Earlier this week news bubbled up that a hedge fund manager with a Bond-villain nickname had made a Bond-villain move: "Choc Finger" bought a whopping 241,000 tons of cocoa beans -- 7% of the world's cocoa supply and enough to make 5 billion chocolate bars -- driving prices to 33-year highs. [more inside]
posted by chavenet on Jul 22, 2010 - 46 comments

Wolfville, Nova Scotia to become Canada's first fairtrade town, with an added emphasis on buying locally. Garstang, England, became the world's first fairtrade town in 2000, and Wales is aiming at being the first fairtrade country. Too big of a scale for you? You might want to start by encouraging your local schools or religious communities to make the jump.
posted by arcticwoman on Apr 17, 2007 - 91 comments

The National Automobile Slum: I propose that we now identify the human ecology of America precisely for what it really has become: the national automobile slum.-- James Howard Kunstler “Can America Survive Suburbia?”
posted by lonefrontranger on Mar 20, 2007 - 45 comments

Starbucks, Ethiopia and Intellectual Property. It was only a matter of time before Starbucks went up against a nation-state. Starbucks responds that they just want to help and that Ethiopia's position is based on unsound advice. Do their advisors know better than Oxfam? [oxfam response]. Maybe. Starbucks is breaking into the entertainment business quite effectively. Can corporate interest and social responsibility go hand in hand? Either way, the Pumpkin Spice Latte is yummy.
posted by cal71 on Oct 27, 2006 - 24 comments

Quality from the Himalayas. Amid continuing civil violence, Nepal has just made a big push to escape poverty through your local Starbucks. Working with Winrock International, Nepal's tea growers are finalizing a Code of Conduct that would eliminate pesticides banned by the EU and commit tea growers to replenishing the soil, using organic fertilizers whenever and wherever possible, and using fair labor and wage practices -- making Nepal Orthodox Tea more environmentally- and worker-friendly than its better-known rival Darjeeling. In the process, they hope to create a gourmet niche product (pdf; go to p. 8) that appeals to the taste and sensibilities of socially-conscious Westerners through a partnership with Tazo (Starbucks' main tea supplier), as well as to modernize the local industry to create greater international awareness of its products.
posted by occhiblu on Aug 2, 2006 - 17 comments

BlackSpotSneaker: Adbusters aims to take on Nike at their own game, by selling unionized, fair wage sneakers with the hopes of gaining marketshare that rival's Nike's multimillion dollar ad machine.
posted by mathowie on Sep 11, 2003 - 60 comments

"Do you know how much effort and time is put into the clothes you wear and the food you eat?"
-Sarah, 12, Bristol
Today is World Fair Trade Day. Even Dunkin' Donuts is giving it a try. Is Fair Trade potentially a better idea than boycotting?
posted by Shane on May 17, 2003 - 24 comments

Ethical Coffee Are you likely to drink more coffee if it is more "ethical"? Do you buy into green marketing?
posted by SandeepKrishnamurthy on Mar 14, 2002 - 25 comments

The Harvard Crimson contracts Cambodian sweatshop labor to make its online archives and saves $450,000. Is that the living wage they editorialized for?
posted by benjamin on Jul 24, 2001 - 21 comments