Posts Tagged ‘Fair Trade’

How to Have Fun with Local Food: It’s Called Slow Food International!

Friday, April 17th, 2009

slow-food-international

In yesterday’s blog post, I rambled on and on about the unending economic and environmental benefits of cooking at home.  But, I’m not done with my rant!!! Today I have some extra carrot sticks to dazzle you with in the hopes of tempting you to try out your cooking skills.

Today’s carrot stick is called Slow Food International.  That’s right, say it with me: Slow-Food-International.  What the HECK is that, you might ask?  Well, allow me to explain.

Here is how they describe themselves on their amazing website:

Slow food in a non-profit, eco-gastronomic member-supported organization that was founded in 1989 to counteract fast food and fast-life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, and how it tastes, and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.

Pretty awesome, huh?!  They now have over 100,000 members spanning 132 countries!!  It’s a food revolution!!  Now, here’s the scoop on what all these multicultural Slow Food members ban together to accomplish:

First of all, Slow Food Int’l connects producers and co-producers, so that in each country, foodie producers who believe in a local way of eating can hook up with other like-minded foodies!!  It’s a cook & cuisine networker, you might say.  The organization ALSO hosts EVENTS—local, national, and international!  These events aim to gather people who are all dedicated to the local/organic/fair-trade food movement and then to celebrate the movement by dining on such scrumptious food and learning about such food (and the people/cultures/traditions behind the food) through film, music, and festivals!  Here are examples of recent Slow Food events:

slow-food-events

The Berlinale

The Berlinale was hosted in Berlin, Germany this past February.  The itinerary included 5 feature films that showed different faces of the local food movement.  One of the featured films was Terra Madre, a film by Ermanno Olmi that documents the Slow Food-organized reunion of over 1,000 farmers world-wide.

Slow Fish

This event is happening RIGHT NOW in Genoa, Italy!  It is an event that gathers fishermen, chefs, and interested participants from the community to join together to discuss the delicate balance between fishing and protecting the earth’s waters.  This is the 4th ever Slow Fish event, and each event helps to make the audience realize what is the right way to eat fish. 

slow-food-2

Those are a few of the more outstanding events hosted by Slow Food, but if you log onto www.slowfood.com, you can find the nearest Slow Food chapter to YOU!  You can either join and become a full-fledged member, or you can test the waters by going to some of their local events, which range from Slow Food movie nights to local wine tastings, to picada/tapa-style dinners with local cuisine!  Slow Food International is a GREAT way for any food lover to get involved with the local food movement.  This organization just might astound you with the fair fare that grows right in your own backyard!  To find the closest Slow Food chapter to you, just click here!  And bon appetit!

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Posted in Environment, Local Food Movement | 2 Comments »

It’s All About Fair Trade, Baby!

Saturday, February 28th, 2009

On Wednesday, February 25th, the BBC ran a story on one of the most important issues facing our world today: the plight of the small farmer and the decision to eat Fairtrade food.  The story was called “Food Crisis Hits Developing World Farms,” and it was written by James Melik.  I want to summarize its main points for you and to dive more into detail on some of the issues raised, as buying and eating Fairtrade food is one of THE best ways we can serve our world…

Food prices are rising all over the world.  It is scary, yes, for everyone involved, but here’s the scariest truth: the small farmers don’t see one penny of the price increase…Which means that yes, we the consumers suffer at the till, but as we cut back on our spending, the farmers suffer even more from our collective cut-backs.  Moreover, the farmers are also struggling as they deal with higher costs for farm necessities like fertilizer.  In many cases farmers are forced to sacrifice what should never have to be sacrificed: healthcare, education for their children, even meals (which seems unbelievable, seeing as they are growing everyone else’s meals).

To put this suffering in perspective, a third of our global population lives on a small farm.  That means that one-third of all the world’s people are suffering in this way.  But there is a solution, and we can all be a part of it.  The solution lies in Fairtrade.

Fairtrade works in a “fair” balance between the market and the farmer.  First Fairtrade systems decide what products are in demand, such as fruit, coffee, vanilla, and spices.  Then it works with the farmers, guaranteeing a steady income as long as the demand for that product is still in existence.  Such a system prevents the chaos that accompanies unsteady markets, such as the markets we are seeing now with the global food crisis.  As Ian Bretman of the Fairtrade Foundation summarizes:

Providing the demand is upheld, farmers are guaranteed an income regardless of volatile prices and that enables them to conduct their business by planning ahead.

Therefore, through buying Fairtrade food products, you are helping provide the producers of our sustenance a steady income.  Moreover, something that often gets overlooked is that with Fairtrade, you are helping to ensure that everyone in the world eats, as we can’t eat if the farmers can’t afford to grow food.

farmer-free-trade

Here is the great news: the word is spreading and Fairtrade is flourishing.  Despite the global economic crisis and its preceding global food crisis, Fairtrade products are getting more and more popular!  For instance, in the United Kingdom in the past year, consumer demand for Fairtrade prodcuts has jumped by a whopping 43%!  Even more exciting is Fairtrade success in countries like South Africa where Fairtrade is beginning to be demanded by the lower class masses, which is driving the price of Fairtrade products down due to a higher volume of products sold (good news for producer & consumer!!).  Another exciting twist is that many supermarkets are realizing that it is cheaper for them in some cases to stock only one line of an item, and many markets are choosing a Fairtrade line.  What exciting stuff!!!  There are now 4,500 items that are officially marked as Fairtrade, and they keep a-comin!

fair-trade-peppers

But it’s not just good news…We have to be inspired by the good news, but remember the sad news that not every farmer has the chance to be a Fairtrade partner.  Those excluded from this movement are the ones selling their land and/or starving because of unfair trading practices.  We the consumer have the power to demand Fairtrade products, to double the current 4,500 Fairtrade products available, and then double that again!!  Our money is our vote, so let’s spend it wisely, and let’s buy Fairtrade from now on.

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Posted in Education, Environment, Service | 3 Comments »

Serving Our World Through Fair Trade

Tuesday, February 17th, 2009

Okay I realize that not every necessary item can be bought locally.  I have spent time in a variety of regions throughout my life–from Wisconsin to Washington, DC; from the Western Australian outback to the green hills of Ireland; and now finally just plain and simple to Buenos Aires, Argentina…Although I have loved each of these homes for their own uniqueness, each one of their regional farms has lacked a very crucial staple to my sustenance: COFFEE.

Many profitable crops like coffee and cocoa hail from regions where the majority of the farming population is excluded from the power structure.  The farmers from these regions must grow what is most in demand on a world market so that their goods can sell.  However, that does not mean their products are rewarded with a fair market price.  Instead, they are often paid such low wages for their goods that even with their enormous crop yields they can not pay for even the most basic necessities, such as food and medicine.   

It is such an oxymoron: the farmers that are the very source of our nourishment, our survival, are themselves starving.  They must sell their crops to make a living, but the market on which they are selling them is stacked against them.  However, this does not have to be.  It is like the old argument that a sweat-shop job is better than no job at all, when in fact, due again to consumer demands, the presence of the sweat-shops make it impossible for other places of employment to compete.   And just like the consumer can demand sweat-free goods, so too can the consumer demand fairly traded food. 

It is as simple as that.  Once again, our money is our vote.  As consumers we have the power to create a market that DEMANDS fair trade food.  Though fair trade products will cost a bit more than free trade products, it is well-spent dinero.  This is what the few extra bones will be paying for:

  1. Ecologically-sustainable farming practices.  Free trade products such as coffee emphasize bang for buck.  This mind-set leads to rainforest destruction so that farmers have more room to plant crops.  Such practices lead to temporarily bigger crop yields, until a few years later when the soil is depleted of nutrients due to the loss of its natural ecosystems, making it barren and unable to yield much of anything.  Such practices are counter-intuitive and short-sighted.  The bang for your buck lasts a minuscule of a second, and then there’s a real bang: no more farmable land, which is a much bigger cost than planting a few less coffee beans every year.  (Information gathered from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle…of course!)
  2. The prohibition of child labor.  Yes, you heard me correctly: child labor.  Most of the chocolate we consume is probably made from cocoa leaves farmed by children working under abusive circumstances.  The website Global Exchange alarmingly informs us that nearly 300,000 children work under abusive circumstances in the West African cocoa fields.  By buying fair trade, we are buying better options for these children.  Remember, these children had no control over where they were born, and the economic laws of that region.  It could have just as easily been you or me as a child in that cocoa field.  Let’s buy fair trade so it becomes no children.  Check out this awesome Global Exchange video for more information and motivation:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx5QRzyDO6o]

Though fair trade will make you go the extra dollar, your dollar is well spent in preserving our environment and our humanity.  To find out where to buy your favorite items in a fair way, check out the following websites:

And to see how fair trade single-handedly improves the lives of millions, check out this inspiring video about farmers in South Africa:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cDMn8jtCiU]

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Posted in Children, Environment, Service | 4 Comments »

Let’s Stand Together as We Change the World

Friday, January 23rd, 2009

 ”Across the world, most people want stronger protections for the environment, greater respect for human rights, and concerted efforts to end poverty, corruption and war” (Avaaz.org).  It’s true.  The world is changing.  It is no longer a giant land where actions are isolated and limited in their effects.  We have entered a global world, facilitated by the Internet, where actions have a butterfly affect.  We can no longer mindlessly abuse natural resources or ignore civil wars in far-away nations.  One thing is certain in this new era: we must be accountable. 

And the world is responding to this call for accountability.  As I listened to the BBC Broadcast this morning, I heard an unending list of progressive, collective measures taken by world leaders across the planet.  Today Japan launched its first satellite to monitor greenhouse gas emissions.  Next month, the US plans to do the same.  The German government has asked its people to cut back on their meat consumption in an effort to become more environmental, a sacrifice considering Germans get a whopping 39% of their daily calories from meat.   The Pope is launching his own channel onto YouTube.  

It’s not just governments, either.  Individuals are doing everything in their power to increase the ties that bind, in a socially-responsible way.  Everywhere I look I see people trying to give back, trying to connect the dots across the world.  From people like Matt, dancing around the world (click here for the webpage), making people smile in all corners of the globe:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY&feature=PlayList&p=5712CC5563227DEE&playnext=1&index=21]

To celebrities using their fame to make change, like Chris Martin together with Oxfam making their campaign for fair trade (click here for the webpage):

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACkEM19FEho&feature=related]

We need to change our world, and it is important to remember that we can’t do it alone.  We have to stand together to make these changes happen.  So remember these guys when you think about how you can serve the world (click here to see the webpage):

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us-TVg40ExM]

Let’s all stand together to serve our world, to make it the place we know it can be.  I hope this blog helps you in your path to finding where you can best serve, the place “where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet” (Frederick Buechner).  Make sure to check out the links listed on the left side of the page to help you with your quest!

Website of the day: We are the World

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Posted in Animals, Children, Education, Environment, Family Volunteering, Spring Break, Summer Break, Winter Break | No Comments »