What can I do?1) As a citizen: Join the trade justice movement Go to the "get involved" or "take action" links on the following Web sites: * U.S. Interfaith Trade Justice Campaign www.tradejusticeusa.org * Global Exchange www.globalexchange.org * United Students for Fair Trade www.usft.org * Student Trade and Justice Campaign www.globaljusticenow.org (click on calendar) * Oxfam www.oxfamamerica.org (search "make trade fair") Bring trade justice issues to church Share and discuss faith-based resources, incorporate trade justice issues into worship services, and move your congregation to action both inside and outside the church walls. * Christian Aid Christian Aid is an agency of the major Christian churches in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It works with local partner organisations in over 60 countries around the world to help the world's poorest communities. has a variety of good material: Click on "campaigns," then "trade justice." www.christian-aid.org * Trade Justice: a Christian response to global poverty is a stellar 48-page book available in bookstores or downloadable for free. www.cofe.anglican.org/info/papers/ tradejustice.pdf * Church World Service has trade worship resources in English and Spanish: Click on "Peace & Justice," then "Resources." www.churchworldservice.org 2) As a consumer: Practice buying conscientiously Ethical shopping alone is not a "magic bullet (jargon) magic bullet - (Or "silver bullet" from vampire legends) A term widely used in software engineering for a supposed quick, simple cure for some problem. E.g. "There's no silver bullet for this problem". ." We still need to think about our level of consumption, period. The New Internationalist New Internationalist is a magazine from New Internationalist Publications, a co-operative-run publisher based in Oxford, England. It has editorial and sales offices in Toronto, Canada; Adelaide, Australia; Christchurch, New Zealand; and Lewiston, USA. suggests asking these questions before making a new purchase: 1) Do I really need it? Or can I do without? If I really need it, then ... 2) Can I avoid buying a new one? Can I borrow, share, swap, grow, make, or find it secondhand? If I really need to buy a new one ... 3) Can I find one that doesn't damage people or the planet? Or can I at least try to minimize my impact? After I've bought a well-made product ... 4) How can I look after it to make sure it lasts as long as possible? What maintenance should I do, and how can I mend it if it breaks? Buy from retailers who support trade justice There are many retailers worthy of support. Keep your eyes open for them, support them, and spread the news/Here are some places to start (but don't forget your local and independent retailers). * Co-op America Co-op America is a nonprofit membership organization based in the United States. It promotes ethical consumerism, dedicated to harnessing the economic power of consumers, investors and businesses to promote social justice and environmental sustainability through helping www.coopamerica.org * Fair Trade Federation www.fairtradefederation.org * Global Exchange's online store www.globalexchange.org (click on "Fair Trade Stores") * Organic & Fair Trade Products and Resources www.organic-fair-trade.com Note: The Ethical Consumer Ethical Consumer is a UK magazine that also publishes a lot of its key information for free on its corresponding website [It is in its own words "an alternative consumer organisation looking at the social and environmental records of the companies behind the brand names". Research Association's Web site at www.ethiscore.org provides userfriendly "ethical scores" for more than 50,000 companies. 3) To learn more: Inform yourself and others about trade justice issues * Fair Trade Resource Network www.fairtraderesource.org * The Conscious Consumer: Promoting Economic Justice Through Fair Trade, by Rose Benz Ericson, is a frequently updated manual that gives an overview of the North American North American named after North America. North American blastomycosis see North American blastomycosis. North American cattle tick see boophilusannulatus. Fair Trade movement. Available for $3 on the FTRN FTRN Fair Trade Resource Network Web site. Books * A Cafecito Story, by Julia Alvarez * Fair Trade for All: How Trade Can Promote Development, by Joseph E. Stiglitz Joseph Eugene "Joe" Stiglitz (born February 9, 1943) is an American economist and a member of the Columbia University faculty. He is a recipient of the John Bates Clark Medal (1979) and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics (2001). and Andrew Charlton * The Field Guide to the Global Economy, by Sarah Anderson, John Anderson, John, 1893–1962, Scottish-Australian philosopher, b. Scotland. A graduate of the Univ. of Glasgow, he taught (1918–27) at the universities of Cardiff, Glasgow, and Edinburgh before becoming professor of philosophy at the Univ. Cavanagh, and Thea Lee * The New Globalization globalization Process by which the experience of everyday life, marked by the diffusion of commodities and ideas, is becoming standardized around the world. Factors that have contributed to globalization include increasingly sophisticated communications and transportation : Reclaiming the Lost Ground of our Christian Social Tradition, by Richard W. Gillett Films * Black Gold follows coffee cooperative manager Tadesse Meskela as he travels the world seeking a fair price to help him save 74,000 struggling Ethiopian farmers from bankruptcy. * Life and Debt artistically and comprehensively depicts the effects of World Bank and IMF IMF See: International Monetary Fund IMF See International Monetary Fund (IMF). debt, globalization, and multinational corporations on the people of Jamaica. * Global Exchange's online "bookstore" also has great film choices. Laurel R. Mathewson is a Sojourners editorial intern. |
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