The folk over at Portside have circulated an article from the San Jose Mercury News. It decries the treatment of workers at local neighbourhood stores, and is another reminder that ‘local’ need not be synonymous with ‘ethical’….
The wags at Avaaz.org have been drawing attention to their Fire Paul Wolfowitz campaign by mashing up some pop culture with footage of the Embattled World Bank President. (I think they’re making “Embattled” a permanent feature of the job description.) Here’s the result – thanks to Dan for sending it on. And Dan’s right. The British version is funnier.
The Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration – the ETC Group – is a touchstone for research on corporate concentration in agriculture. Here’s a release from them about the ‘New Green Revolution in Africa’. Keep Reading »
It’s a long list, but a good reminder that, throughout the world, there are dozens of events to celebrate International Peasants Day today, April 17th.
Bolivia
Via Campesina Bolivia is celebrating the 17th of April in Montero, in the rural area around Santa Cruz. The event on Agrarian Reform, Food sovereignty and Gender will also be attended by the members of the International Coordinating Committee of La Vía Campesina.
Contact: lulabar_yuramihuilai@yahoo.es
The World Bank is in the news of late. Its president, Paul Wolfowitz (pictured), has been pilloried for making confetti out of the Bank’s ethical rulebook, and showering his sweetheart with it. While this is generally unremarkable behaviour in Washington, he has attracted more attention than his peers because of his institution’s crusade against corruption, and his saying things like “to make poverty history, we need to make corruption history”.
It’s right there in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. Article 25 says
Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
Things have been a little quiet here at Stuffed and Starved. Part of the reason is food-related: some friends of mine in South Africa were on hunger-strike. After twelve days, the government, which had arrested them illegally, released them. You can read more about the story in a short summary I wrote here. Meanwhile, normal service will now resume at Stuffed and Starved.
Here’s a fine analysis, and call for caution, from George Monbiot. His website is here and this article is from Z Magazine.
Here’s an article from the New York Times, about who really benefits from Food Aid…
Original Article Here. Thanks to Dan Moshenberg for sending it along.
Photo Credit : Joann Cornejo
Today is Cesar Chavez Day. It’s a good day to remember that the poorest and most exploited people in farming aren’t farmers – they are the farm workers.
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