MPs will be given a private screening today of the highly-acclaimed film ‘Black Gold’, a documentary which charts the exploitation of coffee growers in Ethiopia.
Half way between Cusco and the lost city of Machu Picchu lies the ancient artery of Inca trade and production - the salt terraces. For over 1,000 years little has changed for the salt farmers of Maras. Now, thanks to a clumsy, unnecessary and potentially dangerous attempt at mass medication, this traditional livelihood is at risk. By James Frankham.
Katharine Hamnett is one of the UK’s leading fashion designers. In 1984 she famously wore a T-shirt opposing the purchase of US Pershing missiles at a reception attended by Margaret Thatcher. Since then she has campaigned on nuclear power, Third World debt, human rights, HIV and environmental issues.
According to a Mori poll in March 2004, the fairtrade mark is now recognised by 39 per cent of the British public, up from 11 per cent five years ago. But what difference does fairtrade actually make to the lives of the producers? John Atkin looks at the Nicaraguan community of La Pita who sell half of their coffee on the fairtrade market
No European country is as reliant on supermarkets for its food shopping as Britain. It is no coincidence that the UK also has the worst eating habits in Europe.
As the supermarket doors glide open there they are – cosmetically perfect, irresistibly firm, brilliantly coloured fruit and vegetables. And yet, when you get them home, they taste of nothing. Is it the way you cooked them, or have you just selected badly? No, you’ve been conned.
We were being given 20 to 21 pence a kilo, they were selling them in the stores at twice that, and we needed 32 pence to break even. The prices would change by the day, and then they’d take 60 to 90 days to pay you.
George Monbiot argues that fair trade is the answer to world poverty. He proposes a radical new system that would also rein in corporate
power and protect labour rights and the environment.
Steven Gorelick lays out just a few of the policy changes, priority shifts and new approaches that could help save rural life, and lead to more sustainable farming
