Categories: values
Tags: fairtrade
Date: 14 June 2007 18:18:06
No sooner had I blogged about there not being much to blog about, than an email appeared in my inbox telling me about this film. It highlights the struggle of Ethiopian coffee farmers to make a living from their work, and follows Tadesse Meskela, General Manager of the Oromia Coffee Co-operatives Union, fighting on an international scale to get his farmers a better deal. The multinational coffee industry is worth around $80 billion, which makes coffee the most important trading commodity in the world after oil, yet farmers are paid so little for their produce that many can no longer afford to farm at all.
This isn't a new concept. For many of us buying fairtrade, and the reasons for doing so, is second nature by now, and not something we even stop to question. But its not a universally accepted phenomenon, its not commonplace in every home and work place. And its certainly not something you expect to see on a cinema screen. This film is bringing into the mainstream the idea that much of the food and drink we take for granted is produced by people who simply aren't paid fairly. Its not often that these issues; the plight of the coffee farmers, the work of co-operatives and the very real difference they can make to the lives of the poorest people in the world, are brought to the attention of the media. By highlighting the trade of a seemingly normal staple such as coffee, this film shows the extent to which this is a problem inherant in every aspect of our lives, which no one can distance themselves from.
So, check out the films website (linked above) for screenings, and pledge to go and see it. The more people signing up, the more the cinemas will realise the demand. Above all, publicise it. If you've got a blog, add a banner (available from the website), if you're going to see it, take a friend, if you've been, write a review.