Black Gold

I don't Feel Like Blogging...but this topic is important...and applicable...

In my cultural anthropology class...we watched this movie called black Gold

it's about the coffee trade...
The movie talks about how the coffee farmers sorta' get screwed in the coffee business...getting about 1% of every coffee item sold...

so a $3 cup of coffee gives them about 3 cents...
when they do a good amount of the work...

I already sorta' knew...about that

I didn't know it was to that extent...
but I knew it....


Black Gold...is a documentary...
real people...
the main character...is this guy trying to get better coffee prices for his workers in Ethiopia...

It really touched me...

he was talking about how the coffee prices were set
they're set by our economies...

mainly the New York and London...economies...

which as everyone knows is set by supply and demand...
our demand...
so mainly...because we want a cheaper cup of coffee these farmers aren't getting enough to feed their families...or send their children to school...

that sounds harsh I know....but it's true...

and it's not just American demand...
it's everywhere...England France Italy...all over Europe and America...

crazy...

In the movie...the cameraman asks this guy who's trying to get better wages for his farmers what people watching the documentary can do...he said...it's up to the consumer...to make the change...he asked that they only buy free trade coffee...

This impacted me...because I saw on the actual effects in video......

I'm not a coffee drinker...never have been.

but this made me think about all the other things we own that may not have been produced ethically...

because it really is up to us as consumers...to boycott and take the stand....

I mean it's American...
that's how this country started...
boycotts...

Obviously the first company that jumps to mind is Starbucks...

well I'm not so sure about this...Starbucks...I know has at least some free trade coffee...where they give the farmers a more fair price...

I don't know i'll have to look into it more...
and I'd love for anyone who's more knowledgeable about trade and how workers are treated within companies to give me some info...

I really feel like God has put this on my heart....to boycott...pretty much everyone who doesn't treat their workers properly...

because when you think about it...that's what leads to our bad economy...other countries having their populations forced to work under minimum wage...
it would level the playing field...against people like China if....we boycotted their goods until they complied with a reasonable minimum wage...

yes it would force us as consumers to pay more...but I really feel like I could do without...a pleasure that would pass away as soon as I ate it....
you know?

Faith Hope and Love

The greatest of these is Love

right now I'm not asking for any sort of action yet....I'm asking people to be aware...and to get info....and send me info...so we can all be educated...about this...I really want to help people in Africa...

The one African that stood out to me the most was this guy who said....we care more about trade than aid....

because they're getting beaten in the trade world, which makes them dependent on aid...instead of giving them philanthropy...it would do them much better if we gave their economies a chance...

they can't compete...all they have are resources...so they're at the mercy of ruthless and compassionate buyers...

here's the trailer for the documentary...



it's actually really entertaining...believe it or not...I liked it better than a lot of other films that were legit made to entertain....

if you're interested in this they have a website...

http://blackgoldmovie.com/

it's wonderful...gives links on how you can buy the movie (I'm thinkin' about doing that)...and also has links to internet sites where you can watch it online...(they really just want to inform the populace)

I couldn't get those to work....so I found it on youtube.com if you guys are interested in watching the whole thing....it's a little over an hour...

here's the url to the first video....it'll be split up, because it's on youtube.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8r4Fut8cvM

but please anyone...who has info on businesses that treat their workers well...and those that don't....for any industry...clothing...diamond...cereal industry...I wanna' know....

I really feel this is probably the next step for us as people to take...getting reasonable wages...or a universal minimum wage....

I know end times stuff...but I just wanna' help these people...

please help me...help them...:)