The Tranquilo Traveler
The Tranquilo Traveler is a celebration of voluntourism, slow travel, and other interesting ways to see the world. Travel writer and award- winning Moon Handbooks author Joshua Berman created The Tranquilo Travel as a resource for world trippers and international volunteers, a window to the author’s travels in Nicaragua, Belize, and beyond, and an update of his books and articles.
Black Gold and Fair Trade
By Joshua | October 22nd, 2006 | 
1 Comment »
Last year, I celebrated Fair Trade Month by hiking to organic and Fair Trade tea farms in Darjeeling. This year (this morning) I’m by brewing myself a cup of Fair Trade joe and telling you about Black Gold: Wake Up and Smell the Coffee (click here for the trailer). The story: “Multinational coffee companies now rule our shopping malls and supermarkets and dominate the industry worth over $80 billion, making coffee the most valuable trading commodity in the world after oil. But while we continue to pay for our lattes and cappuccinos, the price paid to coffee farmers remains so low that many have been forced to abandon their coffee fields.”
The film is about Ethiopian coffee growers, but the above statement could just as easily been made about Nicaraguan farmers, whose abandoned fields I have seen. I have also seen the relative prosperity of families working on Fair Trade and Organic certified coffee cooperatives. It makes a difference. See the movie. Buy Fair Trade.
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For those of you who are interested in the issue of Fair trade, there is a powerful documentary out called “Black Gold,” that documents the lives and struggles of Ethiopian coffee farmers and clearly demonstrates why all of us should be asking for Fair Trade coffee. “Black Gold” was recently released in the theater but is now available to the public on DVD via California Newsreel. You can read more about the documentary or pick up a copy of it here at http://newsreel.org/
I was wondering if it was at all possible to announce to your members that this film is now available to the general public. It is a great way to introduce new people to the issue of fair trade or to show at community organizing/activist meetings. The more we can reach consumers, the more likely we are to make a difference.