Black Gold - A film about coffee and fair trade

http://www.blackgoldmovie.com/



I picked this up at Tsutaya and felt it was very valuable to watch. I'm not very knowledgeable of the fair trade movement (need to educate myself) and this short 78 minute film helped me get some understanding of the effects of international trade on farmers in developing countries.

But will I make sure to buy Fair Trade Coffee now? Unfortunately, the film was not as compelling as it might have been. As a beginner in the concept of "fair trade" purchases, I found myself confused as to what I was supposed to be persuaded by. It sounds nice, but how exactly does it work...and does it?

Yes, I think I believe that multinational corporations in the US and EU tie up with their government trade offices to maximize profits at the expense of developing countries, basically disregarding the need to set up a system that will help poverty stricken areas of the world gain some stability for minimum needs such as food, water and literacy. Improvements in corporate social responsibility seem needed very much. I imagine those companies see business and charity was different things and try to be as cut-throat in business as they can get away with. It is the way businesses are.

Also, the fact that farms in developed countries are subsidized to a point that developing countries suffer from low international commodity prices seems in need of reform. The WTO seems to be a political tool for powerful countries to impose their will on poorer countries.

However...how does buying a slightly more expense package that says "fair trade coffee" exactly work in terms of helping the farmers' cooperative in Ethiopia that this film portrays? It sounds like a good idea to eliminate the various middlemen that take their cuts, but how does that exactly work? Also, since "fair trade" sounds awefully good to the responsible consumer, many big coffee companies like Starbucks are jumping on the bandwagon and advertising that they serve free trade coffee. Is that working at all? By the way, Starbucks was implicated in the movie in a confusing way--was it contributing to poverty or wealth in Ethiopia?? Not clear to me. I may have missed something since my infant daughter decided to vie for my attention around that part.

Need to get an informative resource about trade and efforts to eradicate poverty in developing countries. I have no doubt that fortunate countries/people need to be doing more to help less fortunate countries/people. The question is what.