MANKATO — The avocado-stuffed cherry tomatoes and organic coffee were good. But the real crowd pleasers weren’t exactly on the menu.

An unusual tour made a stop in Mankato Tuesday. Two women from Peru, where annual incomes can be less than your gas bill, told stories of how they overcame impoverishment with the help of fair trade.

It’s a buzz word, these days, “fair trade.” Essentially it means buying products in which a larger percentage of the money you pay gets back to the farmer or artisan responsible for their existence.

Two such artisans told a packed room full of listeners at Christ the King Church how their lives have been changed. Along with them were representatives from U.S.-based groups trying to help people in countries such as Peru earn more for their hard work, and to get Americans to make the choice to purchase those products.

Getting the latter to happen, they say, is easier when Americans hear the stories directly from farmers and artisans.

Aydee Riveros Guteriez went to work at a young age. She signed a contract to knit for a company, but after handing over her work, they refused to pay. She insisted on payment, but even the insistence of a strong-willed woman isn’t enough to get a company to change its mind.

Eventually she was approached by a group that was forming to work with a fair trade group. She joined, and never left. What started as a few women now has grown to 46.

There are still obstacles. Men in her village at first were not keen on women grouping and gaining power. Eventually they came around on the idea. Because of the money she’s earned, she’s been able to buy and furnish a home for her family.

“Before I was very timid,” she told those gathered. “(Fair trade) taught me to value myself and to speak out, and here I am today.”

Evangelina Pizarro left home when she was 14 to go live with her aunt in Lima, Peru. But when her aunt failed to pay her for her work, she left and joined a friend who was working in a jewelry factory.

She worked six days per week and earned $150 per month. And when the factory became prosperous and hired more workers, the factory paid the workers less. Pizarro left and tried being an independent jewelry maker, but that didn’t work. She wound up back at that factory making about $65 per month.

Then one day she heard about the fair trade network and brought some samples to Bridge of Hope, an organization that helps farmers and artisans organize as cooperatives.

She and a few others formed a small group that eventually would seek training in jewelry making. Bridge of Hope also trained them in marketing and other areas to enhance their ability to earn money.

“It’s thanks to fair trade that we’re here today,” she said.

She urged the group to purchase fair trade food and items. And she said that, when you buy a piece of jewelry or handbag, there’s a story behind it.

“You’re carrying someone with you,” she said. “Someone like me.”

At Christ the King, Mary Lou Haldorson has been trying to turn the parish into a fair trade one — which would affect all the food it buys and products it uses.

“We want fair trade to be a little more than just coffee on Sunday,” she said.

Yochi Zakai, of Green American, a group that promotes fair trade and monitors its status by means of various publications, urged those in attendance to push to make Mankato the first fair trade community in the state.

Since 2007, 10 cities have convinced enough merchants to work with fair trade that they’ve been designated “Fair Trade Towns.”

Locally, a movement is afoot to have Mankato declared a fair trade town 2010. If you’re interested in joining or learning more about the effort, call Paul or Arlene Renshaw at 387-5329.