Ten Thousand Villages is a nonprofit program of the Mennonite Central
Committee, the relief and development agency of Mennonite and Brethren in
Christ churches in North America. We have an outlet a few blocks from where
I live in Ottawa, and I quite often drop in to see what they have. I've
bought a lot of birthday cards there.
Incidentally, the MCC has done some very good work among Canadian Indians.
It does not proselytize, but helps out in whatever way it can. Knowing that
the money wouldn't be wasted or misspent, I've made donations via the MCC to
e.g. tsunami relief.
Ed
P.S.: I'm not Mennonite.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Lawrence de Bivort" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "'Christoph Reuss'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2006 1:22 PM
Subject: RE: [Futurework] Coffee anyone?
Yes, this notion of Fair Trade is growing here in the US, too. There is a
chain of stores, "Ten Thousand Villages" that sells crafts on this basis.
And then there is Putumayo's CDs, too. Better quality crafts and music
from
these sources than the conventional commercial outlets.
We had Fresh Fields/Whole Foods stores which seemed to have embraced some
social consciousness, but then, if I remember correctly, they were bought
up
by a conventional chain and their quality has deteriorated (e.g. mold
inside
their layered cakes, because their cakes are made in New York, frozen and
shipped to the Washington area, and sold in their store bakeries as if
made
fresh).
Thinking back to Arthur's coffee VP, it may be that social consciousness
has
to be embedded in new types of organizations -- where the whole
organization
is designed with that kind of moral responsibility in mind, rather than
hoping that heroic individuals within conventional organizations will be
able to flourish.
So perhaps part of a social consciousness initiative might focus on whole
organizations that are designed and operate around such a principle.
Cheers,
Lawry
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Christoph Reuss
Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2006 1:10 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: [Futurework] Coffee anyone?
Lawry asked:
I wonder if it might be possible to launch a corporate-responsibility
consciousness initiative. I do not mean legislation and regulated
protectionism, but a genuine moral initiative that included specific
looks
at specific executive actions and policies, and recognized and morally
rewarded those who reflected that consciousness of responsibility?
For coffee, sugar, chocolate, bananas etc. there already is one:
The Fair Trade network ( http://www.fairtrade.net ), in N.America known
as TransFair ( transfairusa.org , transfair.ca ). They pay much higher
prices to the growers and guarantee good labor conditions and democratic
participation rights in small-farmer coops. The high revenue for growers
is often used for local educational and health projects, and the organic
production methods avoid health hazards from pesticides to the growers.
So it's up to the consumer to vote with their feet. In Switzerland,
Fair Trade products (known here as "Max Havelaar" brand) have a high
market share and can be found in regular store chains.
Chris
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