Resources on Fair Trade

Every October, TransFairUSA.org brings attention to the unfair treatment of farmers globally with their Fair Trade Month initiative. Visit http://fairtrademonth.org/  for more information, as well as ideas and events in your area to help bring awareness to this global cause.

What are you doing this weekend? If you live in one of many metropolitan areas, you could support the abolitionist movement by seeing the film “Call+Response," produced by Fair Trade Pictures.

The “rockumentary” (isn't that a great word?) featuring musical performances and information about modern human trafficking opens today at select theaters across the United States. Sadly, I don't live anywhere near any of these theaters, so any information I can give you right now will have to come from their website.

About two years ago I was listening to a podcast mention a video documentary about the coffee industry. I wanted to watch this independent film, but it wasn't showing anywhere locally, so I had to wait for months until the film showed on the local PBS station. It aired at 11 p.m. I guess nobody thought that a movie about coffee was interesting.

The Farm Bill, written to help small farmers compete, has become a cash cow for agribusiness.  Oxfam America has launched a campaign petitioning the Senate to get it right where the House of Representatives has failed.

China's economic growth in recent decades has been astonishing; unfortunately, it may be matched by the pace of their environmental destruction. Mother Jones magazine visited China recently to see the downside of their rush to emulate the American way of life.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies has compiled a map of the future covering projected events for the years 2008 to 2012. It looks a little like a subway map, except that the routes are subject areas like Science, Politics, and Culture.