Friday, November 26, 2010

Global Warming & Fairtrade sorted

Spent hours hours today debating Fairtrade as a concept and discovering that the world's CO2 emission problem could REALLY be solved by Coca Cola in just over 3 years ! What a day. And I had a gorgeous duck salad for lunch.
We Forest is a great response to climate change, and well worth checking out.
As for Fairtrade, the concept does cast the 'recipient' communities, and therefore potentially entire small nations in a particular relationship to the 'sharing/giving' countries.
 Obviously the implication is that all other trade is 'unfair', and be that as it may, and I for one DO subscribe to that observation, it may indeed NOT be giving an entirely intended message to outsiders, that FT is about 'sharing among equals' rather than a means simply to feel good about handing out a donation to the needy. Divine chocolate and the likes are the real deal, but Cadbury and Nestle clearly are not. Sadly, not enough people have made that distinction. I hope they (YOU!) will from now on.
Todays recommended reading that partly inspired such thoughts is Stone Soup by one of Earth 2010's most thoughtful inhabitants, Bill Liao. Thanks Bill.