Coalition for Immokalee supporters stage a protest outside a Trader Joe's in La Grange, IL
Traders Joe’s is hardly the lone ranger when in comes to refusing to sign the Fair Food Agreement. Others, like Kroger, are as guilty of not signing the Agreement. In fact, Barry Estabrook detailed the plight of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) in his book Tomatoland. I wrote a review of the book for Natural Awakenings magazine and I will admit that it’s hard to think of buying or eating tomatoes without thinking of the workers and lack of rights.
So now a campaign has begun circulating asking people to sign it and send a message to the CEO of Traders Joe’s that it should sign the Fair Food Agreement and increase the amount it pays workers by ONE PENNY a pound ONE PENNY. This may not mean a lot to Traders Joe’s but it will mean something to the workers who pick the tomatoes who make as little as $50 per 12 hour day. This is yet another way we, as consumers, can make our voice heard.
There is no shortage of great books out there – only a shortage of time to enjoy them all! What is heading my way next week: A School for My Village: A Promise to the Orphans of Nyaka by Twesigye Jackson Kaguri and Where am I Wearing by Kelsey Timmerman, thanks to Michelle Hamman of Mother Tongues for the recommendation.
A School for My Village is the story of the building of an extraordinary school for orphans in Kaguri’s home country of Uganda. It details the astonishing effort by one man to raise an African community out of poverty and hopelessness. Since I’ve begun working on a new project that will work with a women’s sewing cooperative in Uganda, I am eager to learn more about the country and its history. I can’t wait to get this book in my hands!
The second book, recommended by Michelle, is going to be another interesting read. Written by journalist Kelsey Timmerman, Where am I Wearing was inspired when he noticed the tags of his favorite clothing featured various countries from Honduras to China. Timmerman decided to visit each of the countries and factories where his five favorite pieces of clothing were made and detailed his findings in this book. He talks about globalization and outsourcing and the vastly different worlds we in the West live compared to those who live and work in the countries that make the goods we purchase.
You can see a short trailer on the book to give you an idea of what Timmerman learned on his trip.
Have you read either of these books? I’d love to hear what you thought of them – but no spoilers! I haven’t read them yet!
It’s no surprise, sadly, anymore, to hear about sweatshop labor in the apparel industry. It’s all too commonplace because we, as a society, demand cheap goods. In order to get those cheap goods, someone has to pay the price and, oftentimes, it’s the people who are doing the work.
Chicago Public Radio’s WorldView recently did a segment that discussed a case where 300 young female workers have been raped and brutalized in a garment factory in Jordan. The factory’s major buyers? Target, Sears, Land’s End and Macy’s. The allegations are by a human rights watchdog group and there is always two sides of every story, but these stories seem to happen way too often for it to be just another accusation. Something has to be done? Want to be part of the solution? Educate yourself on where your clothing is made.
Shown here is an illustration provided by Just Shirts which outlines the pipeline of how a t-shirt is produced. On the left side is how a shirt that is fair trade is made while on the other side is how a conventional t-shirt is made. Notice the layers (no pun intended) on the right side and the wage provided to the workers, let alone the conditions in which they are often working.
Our friends at Mata Traders wrote an excellent blog post a couple of weeks ago on other ways you can make a difference – make some noise. Through various recommendations, the post provides resources to sign petitions to show your support for justice. It’s a great read and one I’d recommend to everyone who cares about human rights.
Yes, our economy may still be struggling and we need clothes to wear, but rather than support sweatshop labor, choose your clothing options carefully and ask questions. Support fair trade, check out secondhand shops or have a swap party at your house. There are other ways to dress ourselves, and not at the expense on other people’s backs.
What is your favorite place to shop for clothing? Do you have any suggestions on how we can improve the labor conditions at apparel factories?
A little over a year ago, I was in Karachi, Pakistan, escorted around the city to my appointments by armed security. Veiled in my head scarf, long tunic top and pants, even though it was more than a 100 degrees F, it was hard to tell I was an American with all of my coverings, which were required by our security team. It helped that I have a darker skin tone, brown eyes and dark hair – I could easily blend into my surroundings as a Pakistani woman had it not been my clothing which nearly screamed I was not from Pakistan but, rather, was a crude patchwork of an Indian wardrobe I clumsily pulled together hours before I left the States. And, underneath my clothing, I swear I felt like I was melting.
I was shuffled from one location to another via cars with screens on the windows of my back seat. Even walking a few feet, from the parked car to the ATM which, literally, I think was 8 feet away from the car door, required my armed security personnel to walk next to me…just in case. Just in case of what? Well, let’s just say having so much security ON TOP OF ME does NOT make me feel safe. It makes me feel like a target.
I still lament that I didn’t get to see one of the artisans’ studio in Karachi. The studio, nestled down a tiny road, too tiny for a car to pass, with only one entrance and exit, it was deemed a security risk to visit. What a shame. Instead, after over an hour of negotiating with the many armed (and by armed, I’m talking rifles strapped across their bodies) military personnel holding their ground of the entrance, which was protected by large cement zig zag barricades, and reviewing my American passport, and on the phone trying to figure out whether I should be allowed access to the compound where the artisan lived, we finally were permitted down the dirt path road leading up to her home. All I kept thinking, driving down this road and looking outside where I could see a little grocery store, a school, an auto repair shop, is that this kind of life is what people in Karachi live every day.
Then, this morning, I learned that several children died in Karachi yesterday because of a suicide bomb attack – something that has become much too commonplace in Karachi.
Without going into the political details of the bombing, the reality is that innocent children, yet again, are caught in the crossfire. And this is just painful and unnecessary.
I keep thinking about the long, dirt-path road leading up to the artisan’s house. And the studio where I got to meet Nadia and her father, flanked by armed security officers at each of the entrances and exits. And all I keep thinking about is the children. The children who have to live (if they are lucky) through all of this violence, and hatred, and the smell of death in the air.
It’s so frustrating and the feeling of helplessness can be so overwhelming. And I can’t help but wonder – will we ever see PEACE among nations?
Child marriage in many countries isn’t new. In fact, it’s all too common. Cultural mores, traditions and poverty can be counted among the reasons but the results are tragic. Young girls are sexually assaulted, pulled out of school so they never receive an education, and the cycle of poverty continues.
I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced, is a powerful and inspiring story of a young woman who decided to do something about being forced into marriage and won her right to a divorce in her home country of Yemen. She, effectively, became the youngest woman to request and be granted a divorce.
The story is a hard one to read because Nujood is just one of thousands of young girls whose fate is sealed because of their fathers, uncles or brothers decided it for them. They have no voice. They have no opportunities to continue schooling. It is so unfair.
Nujood’s life had changed soon after her divorce was declared with international media surrounding her and her family. She made some very difficult decisions for a nine year old at the time but she also shed light to a topic often deemed acceptable in her society. National Public Radio did an excellent piece on Nujood last year as well.
I’ve tried to do some research to see where Nujood is in her life right now. She is a young teenager. Is she still in school, heading toward becoming a lawyer like the lawyer who took on her case and helped her win? I’d love to see that – her helping changed cultural mores and to push hard for young girls (and boys) to stay in school as long as possible.
I recently stole my husband’s Competitor magazine (he’s a marathon runner currently training for a triathlon) and came across an article John Bingham wrote in the June issue called Camaraderie in Sport Helps Us Find Our True Selves. Anyone who knows me well knows I’m not a runner but this article really hit home for me because its message is more than just about running.
“There’s something about running in tandem with another person that frees me form the bondage of my own concerns,” Bingham writes mid-way. I think about how sometimes learning about people from other places, other countries, and their circumstances puts life into perspective for me.
But even more striking to me was when he writes about his experience at the start of a race, whether it’s running with 100 fellow runners or 30,000. Bingham writes: “Standing with others who are all prepared to put it all on the line, I feel both larger and smaller than who I am otherwise.” He continues: “I am only one person but I am part of an enormous community.”
I often feel like John Bingham when I’m working on our fair trade pieces. Developing designs with my artisan partners, working with my retail customers in now more than 30 states across the country, shipping out orders…it can feel solitary at times. And you wonder, am I really making a difference? And then I read that statement and remember – Hell, yeah. I am part of an enormous community of supportive family, friends, customers, retailers, activists, students, fellow fair trade business colleagues, and associations – all of whom share the same goal – to live in a more fair and just world where we don’t gain at the expense of others.
So, like Bingham directs in his article – Waddle On, Friends! Let’s continue to build this awesome momentum we’ve started and build it to something so large that people will have to read the history books to find out how trade USED to be done!
Nelson Mandela International Day is Monday, July 18. The day is a call to action to spend 67 minutes of service to make the world a better place. How you do it is up to you – and you’re welcome to register your event on the website. The 67 minutes is meant to recognize the 67 YEARS that Nobel Peace Prize winner and international symbol of freedom Nelson Mandela has devoted of his life to the service of humanity. Any action, large or small, qualifies and it’s a great reminder that each of us, individually can make a significant difference but, together, we can make an even bigger impact!
Why not organize an event or action today? Please share your plans with us!
As you enjoy a juicy mango on a hot afternoon, do you ever wonder if it might have been picked by someone who lives in virtual slavery? It’s not an appealing thought and one most grocery stores aren’t likely to share with you as you add those cherries, grapes or pineapple in your grocery cart.
Barry Estabrook wrote Politics of the Plate: The Price of Tomatoes for Gourmet magazine in March 2009 that detailed the realities of virtual slavery in Immokalee, the tomato capital of the United States. The article won a James Beard Award.
According to the piece, between December and May, as much as 90 percent of the fresh domestic tomatoes we eat come from south Florida, and Immokalee is home to one of the area’s largest communities of farmworkers. I guess Mr. Estabrook had enough content that he couldn’t include in the article that he ended up writing a book on the subject, just released, called Tomatoland.
As I see our tomatoes growing in our backyard, and trying to eat as much as possible from food available at farmers’ markets or locally grown sources, it’s a topic that’s especially interesting to me.
That’s one of the reasons I’m keenly interested in what interrupcion* is doing in the field of organic AND fair trade fruits. The organization started in Buenos Aires and now offers a small range (but yummy) of fruits (and olive oil and honey) to grocery stores nationwide. Check out its selection of fair trade and organic offerings.
What was even more exciting to me is its “Get Involved” page. Whether you’re a consumer interested in exercising your consumer purchasing power, a business interested in stocking some of its products or member of the media interested in a story of how a business CAN succeed while employing a different business model, we ALL can be part of the solution.
Shown here is a different type of calendar that interrupcion* posted on its Facebook page earlier this week and I just love it…it shows what type of foods are in season in Latin America. How cool would it be to use THIS to create your grocery list?
Do you ever seek and buy fair trade and (or) organic foods? Do you think they taste better?
Human trafficking is ranked the third most common crime after economic fraud and drug trafficking in the country, according to UNESCO and reported in this article posted yesterday about a raid in Nigeria that freed 32 teenagers ages 15-17 that were forced to bear children for this purpose.
According to the piece, some of the girls shared that they had been offered approximately $192 U.S. to sell their babies and then the babies would be sold from anywhere between $1,920 to $6,400 U.S. each. Sadly, the state agency fighting human trafficking in Nigeria, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), says it has many such cases currently being fought in its court system right now.
Human trafficking is not isolated to West African countries either. The U.S. has a steady stream of demand and it’s hard to bring the perpetrators to court because of the covert nature of the crime, the invisibility of victims and high levels of under-reporting.
What Can We Do to End Human Trafficking and Slavery?
Amanda Kloer wrote an excellent piece a few years ago that is relevant today as it was in 2008 for Change.org. The piece offers 10 tips to fight human trafficking that you and I can do TODAY including supporting fair trade whenever possible since slavery often happens in the hands of large multi-national companies that employ slave labor to produce its goods (suggestion #5).
Other ideas include having a viewing party about a film that discusses human trafficking (here are 10 human trafficking films to consider), calling your local government officials to let them know to pass legislation to develop stronger anti-trafficking laws (and uphold them) and supporting women and girls’ business and educational opportunities.
Still in college, Amanda has some great tips for college kids to really get the ball rolling as well including pressuring your school to buy better (ie fair trade!).
It’s hard to think each of us, in the comfort of our homes or offices, can really lend a hand in something as tragic as this raid in Nigeria. But by supporting fair trade and offering an alternative to these girls and their families, we ARE moving in the right direction. And while Nigeria may seem far away for many of us, the reality is that human trafficking really does to place closer to home than we’d like to think.
Can you commit to doing one of Amanda’s suggestion in the coming day, week or month? Share this post with your family, friends and customers. Let’s be PRO-ACTIVE and stop the demand that fuels human trafficking.
~Megy
PS – You can follow Amanda Kloer’s tweets, too, by following @endhumantraffic.
Like many fair trade companies, I get weekly requests for mentoring advice on starting a fair trade business. Part of the appeal, to some, is the traveling to remote parts of the world. For others, it’s a deeper connection or feeling they need to do more than just send a check to their favorite charity. And yet for others, it’s another reason altogether. Whatever the reason, I’m always humbled when someone takes the time to reach out to me and ask for my advise. I’m not sure if what I share is of any value, but I’m excited that someone is considering a new business venture that values people and the planet over profit.
That’s one of the reasons I’m particularly excited to have just received a new book by people who are experts in their fields. More than Good Intentions was written by Dean Karlan and Jacob Appel and, according to the website, will share how Americans can be more focused and realistic about the monies they donate to groups aimed to help people in need. Using their experience and education in economics and field research, the duo sets out to illustrate the extremes of great need despite the fact that Americans contribute more than two billions of dollars annually to charities.
I’m looking forward to reading the book and sharing my thoughts with you. In the meantime, what are your recommendations to helping invest dollars where it counts? How do you want to see change happen?
Happy Friday the 13th, everyone! Have a great weekend!
Reports of female journalists being kidnapped, raped or worse have been in the headlines as of late and although it’s upsetting to hear of anyone being injured or killed, it’s especially troubling when I hear of journalists
Is Journalism Worth Dying For? Final Dispatches
since they are in unique positions to share the stories of what’s happening on the ground to a much larger, global audience.
As many of you know, I write a fair amount on various topics, many of which are around the topic of women’s rights. It’s one of the reasons I have become more involved with fair trade in general – women’s rights.
The story of Lara Logan and her attack in Egypt was particularly hard to stomach and read. But besides the fact that she was raped, which in and of itself is horrible and my heart goes out to her – it’s the victimization of her attack by both right and left winged pundits, journalists and individuals in general that make me furious. No one, absolutely no one, deserves to be raped. Most, although sadly, not all, of us can agree on that statement.
Today a story about another journalist who was murdered because of her line of work came across my computer screen because of a book that just released. The book is called Is Journalism Worth Dying For? Final Dispatches and it’s the story of Anna Politkovskaya, an American-born and Russian-raised journalist who was shot dead in her building in Russia in 2006. The murder is still unsolved. She was well-known as a human rights activist, insisting on telling the stories that needed to be told, even when she faced danger more than once.
She has been quoted as saying that while she was concerned about her safety, she was just as concerned for those who were her informants. While attending a conference on the freedom of press organized by Reporters Without Borders in Vienna in 2005, she said: “People sometimes pay with their lives for saying aloud what they think. In fact, one can even get killed for giving me information. I am not the only one in danger. I have examples that prove it.”*
We rely on our journalists to tell us the stories of people all over the world. They leave their own families and comforts of home to do what they feel is important to connect us with what’s happening.
It also brings to light the real danger to women (and children and men) that exists every single day in many parts of the world. I hope stories like these serve a bigger purpose than just to sell books and stories – but to remind us how incredibly lucky we are to have brave journalists and their crews who are willing to put their lives in danger to uncover the truth.
-Megy
* “Trois journalists tues le jour l’inauguration a Bayeux du Memorial des reporters” (in French). Reporters Without Borders. 2006-10-07.
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