Fair Trade & Social Justice
OCA's New Fair World Project
The Organic Consumers Association launched the Fair World Project (FWP) in September 2010 to promote fair trade in commerce, especially in organic production systems in developing countries as well as at home, and to protect the term "fair trade" from dilution and misuse for mere PR purposes. FWP fills the critical need for a watchdog of misleading fair trade claims, and a cheerleader for dedicated fair trade mission-driven companies.
News
May 26, 2006
Posted by David Roberts at 5:23 PM on 26 May 2006
Did you know that foodie writer Michael Pollan (look for my interview on Tuesday!) has a blog? Probably not, because it's hidden behind the cursed NYT Select subscription wall. Too bad -- it's a great blog, and deserves wider readership.
The latest entry reviews arguments against corn ethanol that will be familiar to readers of this blog, and concludes with this:
So why the stampede to make ethanol from corn? Because we have so much of it, and such a powerful lobby promoting its consumption. Ethanol is just Read more
Did you know that foodie writer Michael Pollan (look for my interview on Tuesday!) has a blog? Probably not, because it's hidden behind the cursed NYT Select subscription wall. Too bad -- it's a great blog, and deserves wider readership.
The latest entry reviews arguments against corn ethanol that will be familiar to readers of this blog, and concludes with this:
So why the stampede to make ethanol from corn? Because we have so much of it, and such a powerful lobby promoting its consumption. Ethanol is just Read more
News
May 24, 2006
Sometimes you just have to let the possibility breathe.
Sometimes you just have to allow that something grand and good and healthy might actually be born from the bowels of the dank and ravenous megacorporate world, like flowers from a dung heap, like vodka from old potatoes, even if it comes right alongside the nastiest, most abusive federal environmental policy you will see in your lifetime.
Take Wal-Mart, the most famously offensive, town-destroying, junk-purveying, labor-abusing, sweatshop-supporting, American-job-killing, soul-numbing, seizure-inducing, hope- Read more
Sometimes you just have to allow that something grand and good and healthy might actually be born from the bowels of the dank and ravenous megacorporate world, like flowers from a dung heap, like vodka from old potatoes, even if it comes right alongside the nastiest, most abusive federal environmental policy you will see in your lifetime.
Take Wal-Mart, the most famously offensive, town-destroying, junk-purveying, labor-abusing, sweatshop-supporting, American-job-killing, soul-numbing, seizure-inducing, hope- Read more
News
May 25, 2006
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. promised Wednesday to fight the city of Hercules in court if the city's redevelopment agency follows through on its plan to use eminent domain to take 17.27 acres of land from the nation's largest retailer.
"That would be the next step, to challenge it legally,'' Wal-Mart spokesman Kevin Loscotoff said of the Hercules City Council's resolution, adopted unanimously, Tuesday night, authorizing the use of eminent domain.
"Our position is that it's wrong," Loscotoff said. "It would mean there's virtually no limit on government's ability to take private Read more
"That would be the next step, to challenge it legally,'' Wal-Mart spokesman Kevin Loscotoff said of the Hercules City Council's resolution, adopted unanimously, Tuesday night, authorizing the use of eminent domain.
"Our position is that it's wrong," Loscotoff said. "It would mean there's virtually no limit on government's ability to take private Read more
News
May 17, 2006
A study focused on the effects of Wal-Mart stores on poverty rates found that an estimated 20,000 families nationwide have fallen below the official poverty line as a result of the chain's expansion.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., based in Bentonville, Ark., ranked No. 5 on the St. Louis Business Journal's most recent list of the area's largest employers. As of Dec. 31, Wal-Mart employed 13,005 people in the St. Louis metro area.
The study -- Wal-Mart and County-Wide Poverty -- written by Stephan Goetz, a professor of agricultural and regional economics at Pennsylvania State Read more
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., based in Bentonville, Ark., ranked No. 5 on the St. Louis Business Journal's most recent list of the area's largest employers. As of Dec. 31, Wal-Mart employed 13,005 people in the St. Louis metro area.
The study -- Wal-Mart and County-Wide Poverty -- written by Stephan Goetz, a professor of agricultural and regional economics at Pennsylvania State Read more
News
May 10, 2006
We spoke recently by telephone with the Berkeley-based author of the lauded The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (Penguin, $26.95). Michael Pollan shared his thoughts on vegans, organic farmers, and the movement that's taking us beyond organic. Here's the gist of that conversation‹stripped of fat, corn-based additives, and chemicals, of course.
Seattle Weekly: So, what did you eat last night?
Michael Pollan: I went to a sushi restaurant.
What does it mean when, at Elliott Bay last month, 350 people showed up for your SRO reading?
The event had
Read more News
Starbucks-Show Me the Money!
This is a little coffee tale about fudging the truth with statistics. Or maybe it's that the largest specialty coffee company in the world simply made a little inadvertent mistake. You be the judge. As people learn more about the long-term crisis in coffee pricing, they are wanting to know what their favorite coffee company is paying its farmers. As a 100% Fair Trade company, our answer is easy - we pay $1.41/lb at a minimum to the farmer cooperatives for all of our coffees. To this we add a Social Equity Premium of five cents and a Cooperative Read more
This is a little coffee tale about fudging the truth with statistics. Or maybe it's that the largest specialty coffee company in the world simply made a little inadvertent mistake. You be the judge. As people learn more about the long-term crisis in coffee pricing, they are wanting to know what their favorite coffee company is paying its farmers. As a 100% Fair Trade company, our answer is easy - we pay $1.41/lb at a minimum to the farmer cooperatives for all of our coffees. To this we add a Social Equity Premium of five cents and a Cooperative Read more
News
April 28, 2006
Speaking to Boston's community, health, and policy leaders, Mayor Thomas M. Menino discussed this morning the importance of affordable and accessible healthy food for all of Boston's residents. Mayor Menino stressed that eating patterns are important contributory factors to reducing the risk for heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and even some cancers. He noted, however, that for many of the city's elderly and low-income residents, it can be difficult to access affordable healthy and fresh foods and urged leaders to come up with a plan to close this disparity.
"Those of you here Read more
"Those of you here Read more
News
Student groups blast new McDonald's study, "Economic Impact: Tomatoes in
Florida, Report 1"
April 28, 2006
Mr. Jim Skinner, CEO McDonald's Corporation McDonald's Plaza Oak Brook, IL 60523
Mr. Skinner:
We expected better from your company.
No, we were not shocked when McDonald's initial response to the dire human rights crisis in Florida's fields resembled a carefully scripted crisis management plan.
No, we were not surprised when your company in blatant contempt for the industry-changing precedents established in last Read more
Florida, Report 1"
April 28, 2006
Mr. Jim Skinner, CEO McDonald's Corporation McDonald's Plaza Oak Brook, IL 60523
Mr. Skinner:
We expected better from your company.
No, we were not shocked when McDonald's initial response to the dire human rights crisis in Florida's fields resembled a carefully scripted crisis management plan.
No, we were not surprised when your company in blatant contempt for the industry-changing precedents established in last Read more
News
April 18, 2006
Tully's Coffee Corp. has designed its first blend of fair trade espresso with the help of college students and will begin selling the blend at the University of Washington in the coming months.
The blend consists of Chiapas beans from Mexico, Sidamo beans and Yirgacheffe beans from Ethiopia, and Sumatra Gayo Mountain beans from
Indonesia.
Representatives of UW Housing and Food Services, along with The Fair Trade Coalition, a UW student group, selected the espresso blend after tasting samples with Tully's roastmaster, Brian Speckman.
The Fair Trade Read more
The blend consists of Chiapas beans from Mexico, Sidamo beans and Yirgacheffe beans from Ethiopia, and Sumatra Gayo Mountain beans from
Indonesia.
Representatives of UW Housing and Food Services, along with The Fair Trade Coalition, a UW student group, selected the espresso blend after tasting samples with Tully's roastmaster, Brian Speckman.
The Fair Trade Read more
News
May 8, 2006
Fair trade is all about making sure third world farmers get paid a fair price for the crops they produce.
It sounds worthy - and it is - but it's also turning into a huge business opportunity for companies with an eye for untapped markets.
Erica Adutwumaa Kyere is a cocoa farmer from Ghana.
In New Zealand a block of chocolate made from her product costs $5.80, compared to $3 for a relative block from a big company.
The farmers who grow the cocoa that goes into the cheaper block of chocolate make between $44 and $158 per year. In comparison farmers Read more
It sounds worthy - and it is - but it's also turning into a huge business opportunity for companies with an eye for untapped markets.
Erica Adutwumaa Kyere is a cocoa farmer from Ghana.
In New Zealand a block of chocolate made from her product costs $5.80, compared to $3 for a relative block from a big company.
The farmers who grow the cocoa that goes into the cheaper block of chocolate make between $44 and $158 per year. In comparison farmers Read more
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