Mexican Corn and NAFTA, Part 2

by: Jill Richardson

Sat Jul 10, 2010 at 20:05:33 PM PDT

In preparation for my upcoming trip to Jalisco, one of Mexico's top corn-producing states, I have been reading up on the impacts of NAFTA on Mexican agriculture. The first part I wrote up focused on how the treaty was written and how that impacted Mexican farmers. This next part is about how the treaty was actually implemented, which is a whole 'nother story.

Why is the U.S. Subsidizing Brazilian Cotton?

by: Jill Richardson

Thu Apr 22, 2010 at 21:24:21 PM PDT

The real tragedy here is that we'll end up paying a big chunk of cash to Brazil that could have been used here to (say) improve school lunches.  

Message to President Obama: Why Trade Will Not Save Rural America

by: Jill Richardson

Thu Feb 04, 2010 at 06:00:00 AM PST

Message to President Obama: Why Trade Will Not Save Rural America

February 3rd, 2010  By Paula Crossfield

In Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack's op-ed this week in the Des Moines Register, he recognized that hunger could not be solved by raising production, because production is in fact at record highs. Grappling with how these increases in productivity have not led to increases in profit, he explained that even though we've lost a million farmers in the last 40 years, "income from farming operations declined as a percentage of total farm family income by half." He continued, "Today, only 11 percent of family farm income comes from farming, which may explain why fewer young people go into farming and why many families rely on off-farm income opportunities to keep their farms." Vilsack gets the situation right, but his remedy is wrong. Instead of encouraging diversity and altering the pattern of overproduction which pits large farm owners against small by shrinking margins, the Obama administration's way of dealing with the discrepancy in rural America is through increasing trade.

More below...

Massacre in Peru in the name of Free Trade

by: Jill Richardson

Mon Jun 08, 2009 at 18:39:47 PM PDT

What essentially happened is that the Peruvian government wants to destroy the Amazon rainforest to use it for oil, mining, and biofuels, and they are attempting to do this in the name of free trade. When the indigenous people protested to protect their rights, they were brutally massacred.

Here is a photo diary of the massacre (warning: graphic). Read a description of the events and what caused them below. We in America need to be aware of the effects our economic imperialism has around the world. Instead of looking to move away from free trade agreements such as the one in Peru, we are working to establish new agreements, such as those in Panama or Columbia. The pork industry, for example, is lobbying very hard for a Panama FTA, so it can open up Panamanian markets to American pork.

Why Do We Need Fair Trade Coffee?

by: webuyitgreen

Fri Aug 22, 2008 at 08:50:49 AM PDT

By WeBuyItGreen: promoting green living and fair trade

This is the first in a five-part series of articles that compare three alternatives to the traditional coffee trade industry:  fair trade, direct trade, and Starbucks' C.A.F.E. program.  However, before we compare these three alternatives to one another, let's take a look at why fair trade coffee was created in the first place.  What conditions in the traditional coffee industry have created the need for fair trade, or some alternative that resembles it?