02:55):
They're realizing that this isthe best way to overcome and
break the cycle of poverty.
But wait a minute.
I thought we were talking aboutselling these amazing products
online.
Yes, we're talking aboutbreaking cycles of poverty.
Well, it's beautiful, you know,it's interesting because I've
seen it firsthand.
We've seen it firsthand, that'sright.
You know, when food for thepoor, our partners like Mercado
(03:17):
Global, our beneficiaries andthey all come together, we have
something that happens in thissynergy right, delivering hope
in the most practical andlife-changing ways.
Case in point years ago andthis has still stayed with me to
this day we were in Guatemalaand we came upon this community.
(03:38):
It was a co-op of farmers.
But the unique part about thisco-op of farmers, they were all
indigenous guatemalan women, allof them in el jalú, this
farming community with thesemicro tunnels.
Imagine, right, you know, likeup north, where they've got
these little tunnels that hidetheir truck from the heavy snow.
We don't know anything aboutthat.
I don't know nothing aboutthose, but I've seen it on
(03:59):
television, put me there, put methere.
I've stayed at a motel six once,I don't know, but I must stay
there exactly.
But it's to do again to protectfrom the elements and protect
everyone and it's made out.
It's made within the cave rightor made within the mountain, in
the tunnel, in these mountains,these dry and arid areas where
literally they go through dryspells, where nothing grows,
(04:20):
it's dry and drier, dry anddrier, and they do drip
irrigation so that these farmingwomen who now own this land, in
this microtunnel farm and alsoget to sell in the market these
products Beautiful and this isthe cool part these products in
this El Jalou farm this I meanat the time it was four, it's
(04:43):
probably more now it was 450women in this project.
They have taken their productsfrom Guatemala, in El Jalou,
into marketplaces, retail food,retail food outlets, excuse me,
in North America, in Europe, inAsia.
They named some of these bigbox stores and I was just like,
wow, you mean, these women areselling me in South Florida, in
(05:08):
Europe, in Asia, all of theseproducts and I probably don't
even realize when I'm buyingthis produce, I'm buying from
these women in their in, intheir endeavors.
And here's the best part Watchthis.
This is the really.
There's more yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
No, no, no.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
There's more.
Yeah, what was really cool wasthe fact that these women had
perfected this drip irrigationin this, this, this.
You know this market so much,this technology, so they had
perfected it so well.
They were consulting otherfarmers in dubai, took these
indigenous women all the way tothe Middle East so that they
(05:44):
could affect change in Dubai.
So, but here's the realitycheck.
Right, let's do the numbers.
In the total population ofCentral America, there's about
50 million people.
It's estimated somewherebetween 10 to 20% of Central
America's population areindigenous and in Guatemala,
(06:06):
just in Guatemala alone, it's 40to 45%, almost half of
Guatemalans from indigenousbackground.
So you can just imagine themagnitude of women in this
percentage of population that donot have these opportunities
and why this partnership andothers like it, helping women
(06:27):
like this is so vitallyimportant.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
And I love that.
Mercado Global has seensomething.
They've seen the diamond in therough, right, when it is.
If we can change that numberfor good, imagine the
possibilities not only for womenbut for just families in whole,
just for a brighter future,just for better beginnings.
But before we dive in, I wouldlike to introduce someone whose
(06:52):
vision has changed thousands oflives, Some of the lives Paul
and I have been kind of talkingabout here this afternoon.
Here Now, Ruth Alvarez de Goliais the co-founder and executive
director of Mercado Global.
What started as a smallnonprofit working with just a
handful of women artisans inGuatemala has become a powerful
force in social enterprise.
Now they're connectingrulemakers with global markets
(07:15):
and that's creating a lastingchange, one job at a time.
And she's been honored by Yale,recognized by Newsweek as one
of the 15 people who makeAmerica great, and named one of
the world's top emerging socialentrepreneurs.
But what stands out most is herheart and the way she sees
dignity, not just in what's made, but in who makes it.
(07:37):
Ruth, thank you for joining usand let's start at the beginning
, please.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Thank you so much for having me here today.
It's such an honor.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
I love this, this designation 15 people who are
making America great from ruralGuatemala.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
This is great, and unfortunately there's only 15.
And I hope there's more nextyear, that's it.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
So you know we're talking to you in San Francisco
visiting your 99 year oldgrandmother.
We're just amazed that you havethis opportunity to spend with
her.
And, of course, how awesome isthis?
Your your visit coincides withthis Mother's Day episode of
Beyond the Plate.
We're so grateful to have you.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Oh, thank you so much .
It's very special.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
You know, take us back, Ruth, to the beginning.
You know you're an Ivy Leaguecollege sophomore and you've got
a project and you decide LatinAmerica and women as the basis
for the beginnings of what isnow Mercado Global.
Some 21 years later, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Well, you know, I was so fortunate.
I had a fellowship to go workwith an association of rural
communities over the summerafter my sophomore year, and I
had no plans to start anything,but I just, I had never felt so
useful in my entire life to getto be there and work and be in
partnership with these amazingwomen who were fighters.
(09:08):
You know, most of them hadnever had the chance to go to
school, they couldn't read andwrite.
A lot of these women had losttheir husbands during the Civil
War, during massacres thatoccurred, but they were fighting
.
There was nothing they wantedmore than to provide a better
future for their kids.
And, you know, we triedeverything.
Tried, you know, tried to builda local market, all sorts of
(09:31):
things.
But what they really neededmore than anything was just
access to the internationalmarket, because they were these
amazing weavers and it startedjust as a favor to them.
This was back in 2004.
Well, actually that was 2002before it was kind of exciting
to be a social entrepreneur.
I remember going back to Yaleand setting up on campus and
(09:52):
these women had asked me, as afavor to them, to take their
artesanias and sell themwherever I came from, as they
put it, and I remember settingit up and it was not considered
very prestigious to be sellingthings, but I was like this is
the most important thing that Icould do, and that first weekend
we sold $5,000 in product andit sent 26 little girls to
(10:12):
elementary school for a year.
And that's where it started andit was such a privilege to get
to be in partnership with theseamazing women and to be part of
partnering with them to create abetter lives for their families
.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
What did that do for you?
Seeing the interest on thisside of the world and the need
being met for those familiesthat you just visited in
Guatemala?
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Yeah, Well, you know, it really reminded me of a
couple of things.
So one is you know, 10% ofGuatemalans actually live in the
US.
So these are our neighbors andwe're so connected in so many
ways, like it or not, we are allconnected.
God, this could have been me,this could have been my sister,
(11:04):
it could have been my mom thatcouldn't get education growing
up in Guatemala, and it wasreally exciting to see that
people wanted their products andpeople wanted to help.
You know who doesn't want tohelp a mom send her kids to
school, like everybody wantsthat.
And if you also could buy anamazing scarf or clutch or tote
while you're doing it, I meanwhat a win-win, right Right.
(11:25):
Or tote while you're doing it,I mean what a win-win, right
Right.
So I think an energy isunleashed when you bring
together people that otherwisenever would have met, would
never have connected.
And so to bring togetherconsumers in the US, women that
want to have an impact throughtheir purchasing power, and
makers in Central America whomake these gorgeous pieces, it
really unleashes the power andit brings people together to
(11:47):
build the kind of world that wewant all of our children to grow
up in.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
So I'm biased here because I'm part of the 10% or
at least my household is my wifeis from Guatemala.
That's right, and you know, andyou know, before I married Mari
Garamond.
You know, one of the thingsthat was striking to me in all
the years that I traveled backand forth to Guatemala was the
level of quality and the levelof just just the creativity in
(12:15):
some of the in the marketplace,in the, whether it was bags and
it was jewelry, whatever.
It was so amazing.
And I always said to myselfthis is like you, this has to be
in stores across the UnitedStates because it's so amazing.
And I always said to myselfthis is like you, this has to be
in stores across the UnitedStates because it's so beautiful
.
I would always carry a littleextra stuff back.
I mean, I've got so much in myoffice and home and this is even
(12:36):
before I got married, right,but, um, I just you know the
fact that you, you had thisexperience and these, these
women, and you made thatconnection back here, and then
all of a sudden, you start tobuild this partner artesian
system.
I mean, I can't explain itother than that, because what
(12:58):
was interesting was that youdon't call them poor.
I haven't heard the word.
You know the poor indigenouswomen, when I read everything
about Mercado Global.
These are partner artisans.
Why is that?
That's good.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
Because these women are incredibly inspirational.
They are fighters and you knowwhat we do is hard.
You know we with Food for thePoor support we are able to
provide training, technicaltraining and weaving and sewing
to master their craft andbusiness development support,
self-esteem training, financialliteracy, how to build your
(13:33):
business.
But you know, for women who aregoing out and trying to figure
out how are they going to feedtheir families that day, you
know to put in the time tobenefit from those trainings is
a big thing.
A lot of these women live incommunities that might be 10
hours away from our offices andthey're traveling to pick up
materials and deliver finishedgoods and we work with co-ops so
(13:57):
that they can do that together.
Right, but you know it's hardwork.
You know, if you've ever hadeducation learning how to build
a business, it's's a lot of work.
So to us, they are our partners, our core values, our
partnership, authenticity andrespect, and they are partners
we, and it's a privilege for usto get to partner with these
women to do this work and tobuild this world together, and
(14:21):
so that's how we think of ourpartner artisans we're talking
with rufal.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
for us, the goalie, the co-founder and executive
director of Mercado Global, andI'm going to piggyback on what
you just said there.
Let's talk about power ofpartnership, and Mercado Global
and Food for the Poor areworking together, and what makes
that collaboration really work.
What's something that you'veseen that proves that?
Speaker 3 (14:43):
Well, I'm so grateful to get to count Food for the
Poor as one of our partners.
We're so grateful for it, and Ilove that the staff at Food for
the Poor have this amazingexpertise on how to support
community development.
And getting the chance to workwith Food for the Poor's
in-country directors inGuatemala and Honduras and in
(15:04):
other regions and to benefitfrom the knowledge that the team
has about the region anddifferent projects they've
funded is really fantastic.
And the other thing I would sayis you know, a sad little truth
in the nonprofit world issometimes the organizations that
are doing the best work youhave your head down.
You're doing the great work.
Like our team is all indigenouswomen on the ground in
(15:27):
Guatemala working with ourpartner communities doing that
good work, which means we don'thave this big staff in the US
able to fundraise to make thatwork possible, right, and so to
have a partner that's connectedto this network that can share
exactly what you're doing rightnow sharing, you know, I'm
thinking about people who listento this podcast who might not
otherwise have known what we'redoing if it wasn't for you guys.
(15:48):
That is incredibly powerful andwe're able to get good work
done because we have greatpartnerships so that together we
can get it done.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
And I love that that same path has crossed, has made
us cross each other here andagain.
We're talking with RuthAlvarez-Golia, co-founder and
executive director of MercadoGlobal All right.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
So I'm a numbers guy and I want to do the numbers
here we're talking severalprojects going back more than
seven years that have helpedeither Mercado Global provide
training or equipment andmaterials to start changing
lives.
This is the partnership withFood for the Poor and Mercado
Global.
And let me let me run down somesome numbers here.
Delivered 70 industrial sewingmachines.
(16:30):
Delivered 15 over lock machines.
For those of you that knowsewing, I'm sure you are
impressed.
I'm impressed by the numbers Idon't know.
I don't know if I can order anoverlock on amazon, but that's
another story for another day Ahundred of them.
Maybe that's what I'll get frommom for Mother's Day.
You can only buy them in bulk.
You can only buy them in bulk.
Seven floor looms.
(16:52):
Now I know what a loom is andI've seen how big.
I've actually been in a homewhere a family had their entire
second little house, which isone loom.
I mean this thing's massive,right, we're talking about seven
(17:12):
floor looms, 173 advancedsewing toolkits, 173 sets of
regular training materials, 87floor loom weaving material sets
, 181 detailed trainingmaterials, technical sewing
training, technical floor loomtraining, community-based
education and trainers Wi-Fi.
Oh well, there you go.
Yeah, I mean, you know we gotto communicate, right, I got to
tell.
And trainers Wi-Fi.
Okay, well, there you go.
Yeah, I mean, you know we gotto communicate, right, I got to
tell people about this andgenerators, yeah, and you know
what's also been deliveredCountless women with hope for a
(17:38):
future.
Countless children whose mothersand let's do that let's kind of
look at those numbers reallyquick.
You're talking about more thana third of these partner
artisans that may now have bankaccounts.
Three quarters of these women,more than 75% are enrolling
(18:07):
their children in schools.
This is again I want to, youknow.
I want to talk about why thisis much more than just selling
these, and they are beautifulproducts.
Yes, this is really changing ageneration.
You are establishing an entiregeneration on a completely
different level through whatthey do best.
But I love the fact that youstart at the basis, which is
(18:30):
self-esteem, it's leadership,it's you know, it's giving them
the foundations, and then westart talking about the skill
sets of sewing and all of theseother things.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
Yeah, that's right.
Well, you know, I wanted toshare it too.
Those numbers you read, thoseare the numbers for this year.
That's even not cumulative withall the years that Food for the
Poor supported us.
So it's exciting.
It's exciting what we're ableto accomplish together, wow.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
And I wanted to share a quick quote with you here,
and there's a quote we've heardaround here Food for the poor
and I'm pretty sure it echoessometimes at Mercado Global.
Before I walked to the dump forscraps, now I walk to my sewing
machine.
What comes up for you when youhear that now?
Speaker 3 (19:18):
That the power to earn your own dollar changes
your life, totally changes yourlife.
There's nothing more importantin terms of being able to map
out the future you want foryourself, your family and your
kids, and I think that's what'sso exciting.
You know and I know Food forthe Poor knows this very well
(19:39):
that one of the most effectiveways to break the cycle of
poverty is just help the mom getan income stream, because when
moms have their income stream,we know that 90 cents of every
dollar goes straight to thosekids getting them enough to eat,
getting them into school,making sure that they're living
in a safe home environment, andthere's just nothing else.
(20:01):
That is as effective.
Study after study is shown, andfor most women, when we're
partnering with them, this isreally the first time they're
earning their own income, andthere's so many ways to measure
that.
So we're all about KPIs and keyperformance indicators and
social impact assessments andtracking the numbers, but I
(20:21):
think for me, the way I feel andinternalize our impact is that
you know, when women first cometo us to partner and to ask for
help building a communitycooperative in their community,
a lot of those women just saythat once they've started in the
eyes and to holding yourselfwith pride, telling people that
all your daughters are in school, telling people about what you
(20:43):
are accomplishing for yourfamily.
I remember one of the artisansthat we partnered with went and
(21:03):
within six months she'd earnedenough money to buy a potato,
buy a piece of land and hire herfather to work that land.
And that was after she haddropped out of school in
elementary school because hecouldn't afford to send her.
So she was sending her youngerdaughters to school and she had
hired her father to work theland.
And you know, you could putnumbers on that, but just seeing
(21:25):
that pride in women whenthey're doing these things for
their family is what gives mestrength, strength and motivates
me.
So it's very exciting.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
I got two daughters of my own at home and I know
you've been talking about thesepartner artitians.
Artitians, excuse me artistsartisans I'll get it right and
weavers and and powerful women.
Now we're talking aboutdaughters, talking about wives,
but also about moms, right, andhow do the kids respond when
there's finally enough to eat?
Speaker 3 (21:58):
oh well, you know it's.
It's not just enough to eat,but when you have the ability to
dream, because if you don'thave the chance to go to school,
it Like I see this with womenthat come to us that can't read
and write because they never hada chance to go to school, and
knowing that your family wasn'table to, or that the father
(22:21):
decided to send the sons and notthe girls, that is something
that lives on in your heart fora long time getting that chance
because of their mom.
They're so proud of their momsand it's so exciting and it's we
.
We recently did this thing wherewe interviewed the daughters of
some of our artisans on thevideo and it was just these
(22:44):
little girls.
They have big dreams.
They want to be veterinarians,they want to be lawyers, they
want to be accountants.
You know, some of them alsowant to be artisans.
But, like the fact that they,they can dream they could be
whatever they want to be, youknow, is very, very exciting and
and it's really, it's reallyspecial to get to be part of
that.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
I wonder what that take your child to work day
looks like That'd be fun.
That looks that'd be amazing.
Right, you said something and Iwant to piggyback on Danny.
You know he's his two younggirls and and just the light of
their life in their householdand whenever they come and we
visit together and we stay, youknow we're together.
They're the light of my lifebecause I just love watching
(23:25):
them grow up and be who they are.
But when you started this, youweren't a mom, you were a
college sophomore.
Now you're a mom with twolittle ones of your own.
What have you learned from thisexperience and from these women
, and especially the children asyou just described?
That has really helped you.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
Well, it's been such a journey and such a blessing
for me to get to do this workand to get to be the strength
that I get from getting to be inpartnership with these women.
And you know, when I firststarted for me, it was so
personal because these wereother women and you know, we
grew up in different places andthere were, of course, lots of
(24:06):
things that were different, butalso, fundamentally, so many of
the challenges are the same andit's just a question of degree.
But now, having two daughtersmyself, it really takes it even
to another level, because youstart to realize.
So you know one thing when I'mtalking to people in the US
about the work we do, we'llshare a statistic that's really
(24:27):
hard, which is that in ruralGuatemala, two out of three
children go to bed hungry everynight, two out of three.
And I'll ask people to considerhow would you feel if you, if
you didn't have enough, youcouldn't give dinner to your
kids at night?
You know how could you imaginewhat that would be like?
And that was something that wasalways powerful to me.
But now, when I have my owndaughters, I'm like, oh my god,
(24:49):
like it's almost unimaginable.
Um, and so it makes you.
You know, like I think aboutlike when COVID hit that and all
the factories in Guatemala Cityclosed down for six months,
remittances dried up and thereis just famine throughout the
region.
And I remember I remember weare going to figure out how to
(25:11):
get as many families throughthis as possible and we, in
March 2020, the artisans came upwith this idea that cause they
were worried about us and andyou know our team in the U S,
cause at the time, it seemedlike it was like a New York city
issue.
They little did people know itwas coming for all of us, right?
And they're like can we makemasks to send people?
And so we started making masksand we ended up.
We ended up making it was likehalf a million masks that
(25:35):
provided so much work to allthese women and families at a
time when there was just noincome in the region.
And that's one thing I'm proudof and but, but that's what
that's, that's how I think now,like, when things get difficult,
you just remember how importantthis work is and how everyone's
counting on you and it's verypersonal, and I think that's
that's.
That's what makes it soimportant, is it's personal to
(25:56):
all of us, because we all.
Everyone has a mother right andeven if you don't have your own
kids, there are children youlove.
So that gives me a lot ofstrength.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
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Speaker 2 (26:40):
Based in North Carolina, Bear Brews partners
with craft breweries of allsizes.
Whether you're brewing 2,500barrels or 200,000, they bring
the technology to you.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
You want to test the waters.
They even offer small batchtrials to see if it's right for
you.
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Speaker 2 (26:55):
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Speaker 1 (27:02):
Cheers to that BareBrewscom that's B-A-R-E
Brewscom.
We're talking with Ruth Alvarezde Golioff, the executive
director and co-founder ofMercado Global, a Food for the
Poor partner, and a very proudpartner at that.
(27:24):
You can find their products onour gift catalog at
foodforthepoororg.
But this is our Mother's Dayepisode and specifically, we're
empowering moms.
And I'm going back to yourstory about when you brought
(27:46):
that first set of material toschool back in college and I'm
saying to myself I wonder ifsomebody is listening right now
and says you know what I want to.
I want to, I want to do another$5,000.
Imagine, imagine we get,imagine this story has inspired
somebody to say I'll put another$5,000.
Imagine, imagine we get.
Imagine this story has inspiredsomebody to say I'll put
another $5,000 and start anothergeneration of moms and you talk
about every time you mentionyou say, these partisan, you
know partners, partner artisans,or these women.
(28:08):
I'm always bringing it back tothe moms because I've seen it
and when, when I've been toGuatemala, and for many years,
and I you know, food for thePoor has 15 countries in which
we serve and I've been herealmost 15 years at Food for the
Poor and Guatemala has a veryspecial place, even before I met
my wife.
Guatemala had a very specialplace in my heart because of the
(28:31):
people, but because of thosemoms, because I saw in the eyes
and in the hearts of many ofthose moms, marie Jacobs Burke,
my mom, and so it's just amazingthat you're here turning around
the efforts of Mercado Globalto help uplift moms and doing it
in a way that's so dignifying.
(28:52):
And we were talking the otherday and I love this and told
everybody I'm gonna put this ona t-shirt.
You said this the other day andI really believe that you
believe it, because we see thefruits of it Until you believe
in yourself, everything seemsimpossible.
And I really believe that youhave endeavored to help these
(29:13):
women truly believe inthemselves so that these women,
these mothers, these familiesand communities, these partner
artisans, can truly say half amillion masks possible, another
line of of tote bags orcarry-alls, or wallets, or
(29:37):
necklace jewelry let's do it.
I love when you were talking tous the other day about those 17
inch necklaces.
Right, couldn't be 18.
No, couldn't be 16.
No.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
And throw those away, right, oh no.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
But when you, when you put together these group of
women that help them believe inthemselves, it was possible and
I commend you for that, Icommend everyone behind you for
that in Mercado Global.
So, as we wrap up, I reallywant to just kind of ask a very,
you know, big picture questionand I just have to know, we have
(30:16):
to know, what is the greatestdream for the next artesian
partner, artesian next woman,next mom who joins Mercado
Global.
What's the greatest dream,what's your greatest dream for
the next 21 years?
Speaker 3 (30:32):
my dream is that indigenous women in rural
Guatemala are seen for what theyare, which are some of the best
rural entrepreneurs in theworld.
They know that their daughtersare going to be able to go to
(30:54):
school, their kids are going tobe able to go to school, they're
going to be able to feed theirfamilies, that they can build
this bright future for theirfamilies right there in their
communities where they live inrural Guatemala, that that is
the new normal and that is ourgoal.
That is what we are working tothe future we are working to
build and it's exciting to getto partner with food for the
(31:15):
poor and all of your supportersto do that.
It's exciting to get to partner.
You know I'm in San Franciscoright now, as you know, meeting
with Levi Strauss and Stitch Fixand all these big retailers
that are partners that sourceproducts from our artisans, and
it's exciting to help thefashion industry be part of
helping these women build thisbetter future, be part of
helping these women build thisbetter future.
(31:35):
So we're going to scale thatand we want to reach everyone so
that this is the new normal.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
And that's beautiful, and I want to shift gears there
, where you just went tosomething fun.
Visibility is what you'retalking about there, and some of
these bags have been spotted infashion magazines and, like you
just said, they're working withbig brands that people know and
love and they've been seen onred carpets.
And with big brands that peopleknow and love and have been
seen on red carpets, and howdoes that feel to know that
something in that small villageis now on a global stage?
But I think, more importantly Iwas just thinking I was talking
(32:04):
to Paul about this earlier anddo these women know about these
moments?
Like, do they actually get toknow and what's their reaction?
Speaker 3 (32:12):
Yeah, well, we really try.
You know we have acommunity-based education team.
So all the women that work withus, they get a class every
other week in their communitieswhere we're helping them build
their businesses and we willbring, like when their pieces
are in vogue, when they're.
We have this wholecollaboration with Stuart
Weitzman.
We brought pictures of thesegorgeous heels and all these
(32:36):
pieces that Stuart Weitzman tooktheir fabric and made this
gorgeous shoe collection out oftheir fabric.
So we'll bring pictures.
We'll bring the magazines intothe community.
So we work hard for them tomake sure they know, because
they are so incredibly proudwhen they get to see that.
So we'll bring our design andretail partners down.
(32:58):
I remember the first time webrought people from Levi Strauss
into one of our communitiesthat they were literally clapped
into the community by theartisans.
They were just working on asix-month order for them of
26,000 totes and they just likeclapped the whole Levi's team
into their community.
They were so excited.
So work, we work to make surethat they all know.
(33:19):
Um, I wish we could bring allof our artisans up here to the
stores.
Like tomorrow we have out herein San Francisco.
We have an event with freepeople.
They're doing this big Mother'sDay event, shopping event
tomorrow, with Latin music andeverything, and I'm like, oh,
the artisans would love this,they would love seeing their
pieces in the store and howexcited everyone is for them.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
So we try to use try to use video and photography to
share that and there are anyhashtags or any campaigns you
got going on now that you wantto plug while we're here, yeah
oh well, just hashtag mercolagalball.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
If you believe in what we do, just posting,
talking about why it's importantto you to to buy products that
help build a better world forwomen, I think that that would
probably be my ask and to go toFood for the Poor's website to
see the artisan's product and tosupport the work that Food for
the Poor does with us and withother amazing groups throughout
(34:10):
Central America.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
I see Mercado Global sponsoring the Met Gala.
Mercado Global, paris FashionWeek.
Mercado Global runway show inMilan, italy.
I see it Every mall You're withLevi Strauss, every mall's got
a Levi's store.
I see that section or the frontdisplay Mercado Global.
It's happening because untilyou believe in yourself,
(34:35):
everything seems, seemsimpossible, and you believe in
these partner artisans.
Ruth, thank you for being apart of beyond the plate a food
for the poor podcast and justsharing your heart and sharing
the story of these partnerartisans, these women, these
mothers who desperately,desperately need a hand up, and
(34:55):
you're giving them that.
Thank you.
Oh, and, by the way, happyMother's Day.
Speaker 3 (34:59):
Oh, thank you so much .
Well, happy Mother's Day toyour wives and mothers as well.
Speaker 1 (35:05):
Thank you, ruth, thanks for listening.
We hope you felt the connection.
One plate, one story, one actof love Can change everything.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
Discover more stories and join our community at
foodfortheportorg slash podcast,and follow us too at
beyondtheplatepodcast.
Together, we can make adifference.
This is Beyond the Plate.
Welcome to Beyond the Plate a Food for the Poor
podcast.
I'm Paul Jacobs here.
Food opens the door to powerfulstories of hope, connection and
transformation.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
And I'm Daniel Patino .
Each episode we go beyond themeal to the heart of the people,
places and purpose behind it.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
This is Beyond the Plate, where every story starts
with what's on the table.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Welcome to Beyond the Plate a Food for the Poor
podcast, where we share storiesbehind the hands that heal, feed
and lift up communities acrossLatin America and the Caribbean.
I'm your host, Daniel Patino,and today we're looking at how
Mercado Global is turning bagsand bracelets into food.
And, trust me, you're going towant to hear this.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Trust me, you're going to want to hear this.
Hey, I'm Paul Jacobs, and we'reso grateful that you get to
share this episode with us,because what I really love is
the fact that we're going touplift mothers.
This is our Mother's Dayepisode.
That's why I dressed up alittle bit today.
Ah, I see you did.
Yeah, I mean we both did.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
I'm standing up straight.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
I'm sitting up straight.
We both did we both.
This is amazing.
We get an opportunity to trulyshow you what it means to uplift
moms and uplift women in a waythat you probably thought it was
just you know.
You know you're running themill online shopping, but beyond
that, there's a purpose in allof it, and so our guest is going
(01:17):
to really help us to understanda little bit deeper how
important that is right, that'sright.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
And Mercado Global, if you don't know, has worked
with Food for the Poor in thepast and we've been doing
miracles, we've been makingthings happen, folks, and we're
doing it through empoweringwomen.
Yeah, and that's why there's alittle correlation here Mother's
Day as well, because some ofthese women are mothers,
daughters, wives.
People are the pillar of theirhousehold and it's amazing what
(01:46):
mercado global is doing day inand day out, and the fact that
food for the poorest cross pathsalso.
I love it.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
It's it's like joining another party when
there's another party going on,but this is a party for good
yeah, no, exactly, and I've gotfor those of you that are
watching us on youtube, I've gotsome of these really cool
products that that, uh, mercadoglobal and these.
This is my favorite, becausethis is a very manly wallet it
is.
We'll talk more about it onFather's Day episode.
Okay, yeah, all right, that'sgood for now.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
But the bracelets, but the bracelets and the other.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Jewelry is again one handmade and two beautiful,
exactly, and you know it'sinteresting, danny One of the
things that was so striking whenwe were looking at, you know,
the purpose behind the creationand the really the legacy that
(02:33):
is being created by MercadoGlobal and this partnership with
Food for the Poor.
We came across this quote fromLydia Garcia, the director of
operations in Guatemala, and shesaid something that I think
really is well.
It's an eye opener to whyMercado Global exists and why
Food for the Poor has partneredfor these many years.
And so she said, talking aboutthe women right, the moms.
(02:55):
They're realizing that this isthe best way to overcome and
break the cycle of poverty.
But wait a minute.
I thought we were talking aboutselling these amazing products
online.
Yes, we're talking aboutbreaking cycles of poverty.
Well, it's beautiful, you know,it's interesting because I've
seen it firsthand.
We've seen it firsthand, that'sright.
You know, when food for thepoor, our partners like Mercado
(03:17):
Global, our beneficiaries andthey all come together, we have
something that happens in thissynergy right, delivering hope
in the most practical andlife-changing ways.
Case in point years ago andthis has still stayed with me to
this day we were in Guatemalaand we came upon this community.
(03:38):
It was a co-op of farmers.
But the unique part about thisco-op of farmers, they were all
indigenous guatemalan women, allof them in el jalú, this
farming community with thesemicro tunnels.
Imagine, right, you know, likeup north, where they've got
these little tunnels that hidetheir truck from the heavy snow.
We don't know anything aboutthat.
I don't know nothing aboutthose, but I've seen it on
(03:59):
television, put me there, put methere.
I've stayed at a motel six once,I don't know, but I must stay
there exactly.
But it's to do again to protectfrom the elements and protect
everyone and it's made out.
It's made within the cave rightor made within the mountain, in
the tunnel, in these mountains,these dry and arid areas where
literally they go through dryspells, where nothing grows,
(04:20):
it's dry and drier, dry anddrier, and they do drip
irrigation so that these farmingwomen who now own this land, in
this microtunnel farm and alsoget to sell in the market these
products Beautiful and this isthe cool part these products in
this El Jalou farm this I meanat the time it was four, it's
(04:43):
probably more now it was 450women in this project.
They have taken their productsfrom Guatemala, in El Jalou,
into marketplaces, retail food,retail food outlets, excuse me,
in North America, in Europe, inAsia.
They named some of these bigbox stores and I was just like,
wow, you mean, these women areselling me in South Florida, in
(05:08):
Europe, in Asia, all of theseproducts and I probably don't
even realize when I'm buyingthis produce, I'm buying from
these women in their in, intheir endeavors.
And here's the best part Watchthis.
This is the really.
There's more yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
No, no, no.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
There's more.
Yeah, what was really cool wasthe fact that these women had
perfected this drip irrigationin this, this, this.
You know this market so much,this technology, so they had
perfected it so well.
They were consulting otherfarmers in dubai, took these
indigenous women all the way tothe Middle East so that they
(05:44):
could affect change in Dubai.
So, but here's the realitycheck.
Right, let's do the numbers.
In the total population ofCentral America, there's about
50 million people.
It's estimated somewherebetween 10 to 20% of Central
America's population areindigenous and in Guatemala,
(06:06):
just in Guatemala alone, it's 40to 45%, almost half of
Guatemalans from indigenousbackground.
So you can just imagine themagnitude of women in this
percentage of population that donot have these opportunities
and why this partnership andothers like it, helping women
(06:27):
like this is so vitallyimportant.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
And I love that.
Mercado Global has seensomething.
They've seen the diamond in therough, right, when it is.
If we can change that numberfor good, imagine the
possibilities not only for womenbut for just families in whole,
just for a brighter future,just for better beginnings.
But before we dive in, I wouldlike to introduce someone whose
(06:52):
vision has changed thousands oflives, Some of the lives Paul
and I have been kind of talkingabout here this afternoon.
Here Now, Ruth Alvarez de Goliais the co-founder and executive
director of Mercado Global.
What started as a smallnonprofit working with just a
handful of women artisans inGuatemala has become a powerful
force in social enterprise.
Now they're connectingrulemakers with global markets
(07:15):
and that's creating a lastingchange, one job at a time.
And she's been honored by Yale,recognized by Newsweek as one
of the 15 people who makeAmerica great, and named one of
the world's top emerging socialentrepreneurs.
But what stands out most is herheart and the way she sees
dignity, not just in what's made, but in who makes it.
(07:37):
Ruth, thank you for joining usand let's start at the beginning
, please.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Thank you so much for having me here today.
It's such an honor.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
I love this, this designation 15 people who are
making America great from ruralGuatemala.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
This is great, and unfortunately there's only 15.
And I hope there's more nextyear, that's it.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
So you know we're talking to you in San Francisco
visiting your 99 year oldgrandmother.
We're just amazed that you havethis opportunity to spend with
her.
And, of course, how awesome isthis?
Your your visit coincides withthis Mother's Day episode of
Beyond the Plate.
We're so grateful to have you.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Oh, thank you so much .
It's very special.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
You know, take us back, Ruth, to the beginning.
You know you're an Ivy Leaguecollege sophomore and you've got
a project and you decide LatinAmerica and women as the basis
for the beginnings of what isnow Mercado Global.
Some 21 years later, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Well, you know, I was so fortunate.
I had a fellowship to go workwith an association of rural
communities over the summerafter my sophomore year, and I
had no plans to start anything,but I just, I had never felt so
useful in my entire life to getto be there and work and be in
partnership with these amazingwomen who were fighters.
(09:08):
You know, most of them hadnever had the chance to go to
school, they couldn't read andwrite.
A lot of these women had losttheir husbands during the Civil
War, during massacres thatoccurred, but they were fighting
.
There was nothing they wantedmore than to provide a better
future for their kids.
And, you know, we triedeverything.
Tried, you know, tried to builda local market, all sorts of
(09:31):
things.
But what they really neededmore than anything was just
access to the internationalmarket, because they were these
amazing weavers and it startedjust as a favor to them.
This was back in 2004.
Well, actually that was 2002before it was kind of exciting
to be a social entrepreneur.
I remember going back to Yaleand setting up on campus and
(09:52):
these women had asked me, as afavor to them, to take their
artesanias and sell themwherever I came from, as they
put it, and I remember settingit up and it was not considered
very prestigious to be sellingthings, but I was like this is
the most important thing that Icould do, and that first weekend
we sold $5,000 in product andit sent 26 little girls to
(10:12):
elementary school for a year.
And that's where it started andit was such a privilege to get
to be in partnership with theseamazing women and to be part of
partnering with them to create abetter lives for their families
.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
What did that do for you?
Seeing the interest on thisside of the world and the need
being met for those familiesthat you just visited in
Guatemala?
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Yeah, Well, you know, it really reminded me of a
couple of things.
So one is you know, 10% ofGuatemalans actually live in the
US.
So these are our neighbors andwe're so connected in so many
ways, like it or not, we are allconnected.
God, this could have been me,this could have been my sister,
(11:04):
it could have been my mom thatcouldn't get education growing
up in Guatemala, and it wasreally exciting to see that
people wanted their products andpeople wanted to help.
You know who doesn't want tohelp a mom send her kids to
school, like everybody wantsthat.
And if you also could buy anamazing scarf or clutch or tote
while you're doing it, I meanwhat a win-win, right Right.
(11:25):
Or tote while you're doing it,I mean what a win-win, right
Right.
So I think an energy isunleashed when you bring
together people that otherwisenever would have met, would
never have connected.
And so to bring togetherconsumers in the US, women that
want to have an impact throughtheir purchasing power, and
makers in Central America whomake these gorgeous pieces, it
really unleashes the power andit brings people together to
(11:47):
build the kind of world that wewant all of our children to grow
up in.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
So I'm biased here because I'm part of the 10% or
at least my household is my wifeis from Guatemala.
That's right, and you know, andyou know, before I married Mari
Garamond.
You know, one of the thingsthat was striking to me in all
the years that I traveled backand forth to Guatemala was the
level of quality and the levelof just just the creativity in
(12:15):
some of the in the marketplace,in the, whether it was bags and
it was jewelry, whatever.
It was so amazing.
And I always said to myselfthis is like you, this has to be
in stores across the UnitedStates because it's so amazing.
And I always said to myselfthis is like you, this has to be
in stores across the UnitedStates because it's so beautiful
.
I would always carry a littleextra stuff back.
I mean, I've got so much in myoffice and home and this is even
(12:36):
before I got married, right,but, um, I just you know the
fact that you, you had thisexperience and these, these
women, and you made thatconnection back here, and then
all of a sudden, you start tobuild this partner artesian
system.
I mean, I can't explain itother than that, because what
(12:58):
was interesting was that youdon't call them poor.
I haven't heard the word.
You know the poor indigenouswomen, when I read everything
about Mercado Global.
These are partner artisans.
Why is that?
That's good.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
Because these women are incredibly inspirational.
They are fighters and you knowwhat we do is hard.
You know we with Food for thePoor support we are able to
provide training, technicaltraining and weaving and sewing
to master their craft andbusiness development support,
self-esteem training, financialliteracy, how to build your
(13:33):
business.
But you know, for women who aregoing out and trying to figure
out how are they going to feedtheir families that day, you
know to put in the time tobenefit from those trainings is
a big thing.
A lot of these women live incommunities that might be 10
hours away from our offices andthey're traveling to pick up
materials and deliver finishedgoods and we work with co-ops so
(13:57):
that they can do that together.
Right, but you know it's hardwork.
You know, if you've ever hadeducation learning how to build
a business, it's's a lot of work.
So to us, they are our partners, our core values, our
partnership, authenticity andrespect, and they are partners
we, and it's a privilege for usto get to partner with these
women to do this work and tobuild this world together, and
(14:21):
so that's how we think of ourpartner artisans we're talking
with rufal.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
for us, the goalie, the co-founder and executive
director of Mercado Global, andI'm going to piggyback on what
you just said there.
Let's talk about power ofpartnership, and Mercado Global
and Food for the Poor areworking together, and what makes
that collaboration really work.
What's something that you'veseen that proves that?
Speaker 3 (14:43):
Well, I'm so grateful to get to count Food for the
Poor as one of our partners.
We're so grateful for it, and Ilove that the staff at Food for
the Poor have this amazingexpertise on how to support
community development.
And getting the chance to workwith Food for the Poor's
in-country directors inGuatemala and Honduras and in
(15:04):
other regions and to benefitfrom the knowledge that the team
has about the region anddifferent projects they've
funded is really fantastic.
And the other thing I would sayis you know, a sad little truth
in the nonprofit world issometimes the organizations that
are doing the best work youhave your head down.
You're doing the great work.
Like our team is all indigenouswomen on the ground in
(15:27):
Guatemala working with ourpartner communities doing that
good work, which means we don'thave this big staff in the US
able to fundraise to make thatwork possible, right, and so to
have a partner that's connectedto this network that can share
exactly what you're doing rightnow sharing, you know, I'm
thinking about people who listento this podcast who might not
otherwise have known what we'redoing if it wasn't for you guys.
(15:48):
That is incredibly powerful andwe're able to get good work
done because we have greatpartnerships so that together we
can get it done.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
And I love that that same path has crossed, has made
us cross each other here andagain.
We're talking with RuthAlvarez-Golia, co-founder and
executive director of MercadoGlobal All right.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
So I'm a numbers guy and I want to do the numbers
here we're talking severalprojects going back more than
seven years that have helpedeither Mercado Global provide
training or equipment andmaterials to start changing
lives.
This is the partnership withFood for the Poor and Mercado
Global.
And let me let me run down somesome numbers here.
Delivered 70 industrial sewingmachines.
(16:30):
Delivered 15 over lock machines.
For those of you that knowsewing, I'm sure you are
impressed.
I'm impressed by the numbers Idon't know.
I don't know if I can order anoverlock on amazon, but that's
another story for another day Ahundred of them.
Maybe that's what I'll get frommom for Mother's Day.
You can only buy them in bulk.
You can only buy them in bulk.
Seven floor looms.
(16:52):
Now I know what a loom is andI've seen how big.
I've actually been in a homewhere a family had their entire
second little house, which isone loom.
I mean this thing's massive,right, we're talking about seven
(17:12):
floor looms, 173 advancedsewing toolkits, 173 sets of
regular training materials, 87floor loom weaving material sets
, 181 detailed trainingmaterials, technical sewing
training, technical floor loomtraining, community-based
education and trainers Wi-Fi.
Oh well, there you go.
Yeah, I mean, you know we gotto communicate, right, I got to
tell.
And trainers Wi-Fi.
Okay, well, there you go.
Yeah, I mean, you know we gotto communicate, right, I got to
tell people about this andgenerators, yeah, and you know
what's also been deliveredCountless women with hope for a
(17:38):
future.
Countless children whose mothersand let's do that let's kind of
look at those numbers reallyquick.
You're talking about more thana third of these partner
artisans that may now have bankaccounts.
Three quarters of these women,more than 75% are enrolling
(18:07):
their children in schools.
This is again I want to, youknow.
I want to talk about why thisis much more than just selling
these, and they are beautifulproducts.
Yes, this is really changing ageneration.
You are establishing an entiregeneration on a completely
different level through whatthey do best.
But I love the fact that youstart at the basis, which is
(18:30):
self-esteem, it's leadership,it's you know, it's giving them
the foundations, and then westart talking about the skill
sets of sewing and all of theseother things.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
Yeah, that's right.
Well, you know, I wanted toshare it too.
Those numbers you read, thoseare the numbers for this year.
That's even not cumulative withall the years that Food for the
Poor supported us.
So it's exciting.
It's exciting what we're ableto accomplish together, wow.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
And I wanted to share a quick quote with you here,
and there's a quote we've heardaround here Food for the poor
and I'm pretty sure it echoessometimes at Mercado Global.
Before I walked to the dump forscraps, now I walk to my sewing
machine.
What comes up for you when youhear that now?
Speaker 3 (19:18):
That the power to earn your own dollar changes
your life, totally changes yourlife.
There's nothing more importantin terms of being able to map
out the future you want foryourself, your family and your
kids, and I think that's what'sso exciting.
You know and I know Food forthe Poor knows this very well
(19:39):
that one of the most effectiveways to break the cycle of
poverty is just help the mom getan income stream, because when
moms have their income stream,we know that 90 cents of every
dollar goes straight to thosekids getting them enough to eat,
getting them into school,making sure that they're living
in a safe home environment, andthere's just nothing else.
(20:01):
That is as effective.
Study after study is shown, andfor most women, when we're
partnering with them, this isreally the first time they're
earning their own income, andthere's so many ways to measure
that.
So we're all about KPIs and keyperformance indicators and
social impact assessments andtracking the numbers, but I
(20:21):
think for me, the way I feel andinternalize our impact is that
you know, when women first cometo us to partner and to ask for
help building a communitycooperative in their community,
a lot of those women just saythat once they've started in the
eyes and to holding yourselfwith pride, telling people that
all your daughters are in school, telling people about what you
(20:43):
are accomplishing for yourfamily.
I remember one of the artisansthat we partnered with went and
(21:03):
within six months she'd earnedenough money to buy a potato,
buy a piece of land and hire herfather to work that land.
And that was after she haddropped out of school in
elementary school because hecouldn't afford to send her.
So she was sending her youngerdaughters to school and she had
hired her father to work theland.
And you know, you could putnumbers on that, but just seeing
(21:25):
that pride in women whenthey're doing these things for
their family is what gives mestrength, strength and motivates
me.
So it's very exciting.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
I got two daughters of my own at home and I know
you've been talking about thesepartner artitians.
Artitians, excuse me artistsartisans I'll get it right and
weavers and and powerful women.
Now we're talking aboutdaughters, talking about wives,
but also about moms, right, andhow do the kids respond when
there's finally enough to eat?
Speaker 3 (21:58):
oh well, you know it's.
It's not just enough to eat,but when you have the ability to
dream, because if you don'thave the chance to go to school,
it Like I see this with womenthat come to us that can't read
and write because they never hada chance to go to school, and
knowing that your family wasn'table to, or that the father
(22:21):
decided to send the sons and notthe girls, that is something
that lives on in your heart fora long time getting that chance
because of their mom.
They're so proud of their momsand it's so exciting and it's we
.
We recently did this thing wherewe interviewed the daughters of
some of our artisans on thevideo and it was just these
(22:44):
little girls.
They have big dreams.
They want to be veterinarians,they want to be lawyers, they
want to be accountants.
You know, some of them alsowant to be artisans.
But, like the fact that they,they can dream they could be
whatever they want to be, youknow, is very, very exciting and
and it's really, it's reallyspecial to get to be part of
that.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
I wonder what that take your child to work day
looks like That'd be fun.
That looks that'd be amazing.
Right, you said something and Iwant to piggyback on Danny.
You know he's his two younggirls and and just the light of
their life in their householdand whenever they come and we
visit together and we stay, youknow we're together.
They're the light of my lifebecause I just love watching
(23:25):
them grow up and be who they are.
But when you started this, youweren't a mom, you were a
college sophomore.
Now you're a mom with twolittle ones of your own.
What have you learned from thisexperience and from these women
, and especially the children asyou just described?
That has really helped you.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
Well, it's been such a journey and such a blessing
for me to get to do this workand to get to be the strength
that I get from getting to be inpartnership with these women.
And you know, when I firststarted for me, it was so
personal because these wereother women and you know, we
grew up in different places andthere were, of course, lots of
(24:06):
things that were different, butalso, fundamentally, so many of
the challenges are the same andit's just a question of degree.
But now, having two daughtersmyself, it really takes it even
to another level, because youstart to realize.
So you know one thing when I'mtalking to people in the US
about the work we do, we'llshare a statistic that's really
(24:27):
hard, which is that in ruralGuatemala, two out of three
children go to bed hungry everynight, two out of three.
And I'll ask people to considerhow would you feel if you, if
you didn't have enough, youcouldn't give dinner to your
kids at night?
You know how could you imaginewhat that would be like?
And that was something that wasalways powerful to me.
But now, when I have my owndaughters, I'm like, oh my god,
(24:49):
like it's almost unimaginable.
Um, and so it makes you.
You know, like I think aboutlike when COVID hit that and all
the factories in Guatemala Cityclosed down for six months,
remittances dried up and thereis just famine throughout the
region.
And I remember I remember weare going to figure out how to
(25:11):
get as many families throughthis as possible and we, in
March 2020, the artisans came upwith this idea that cause they
were worried about us and andyou know our team in the U S,
cause at the time, it seemedlike it was like a New York city
issue.
They little did people know itwas coming for all of us, right?
And they're like can we makemasks to send people?
And so we started making masksand we ended up.
We ended up making it was likehalf a million masks that
(25:35):
provided so much work to allthese women and families at a
time when there was just noincome in the region.
And that's one thing I'm proudof and but, but that's what
that's, that's how I think now,like, when things get difficult,
you just remember how importantthis work is and how everyone's
counting on you and it's verypersonal, and I think that's
that's.
That's what makes it soimportant, is it's personal to
(25:56):
all of us, because we all.
Everyone has a mother right andeven if you don't have your own
kids, there are children youlove.
So that gives me a lot ofstrength.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
Picture this you're crafting an amazing beer, but
stepping into the non-alcoholicmarket feels impossible, too
expensive, too risky soundfamiliar.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
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Speaker 2 (26:24):
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A whole new market, and here'sthe kicker.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
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can use to create seltzers,cocktails and more products.
More opportunities, morerevenue.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Based in North Carolina, Bear Brews partners
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Whether you're brewing 2,500barrels or 200,000, they bring
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Speaker 1 (26:49):
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They even offer small batchtrials to see if it's right for
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Speaker 2 (26:55):
So why wait?
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Speaker 1 (27:02):
Cheers to that BareBrewscom that's B-A-R-E
Brewscom.
We're talking with Ruth Alvarezde Golioff, the executive
director and co-founder ofMercado Global, a Food for the
Poor partner, and a very proudpartner at that.
(27:24):
You can find their products onour gift catalog at
foodforthepoororg.
But this is our Mother's Dayepisode and specifically, we're
empowering moms.
And I'm going back to yourstory about when you brought
(27:46):
that first set of material toschool back in college and I'm
saying to myself I wonder ifsomebody is listening right now
and says you know what I want to.
I want to, I want to do another$5,000.
Imagine, imagine we get,imagine this story has inspired
somebody to say I'll put another$5,000.
Imagine, imagine we get.
Imagine this story has inspiredsomebody to say I'll put
another $5,000 and start anothergeneration of moms and you talk
about every time you mentionyou say, these partisan, you
know partners, partner artisans,or these women.
(28:08):
I'm always bringing it back tothe moms because I've seen it
and when, when I've been toGuatemala, and for many years,
and I you know, food for thePoor has 15 countries in which
we serve and I've been herealmost 15 years at Food for the
Poor and Guatemala has a veryspecial place, even before I met
my wife.
Guatemala had a very specialplace in my heart because of the
(28:31):
people, but because of thosemoms, because I saw in the eyes
and in the hearts of many ofthose moms, marie Jacobs Burke,
my mom, and so it's just amazingthat you're here turning around
the efforts of Mercado Globalto help uplift moms and doing it
in a way that's so dignifying.
(28:52):
And we were talking the otherday and I love this and told
everybody I'm gonna put this ona t-shirt.
You said this the other day andI really believe that you
believe it, because we see thefruits of it Until you believe
in yourself, everything seemsimpossible.
And I really believe that youhave endeavored to help these
(29:13):
women truly believe inthemselves so that these women,
these mothers, these familiesand communities, these partner
artisans, can truly say half amillion masks possible, another
line of of tote bags orcarry-alls, or wallets, or
(29:37):
necklace jewelry let's do it.
I love when you were talking tous the other day about those 17
inch necklaces.
Right, couldn't be 18.
No, couldn't be 16.
No.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
And throw those away, right, oh no.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
But when you, when you put together these group of
women that help them believe inthemselves, it was possible and
I commend you for that, Icommend everyone behind you for
that in Mercado Global.
So, as we wrap up, I reallywant to just kind of ask a very,
you know, big picture questionand I just have to know, we have
(30:16):
to know, what is the greatestdream for the next artesian
partner, artesian next woman,next mom who joins Mercado
Global.
What's the greatest dream,what's your greatest dream for
the next 21 years?
Speaker 3 (30:32):
my dream is that indigenous women in rural
Guatemala are seen for what theyare, which are some of the best
rural entrepreneurs in theworld.
They know that their daughtersare going to be able to go to
(30:54):
school, their kids are going tobe able to go to school, they're
going to be able to feed theirfamilies, that they can build
this bright future for theirfamilies right there in their
communities where they live inrural Guatemala, that that is
the new normal and that is ourgoal.
That is what we are working tothe future we are working to
build and it's exciting to getto partner with food for the
(31:15):
poor and all of your supportersto do that.
It's exciting to get to partner.
You know I'm in San Franciscoright now, as you know, meeting
with Levi Strauss and Stitch Fixand all these big retailers
that are partners that sourceproducts from our artisans, and
it's exciting to help thefashion industry be part of
helping these women build thisbetter future, be part of
helping these women build thisbetter future.
(31:35):
So we're going to scale thatand we want to reach everyone so
that this is the new normal.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
And that's beautiful, and I want to shift gears there
, where you just went tosomething fun.
Visibility is what you'retalking about there, and some of
these bags have been spotted infashion magazines and, like you
just said, they're working withbig brands that people know and
love and they've been seen onred carpets.
And with big brands that peopleknow and love and have been
seen on red carpets, and howdoes that feel to know that
something in that small villageis now on a global stage?
But I think, more importantly Iwas just thinking I was talking
(32:04):
to Paul about this earlier anddo these women know about these
moments?
Like, do they actually get toknow and what's their reaction?
Speaker 3 (32:12):
Yeah, well, we really try.
You know we have acommunity-based education team.
So all the women that work withus, they get a class every
other week in their communitieswhere we're helping them build
their businesses and we willbring, like when their pieces
are in vogue, when they're.
We have this wholecollaboration with Stuart
Weitzman.
We brought pictures of thesegorgeous heels and all these
(32:36):
pieces that Stuart Weitzman tooktheir fabric and made this
gorgeous shoe collection out oftheir fabric.
So we'll bring pictures.
We'll bring the magazines intothe community.
So we work hard for them tomake sure they know, because
they are so incredibly proudwhen they get to see that.
So we'll bring our design andretail partners down.
(32:58):
I remember the first time webrought people from Levi Strauss
into one of our communitiesthat they were literally clapped
into the community by theartisans.
They were just working on asix-month order for them of
26,000 totes and they just likeclapped the whole Levi's team
into their community.
They were so excited.
So work, we work to make surethat they all know.
(33:19):
Um, I wish we could bring allof our artisans up here to the
stores.
Like tomorrow we have out herein San Francisco.
We have an event with freepeople.
They're doing this big Mother'sDay event, shopping event
tomorrow, with Latin music andeverything, and I'm like, oh,
the artisans would love this,they would love seeing their
pieces in the store and howexcited everyone is for them.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
So we try to use try to use video and photography to
share that and there are anyhashtags or any campaigns you
got going on now that you wantto plug while we're here, yeah
oh well, just hashtag mercolagalball.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
If you believe in what we do, just posting,
talking about why it's importantto you to to buy products that
help build a better world forwomen, I think that that would
probably be my ask and to go toFood for the Poor's website to
see the artisan's product and tosupport the work that Food for
the Poor does with us and withother amazing groups throughout
(34:10):
Central America.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
I see Mercado Global sponsoring the Met Gala.
Mercado Global, paris FashionWeek.
Mercado Global runway show inMilan, italy.
I see it Every mall You're withLevi Strauss, every mall's got
a Levi's store.
I see that section or the frontdisplay Mercado Global.
It's happening because untilyou believe in yourself,
(34:35):
everything seems, seemsimpossible, and you believe in
these partner artisans.
Ruth, thank you for being apart of beyond the plate a food
for the poor podcast and justsharing your heart and sharing
the story of these partnerartisans, these women, these
mothers who desperately,desperately need a hand up, and
(34:55):
you're giving them that.
Thank you.
Oh, and, by the way, happyMother's Day.
Speaker 3 (34:59):
Oh, thank you so much .
Well, happy Mother's Day toyour wives and mothers as well.
Speaker 1 (35:05):
Thank you, ruth, thanks for listening.
We hope you felt the connection.
One plate, one story, one actof love Can change everything.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
Discover more stories and join our community at
foodfortheportorg slash podcast,and follow us too at
beyondtheplatepodcast.
Together, we can make adifference.
This is Beyond the Plate.
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