Comercio Justo and "A Deeper Shade of Green"

FAIR TRADE

For those of you interested in buying Fair Trade products or just want to find out more about it, I found some good webpages online for Spain, the US, and the UK. The concept originated in Europe in the 1960s, and it is a movement to help:

·promote sustainable development

·alleviate poverty

·create transparency and accountability

·develop the producers' independence, eliminating the "middle-man"

·payment of a fair price, enabling a production that is socially just and environmentally sound

·gender equity

·safe and healthy working conditions

·children's rights

·encourage better environmental practices

WEBSITES:

Equi Mercado

Global Exchange: Fair Trade

Traidcraft Shop


"A DEEPER SHADE OF GREEN"

In my family I've always been picked on as being a "tree hugger". Now, I'm no Julia "Butterfly" Hill who spends two years of her life living in a California Redwood, and I am strongly against radical or violent activism, but I would consider myself an environmentalist in the sense that I think conservation and sustainability are extremely important. I'll also be the first to admit that I don't do all I should. I hate taking the bus and it's so much easier to go to the grocery store below my house rather than walk to the local Farmer's Market in the old city. But we are slowly destroying our natural environment and we,the world, need to change our practices and our way of life.

If you are suscribers to the National Geographic, there's a great article in the August issue by Bill McKibben (author of the best seller, The End of Nature) called, "A Deeper Shade of Green". He talks about the need for a new cultural environmentalism. The need for a new frame of mind and way of living and thinking. He deals with fossil fuel, energy costs, urban sprawl, farmer's markets, etc. Here are few exerpts:

"The old paradigm works like this: We judge just about every issue by asking the question, Will this make the economy larger? But endless economic growth is built on the use of cheap fossil fuel...We need to stop asking, Will this make the economy larger? Instead, we need to start asking, Will this pour more carbon into the atmosphere?"

"We've gotten used to eating across great distances. Because it's always summer somewhere, we've accustomed ourselves to a food system that delivers us fresh produce 365 days a year. The energy cost is incredible--growing and transporting a single calorie of iceberg lettuce from California to the eastern U.S. takes 36 calories of energy. What would it take to get us back to eating more locally, to accepting what the seasons and smaller scale local farmers provide?"

"What would it take to make us consider smaller homes, closer to the center of town, where we could use the bus or a bike for daily transportation?"

"Standard economic theory has long assured us that we're insatiable bundles of desires. That may be true, but more and more it feels like our greatest wish is for more contact with other people...We don't need to erase individualism; it is one of the glories of the American character. But environmentalists desperately need to celebrate community, too."

Galicia is STILL Burning

The number of wildfires just keeps going up. There are now 135 dispersed all over Galicia, but mostly on the coast. Here are the two local newspapers if you want to take a look at what's going on:

El Correo Gallego

La Voz de Galicia

Galicia Burning

As you can see in the sidebar, the weather for today in Santiago de Compostela is...smoke. Over the past few days more than 90 different forest fires have been blazing throughout Galicia. We had to wait for hours last night before we could come back home from the beach because all of the roads leading back to Santiago were cut off by fires. We've been breathing smoke for 3 days straight.

These devastating fires are deliberately set by individuals who are either pyromaniacs or have been bribed by companies who might benefit. Who knows. The beautiful forests of autochthonous oaks, chestnuts, and pines are being destroyed, and then later replaced by the invasive Eucalyptus tree (because it grows quicker)that push out the native species of trees. The once lush and green hills and mountains are now dead, barren, and black from years of deliberate illegal burning.

Here are some articles in English:
Army sent in as fires ravage Galicia

Raging fires in Spain kill 3

Forest fires wreak havoc in northwestern Spain

Torrential Rain

The other day in one of my more advanced classes I was teaching them weather vocabulary. Words like scorching, snowdrifts, mild. But this past week I realized that here in Galicia they really only need to know words like gale, blustery, hailstones and torrential rain. That's what we've gotten here lately and it just keeps on coming.

Chocolate Cake and a Tripod

That's all it takes to make me happy. Thanks for my special day, Josiño.

Black Thumb

That's right. You heard me. I'm lacking a green thumb. Mine is putrid and black. Why is it that I always kill my plants. I bet all the little plants and bulbs scream little screams when I walk in the plant shop. "Oh no, not her! Did you hear what happened to Gardenia? She's merciless." "Yeah, well I heard she drowned Myrtle!" "I won't even mention what she did to Rose...it's despicable." I'm so ashamed!!! Here's a picture of my lovely little green friends just ONE week ago...



Well this is what they're looking like as of yesterday....





...it's depressing. I never wanted to hurt them!!! What have I done?? SOS!!

Rainy Spain...Not So Rainy?

For those of you who have been to Galicia, the province that I live in here in Spain, or have ever heard me talk about it, will know that it's kind of like Seattle. It rains about 90% of the year. I know, I know...when you think of Spain you think of ...bulls, toreros, flamenco, gypsies, sangría, sun and fun...Olé!! You will, however, be sadly (or not so sadly) mistaken if you ever get the chance to visit. If you want sun...go to Seville.



Galicia is somewhat of a haven from Ireland. Rainy, green and Celtic.

So, not only is the weather different, the culture is too. Gallegos will have nothing to do with Catalanes or Madrileños or Andaluces. They even have their own language...Gallego...which is strikingly similar to Portuguese.


In Galicia, you can expect to see green rolling hills, small medival towns made of granite, brightly colored fishing boats, little old bow-legged ladies dressed in black pushing vegetable carts, wrinkled old men wearing berets gulping down red wine while playing cards in a café, as well as metropolitan cities, the latest fashion (Zara is Galician), and bohemian avant-gardes. But one thing that's constant in the rain. Whether you're a farmer or a businessman, every house has an umbrella stand at the front door and everyone buys Gortex shoes.



This time of year is usually cold and rainy already, but these last few weeks have been beautiful. Cool and sunny. No one knows what to think, but no one dares to mention it for fear they'll curse the lovely weather. Did I mention Gallegos are also very superstitious??

The effects of global warming are setting in here. Every year the winters get drier and the summers get hotter. The rain is characteristic of Galicia. It makes the old city in Santiago seem magical and mystical. It just isn't Galicia without the rain. However, I am enjoying the sun and not having to carry an umbrella around all the time. I think deep down inside most Gallegos are yearning for it to start raining again. There's just something about the gloominess of the rain that's attractive. I'll let you know when it starts to get dreary again.