Natural Family News

I know. I sound like a broken record. Evil Wal-Mart. Blah. Blah. Blah. But really some social scientists did a study, and it appears Wal-Mart really does make people more poor. “After controlling for other factors determining changes in the poverty rate over time, we find that both counties with more initial Wal-Mart stores and with more additions of stores between 1987 and 1998 experienced greater increases (or smaller decreases) in family poverty rates during the 1990’s economic boom period,” Stephan Goetz a Professor of Agricultural and Regional Economics at The Pennsylvania State University states.

Go back and read that again. Do you get what it’s saying. If a Wal-Mart moves in near you it is highly likely that poverty rates in your area will actually increase. Best case scenario, they will decrease at a lower rate than in other areas near you (but farther away from Wal-Mart).

See? You’re not really saving money. You THINK you’re saving money, but somehow Wal-Mart manages to suck the money right out of a town by selling stuff that people THINK they can afford. The net result? Fewer Mom and Pop stores and more people who can only afford to shop at Wal-Mart.

The California town of Hercules gets it. They’re the latest town to ban Wal-Mart.

Join the International Labor Rights Fund, Global Exchange, and the Organic Consumers Assocation in telling Nestle, Cargill, and ADM to stop using child labor!
On Monday, February 6th, just a week before Valentine’s Day, the first court hearing is scheduled for a lawsuit filed by the International Labor Rights Fund (ILRF) against Nestle, Cargill, and Archer Daniels-Midland for forced child labor in their West African cocoa farms. The cocoa provided by these companies supplies virtually every major chocolate producer in the United States, including Hershey’s and M&M/Mars.

Global Exchange and the Organic Consumers Association will hold an action outside the courthouse to demand the companies stop using cocoa harvested by forced child labor.

Monday, February 6th
12:30 PM
US District Court #6
312 N. Spring St, Los Angeles, CA

Please bring your children, signs, posters, puppets, drums or anything else to send a message against child labor and in support of Fair Trade!

To learn more about the lawsuit please click here.

For more information or press inquiries contact Carlos Martinez at (415) 260-8566.

Here at Natural Family News, we’re always on the lookout for opportunities to share with our readers. One of our partners, The Green Guide, has started a free newsletter with daily living tips for more eco-friendly living. Called the Ideal Bite, it is filled with tips on how to choose a more environmentally friendly coffee, hybrid cars, recycling your cell phone, getting rid of junk mail, and much, much more. Delivered to your inbox Monday-Friday for free, the Ideal Bite is a must have for those interested in taking steps, small or big, towards a friendlier planet. To sign up or to read more about what they have to offer, visit the Ideal Bite by clicking on this link.

There is Nothing Magical About Child Labor!
From: www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade

Help Promote Fair Trade at Screenings of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory In Your Town

Starting July 15, 2005

When Tim Burton’s summer blockbuster “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” opens July 15th, all eyes will be on the real chocolate industry and their response to continuing child labor abuses on cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast.

A peak behind the sourcing practices of companies like Mars, Hershey and Nestle — maker of the Wonka Whipple Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight — reveals not a magical candy forest, but a real human tragedy as children as young as nine continue to toil under unimaginable conditions on West African cocoa farms.

The films release comes at a pivotal moment in the discussion about the real chocolate industry’s response to child slavery on cocoa farms. July 1st 2005 marks the final deadline for the industry’s voluntary protocol on child slavery. After four years of foot dragging, it is clear the chocolate industry has failed to live up to its commitments under the protocol and once again the possibility of binding legislation is on the table.

Join Global Exchange, International Labor Rights Fund, United Students for Fair Trade, the Canadian Fair Trade Network and Peace Diviners International in making the most of the occasion by organizing a creative action to promote fair trade in your town, July 15th!

Hand Out “Make My Wonka Bar Fair Trade” Leaflets

Work with area theaters to set up regular tabling events or leaflet screenings of the films with our fabulous full color “Make My Wonka Bar Fair Trade” leaflets. The leaflets call upon Nestle USA — maker of the fabled Wonka Bar and one of the largest importers of cocoa from the Ivory Coast, to do right by the characters in the film and go fair trade. To order leaflets please send your name, address and phone number to jamie@globalexchange.org or call 415-575-5538 or download and reproduce your own online at:

http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/
cocoa/charlieaction.html

Stage a Creative Action to Get Media Attention for Your Event

Dress up like the characters from the film or create giant Wonka Bar visuals to add color and energy to your action. The film and book provide myriad hooks for your group to formulate its own songs and chants the virtues of fair trade and why Willy Wonka and our hero Charlie might suggest that the major chocolate companies be thrown down the shoot for not living up To their responsibility to end child labor on cocoa farms. You can use our Oompa Loompa songs and chants or write your own!
For more creative ideas and to share yours with us and others visit:

http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/
cocoa/oompaloompasong.html

Talk About Fair Trade at Your Summer Camp or Youth Group

Teachers, counselers and youth group leaders! This is a terrific Opportunity to introduce your kids to activism and an easy and fun way to talk about where their chocolate comes from. Global Exchange has myriad resources for teachers and other educators to talk to their children about fair trade and empower them to help their peers on cocoa farms around the world. Whether you are reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in your classroom, Taking a group of kids to see the film or just looking for a way to get out of the sun and into the cool theater this summer, our fair trade materials for kids can help you make the most of the experience. Fair trade lesson plans, teaching materials and action guides for children of all ages are available online at:

http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/
cocoa/chocolatekids.html

Can’t Make it to the Film? Write, Call and Email Nestle from Home!

Global Exchange has set up a fax action for folks who can’t make the actions to send a message to Nestle CEO, Joe Waller from the comfort of their own homes. Have a wireless laptop? Then you can do it from your lawn chair! Take a second to send a fax to Mr. Waller right now and let him know that we aren’t satisfied with
Nestles efforts to end child labor to date and insist they take the problem seriously by switching to fair trade. You can use our sample letter or write your own!

http://www.globalexchange.org/getInvolved/
actnow/nestleslavery.html

For more information on how to get involved or to order “Make My Wonka Bar Fair Trade” postcards please contact Jamie Guzzi at Global Exchange, 415-575-5538 or email Jamie@globalexchange.org.

For more information on the dates and times of screenings of “Charlie andthe Chocolate Factory” in your town please visit:
http://www.fandango.com

—
Jamie Guzzi
Fair Trade Cocoa Campaigner
Global Exchange
jamie@globalexchange.org 415-575-5538
www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade
2017 Mission Street #303, San Francisco, CA 94110

Support Fair Trade today by visiting Global Exchange’s Fair Trade stores. On-line and retail in San Francisco, Berkeley, and Portland www.globalexchange.org/store

Global Exchange is a non-profit research, education, and action center working for political, economic, environmental, and social justice on a global scale. We work to increase international awareness among the U.S. public emphasizing struggles for peace, justice, and equality while building meaningful international partnerships.