Most Recent Headlines
May 6, 2006
News
Come May 15, you won't find Horizon Organic brand's colorful happy cow in the dairy case at the Willy Street Co-op.
Madison's largest grocery cooperative on Williamson Street decided to drop the brand owned by Dean Foods Co. because of long-held concerns over practices at some of the large farms that supply organic milk to the company. The issues were raised by some of the co-op's members, said co-op services manager Lynn Olson.
Madison's largest grocery cooperative on Williamson Street decided to drop the brand owned by Dean Foods Co. because of long-held concerns over practices at some of the large farms that supply organic milk to the company. The issues were raised by some of the co-op's members, said co-op services manager Lynn Olson.
April 18, 2006
News
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 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.
May 8, 2006
News
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.
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.
April 13, 2006
News
Although this is just a conservative estimate, and I have no real data to back it up, I'd be willing to bet that nearly 3 million IU students visit Starbucks every day.
I, meanwhile, had been able to avoid ever even stepping foot inside a Starbucks, let alone spending any money there, until this school year, when Starbucks managed to establish, at least within the Indiana Memorial Union, a monopoly on coffee that actually somewhat resembles coffee. As depressing as my inability to resist the convenience is from a personal standpoint, it's been quite an educational experience.
I, meanwhile, had been able to avoid ever even stepping foot inside a Starbucks, let alone spending any money there, until this school year, when Starbucks managed to establish, at least within the Indiana Memorial Union, a monopoly on coffee that actually somewhat resembles coffee. As depressing as my inability to resist the convenience is from a personal standpoint, it's been quite an educational experience.
April 8, 2006
News
"Is it fair trade when you get designer prices for it?"
"New York educational standards should require students to learn the relationship between their shirts and the global world."
"We need to connect fair trade with local poverty in Ithaca."
"New York educational standards should require students to learn the relationship between their shirts and the global world."
"We need to connect fair trade with local poverty in Ithaca."
April 22, 2006
News
Gone are the days when fair trade goods were available only at charity shops and church bazaars. Fair trade - or Fairtrade, as it has branded itself - is now big business.You can choose Fairtrade coffee in high-street outlets like Starbucks and Prêt a Manger, and local authorities are starting to declare themselves Fairtrade councils. More than 1,000 products are now certified as Fairtrade in the UK and, on an international level, the industry estimates it benefits five million producers worldwide.
News
Who’s What --Acronyms used in this Article
GMOs - Genetically Modified Organisms
NOP – National Organic Program
NOSB – National Organic Standards Board
News
In the EU, corporate inroads into the organic world are following different paths than in the U.S., but debates about potential consequences for farmers and consumers sound familiar
News
Michael Sligh, farmer, author, founding chair of the National Organics Standards Board and director of the Sustainable Agriculture Program at RAFI-USA, takes the long view. “This is a crisis of success!” he insists, talking about the split in the organic industry caused by last fall’s amendment of the Organic Food Production Act. “We wouldn’t be in this position unless we had been more successful than any of us could have dreamed ten or fifteen years ago!”
Scientific Study
Web Note: You can follow this URL to a chart of organic structure à it is a bit outdated, but clearly shows the takeover of the organic industry by the big companies.
http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/corporate_organic.cfm
Concentration ratios of the top agricultural firms, 2001
Beef packers (Tyson, ConAgra, Cargill, Farmland) 81%
Corn exports (Cargill-Continental Grain, ADM, Zen Noh) 81%
http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/corporate_organic.cfm
Concentration ratios of the top agricultural firms, 2001
Beef packers (Tyson, ConAgra, Cargill, Farmland) 81%
Corn exports (Cargill-Continental Grain, ADM, Zen Noh) 81%
