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2 0 SNACKING NEWS June 2018 civilians," says author Giles Kepel in "Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam." Gov- ernment forces massacred entire neigh- borhoods and villages. Islamist rebels targeted journalists, murdering more than 70, and foreigners like Doug, killing more than a hundred. Some of the war's shock- ing horrors directly affected people that Doug knew and had come to love. "It was the most dangerous place that the Americans had an embassy in at that time. We couldn't leave the compound without heavily armed security escorts," he says. "Algeria was a very bad experi- ence for me. Leaving Algeria, I knew I would resign from the diplomatic service." Over time spent with the calm, patient Lotfi in his studio, Doug began to regain himself. Driven by his own need for useful work, Doug began to discuss a business idea with Lotfi. What if, he said, Lotfi ran a ceramics studio in Tunisia and Doug opened a U.S. distribution system to mar- ket the studio's work? Le Souk was born. Doug settled in Seattle, Washington, when he returned to the U.S. The city has a busy commercial port, which Le Souk needed, but its eye-popping scenery, its access to outdoor activities and the blues and greens of its landscape were also a welcome con- trast to the dusty brown landscapes of the North Africa he'd roamed for many years. He waited while Lotfi and the new stu- dio in Nabeul — a small city on a sheltered portion of the Mediterranean coast about an hour southeast of the capital, Tunis — worked to produce enough earthenware for a first shipment to the U.S. It took the studio six months to fill that first 20-foot container, which held about 8,000 pieces. "Even while I was there at first, I could see that the ceramics industry was collaps- ing," Doug says today. He knew that Nabeul had been famous for its pottery for millennia, and it saddened him to see the industry in a race to the bottom as it tried to compete with cheap Chinese imports, he says. Nabeul (pronounced NAH-bull) is a city of ceramicists, where entire families have been potters and painters for generations, dating back to before the birth of Christ. These were the people that Doug was de- termined to help — but not by charity. In his development work in Mauritania, he had seen that flinging money at a prob- lem — as the U.S. had done in building wells and schools and suchlike — is not the solution. He had come to believe that lasting change must come from within a people. In his work with the studio, he re- alized, he could help by providing a plat- form from which the Tunisian artisans could improve their own lives with work that is real, that bestows the dignity, re- spect and durable joy that the human heart craves. From its beginnings, Le Souk has been grounded in fair trade principles. The Nabeul studio is clean and well lit, with ra- dios playing Arabic pop music or prayer dotted around the studio. Some employees prefer to use ear buds to listen to their own programming, something not allowed in most studios. There are changing rooms, and a lunchroom. Men and women work side by side, and many decisions affecting its employees are made by consensus. Its two midlevel managers, Mahasen and Zahra, are women, and Olfa is the first woman to head a production team. Tunisia's laws had long prevented third- party inspectors of companies and their products. Then, after the Tunisian uprising in January, 2011, the first of the demo- cratic revolts that have become known as "the Arab Spring," those laws changed, and the door opened for Le Souk and its products to get Fair Trade certification. There was a problem, however. "For a long time, we were all a bit skep- tical of the concept of an outside agency coming in to 'deem' us fair trade," Doug says. "I bought into the Tunisian perspec- tive of this view, which stems from colo- nialism and being dominated by the West, by France and the U.S. "The issue for us was that we were prac- ticing a lot of fair trade elements on our own, without anyone telling us how or in- specting us. It struck us as arrogant that only with a European or American inspec- tion process could we be considered fair trade," he says. "So for a long time, we didn't really concern ourselves with this inspection." Enter Cristiano Calvi, an Italian from Genoa who worked for a European fair trade organization. Cristiano came to Nabeul in 2014 to visit ceramics studios, but the working conditions he found at other studios appalled him. Le Souk's practices, on the other hand, delighted him. "He explained the benefits of formally joining the World Fair Trade Organization, and presented a larger argument about why we should be a part of this process," says Doug. "So we agreed, although it did take a lot of internal discussions to get every- one on board. We're in the final paperwork stages now." The board of directors of Cristiano's company, La Bottega Solidale, was so impressed by Le Souk's business practices that it directed him to set up a sales agency, Goodlink, expressly to rep- resent Le Souk in the European Union. At about the same time that Cristiano per- suaded Le Souk to pursue fair trade certi- fication, Globe In, an American online retailer that declares its mission to be "de- livering joy by empowering and connect- ing remarkable, remote artisans to mindful consumers," picked up Le Souk's prod- ucts. "One of my colleagues originally got in touch with Le Souk," says Liza Moiseeva, co-Founder of Globe In, based in Red- wood City, California. "We first began working with Le Souk in 2015, and they're one of our best producers. Their 'Malika' mug, first offered in our 'Cozy' box in Oc- tober of 2015, is our best seller." Globe In has operated on fair trade prin- ciples since its founding, Liza says. "It's very important for Le Souk, as well, to be certified." Some Globe In customers have com- plained that the Le Souk products aren't what they say they are. "This couldn't pos- sibly have been hand painted," grumbles one review (It was.). "The design is drawn on with black Magic Marker," sniffs an- other (It wasn't.). "It's really a compliment to the arti- sans," says Liza, adding that Globe In's customer service staff refers complainers to Le Souk's website, www.lesoukce- ramique.com, and to its YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/user/lesoukceramique, which hosts more than two dozen videos showing the studio's artisans producing its designs. Globe In sold about 10,000 pieces of Le Souk's in the last year alone, including 5,000 'Malika' mugs, Liza says. One might think sales of that size would make Le Souk a big player in the ceramics segment, but Doug demurs. "I liken our size to a pimple on the rear end of a mosquito," he says. "I get these spam emails from Chi- nese factories featuring their closeouts with leftover inventory. Ten thousand or 20,000 pieces to them is 'leftovers.' To us, it's a stunning success of a new order." He notes that fewer than half the states in the U.S. have a Le Souk retailer, which is one reason why he's renewing his focus on growth in the U.S. Le Souk's new World Fair Trade Organization certifica- tion will mean more sales in Europe, of course, but it's relationships with inde- pendent brick-and-mortar U.S. stores like Now You're Cooking that he wants to im- prove. "We want to extend the same fair trade principles to our retailers that we ex- tend to our employees," he says. That's why Le Souk is closing out sales through giant online retailers like Amazon and Overstock this year. SNACKING NEWS Le Souk's Tunisian studio is bright and clean, a pleasant place to work. In the Nabeul studio, Doug checks the results of an adjustment in kiln timing after the switch to stoneware. The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others. — Albert Schweitzer, theologian and humanitarian These men ask for just the same thing, fairness, and fairness only. This, so far as is in my power, they, and all others, shall have. — Abraham Lincoln Making choices that improve things for all of us on the planet is an act of compassion, a simple act we can do any time we go shopping. — Daniel Goleman, author of "Emotional Intelligence" Le Souk Céramique Continued from Page 19

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