UAlbany Fair Trade Alliance

March 18: Taking Root, Documentary Showing and Discussion with Director

2010-03-14T15:41:00.000-07:00

Film Documentary: Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai
produced and directed by Lisa Merton and Alan Date

As part of Women’s History Month Series – “Everyday Heroines”: Women, Film and Social Movements: Critical Climate Change, Environmental Justice, Food and Land Sovereignty Movements in Africa

When: March 18, 7:30pm, 2010
Where: Humanities 354, University at Albany
What: Film Director, Lisa Merton will join with U Albany Faculty

Co-discussant: Mary Valentis, Professor of English, English Department and co-director, Institute for Critical Climate Change IC3, U Albany

Co-discussant: Deborah LaFond, University Library, Social Sciences Bibliographer, will share resources on “Food Sovereignty Movements in Africa” and some global implications for food. She is currently co-chair of the Women’s Caucus of the African Studies Association (ASA), chair of the Africana Librarians Council of ASA.

TAKING ROOT - This film presents an awe-inspiring profile of one woman's thirty-year journey of courage to protect the environment, co-create grassroots movements, ensure equality between men and women, defend human rights, and promote democracy--all sprouting from the achievable act of planting trees. This dramatic narrative shares one woman's personal journey in the context of the turbulent political and environmental history of her country. Internationally known as founder of the Greenbelt Movement (1977) and Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (2004), Wangari Maathai was raised in the rural highlands of Kenya, educated in the United States during the 1960s civil rights era, and was the first female to receive a PhD in East Africa. Maathai discovered the heart of her life's work by reconnecting with the rural women with whom she had grown up. With a simple act Wangari Maathai, a woman born in rural Kenya, started down the path that reclaimed her country’s land from 100 years of deforestation, child malnutrition, and provided new sources of nutritious food and income to rural communities, gave previously impoverished and powerless women a vital political role in their country, became a committed environmentalist and ultimately helped to bring down Kenya's twenty-four-year dictatorship.

Sponsored by: Women’s Studies Department, University at Albany
Co-Sponsors: History Department, United University Professionals (UUP) at the University at Albany

Dec. 7th: Brown Bag Lunch, Showing of TAKING ROOT: The Vision of Wangari Maathai

2009-12-04T05:53:00.000-08:00

December 7, 2009 marks a historic day – the opening of the United Nations Copenhagen Climate Change 2009 Conference. Dr. Wangari Maathai, Kenyan Nobel Prize Winner and Founder of the Green Belt Movement will be the Keynote speaker opening the conference in Copenhagen!

Come honor this day by watching the new film TAKING ROOT: The Vision of Wangari Maathai

Taking Root tells the dramatic story of Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai, whose simple act of planting trees grew into a nationwide movement to safeguard the environment, protect human rights, and defend democracy--a movement for which this charismatic woman became an iconic inspiration.

Monday, December 7, 2009
Brown Bag Lunch 12-2
University at Albany
University Library
Lower Level, Cobb Room

Learn more about the case for a grassroots response to climate change and the recognition of the role of indigenous forests.

Green Belt Movement - http://greenbeltmovement.org/index.php

For more information contact dlafond@uamail.albany.edu 518 442-3599

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About Wangari Maathai

Summary Biography of Professor Wangari Maathai

Wangari Muta Maathai was born in Nyeri, Kenya (Africa) in 1940. The first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree, Professor Maathai obtained a degree in Biological Sciences from Mount St. Scholastica College in Atchison, Kansas (1964). She subsequently earned a Master of Science degree from the University of Pittsburgh (1966). Professor Maathai pursued doctoral studies in Germany and the University of Nairobi, obtaining a Ph.D. (1971) from the University of Nairobi where she also taught veterinary anatomy. She became chair of the Department of Veterinary Anatomy and an associate professor in 1976 and 1977 respectively. In both cases, she was the first woman to attain those positions in the region.

Professor Maathai was active in the National Council of Women of Kenya in 1976-87 and was its chairman from 1981-87. In 1976, while she was serving the National Council of Women, Professor Maathai introduced the idea of community-based tree planting. She continued to develop this idea into a broad-based grassroots organization whose main focus is poverty reduction and environmental conservation through tree planting. With the organization which became known as the Green Belt Movement Professor Maathai has assisted women in planting more than 40 million trees on community lands including farms, schools and church compounds.

In 1986 the Green Belt Movement (GBM) established a Pan African Green Belt Network that has exposed many leaders of other African countries to its unique approach. Some of these individuals have established similar tree planting initiatives in their own countries using the methods taught to improve their efforts. Countries that have successfully launched such initiatives in Africa include Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Lesotho, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and others.

In September 1998, Professor Maathai became co-chair of the Jubilee 2000 Africa Campaign, which seeks debt cancellation for African countries. Her campaign against land grabbing and rapacious allocation of forest lands has gained international attention in recent years.

Professor Maathai is internationally recognized for her persistent struggle for democracy, human rights and environmental conservation. She has addressed the UN on several occasions and spoke on behalf of women at special sessions of the General Assembly during the five-year review of the Earth Summit. She served on the commission for Global Governance and the Commission on the Future. She and the Green Belt Movement have received numerous awards, most notably the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize.

Other awards include the Disney Conservation Award (2006), the Paul Harris Fellow (2005), the Sophie Prize (2004), the Petra Kelly Prize for Environment (2004), the Conservation Scientist Award (2004), J. Sterling Morton Award (2004), WANGO Environment Award (2003), Outstanding Vision and Commitment Award (2002), Excellence Award from the Kenyan Community Abroad (2001), Golden Ark Award (1994), Juliet Hollister Award (2001), Jane Adams Leadership Award (1993), Edinburgh Medal (1993), UN's Africa Prize for Leadership (1991), Goldman Environmental prize (1991), the Woman of the World (1989), Windstar Award for the Environment (1988), Better World Society Award (1986), Right Livelihood Award (1984) and the Woman of the Year Award (1983).

Professor Maathai was listed 6th in the Environment Agency (UK) peer review of the world’s Top 100 Eco-Heroes. She was also included in UNEP's Global 500 Hall of Fame and named one of the 100 heroines of the world. In June 1997, Professor Maathai was elected by Earth Times as one of 100 persons in the World who have made a difference in the environmental arena. In 2005, Professor Maathai was honored by Time Magazine as one of 100 most influential people in the world, and by Forbes Magazine as one of 100 most powerful women in the world.

Professor Maathai has also received honorary doctoral degrees from several institutions around the world: Williams college (1990), Hobart & William Smith Colleges (1994), University of Norway (1997), Yale University (2004), Willamette College (2005), University of California at Irvine (2006), and Morehouse University (2006).

The Green Belt Movement and Professor Maathai are featured in several publications including: Speak Truth to Power (Kerry Kennedy Cuomo, 2000), Women Pioneers for the Environment (Mary Joy Breton, 1998), Hopes Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet (Frances Moore Lappe and Anna Lappe, 2002), Una Sola Terra: Donna I Medi Ambient Despres de Rio (Brice Lalonde et al, 1998), Land Ist Leben (Bedrohte Volker, 1993. Dr. Maathai has also written two books of her own: an autobiography, Unbowed, and an explanation of her organizational method, The Green Belt Movement: Sharing the Approach and the Experience.

Professor Maathai serves on the boards of organisations including the UN Secretary Generals Advisory Board on Disarmament, the Jane Goodall Institute, Women and Environment Development Organization (WEDO), World Learning for International Development, Green Cross International, Environment Liaison Centre International, the Worldwide Network of Women in Environmental Work, the Global Crop Diversity Trust, Prince Albert II of Monaco Environmental Foundation, and the National Council of Women of Kenya.

In December 2002, Professor Maathai was elected to Kenya's parliament with an overwhelming 98 percent of the vote. Until 2007, she represented the Tetu constituency, Nyeri district in central Kenya (her home region). From 2003- 2007 Professor Maathai served as Assistant Minister for Environment and Natural Resources in Kenya's ninth parliament.

In 2005 Professor Maathai was elected the Presiding Officer of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) of the African Union based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. ECOSOCC was formed to advise the African Union on issues related to the African civil society. Dr. Maathai was also honored with an appointment as Goodwill Ambassador to the Congo Basin Forest Ecosystem, where she serves in an advocacy role for the region's conservation and protection.

In April 2006, the President of France, Mr. Jacques Chirac honoured Professor Maathai with France’s highest honour, Legion d’Honneur. The decoration ceremony took place in Paris in April 2006 and was presided over by Minister of Ecology and Sustainable Development, Madam Nelly Olin. Also in 2006, Professor Maathai founded the Nobel Women’s Initiative with her sister Nobel Peace Laureates Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi, Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan. In 2007 Professor Maathai was invited to be co-chair of the Congo Basin Fund initiated by the UK government to help protect the Congo Forests.

Friday, Oct. 23: Why We Migrate, Stories of Mexico's Displaced

2009-10-14T10:36:00.000-07:00

Friday, October 23, 2009
7pm
Humanities Building 113
SUNY Albany
1400 Washington Ave.
Albany, NY 12222

For more info email:
uafairtradealliance@gmail.com

Food for Thought: Black Gold Movie Showing

2009-09-14T06:47:00.000-07:00

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17
7PM
THE LINDA, 339 CENTRAL AVE.
ALBANY, NY

FILM FOLLOWED BY PANEL DISCUSSION WITH DEAN CYCON OF DEAN’S BEANS AND AMBER CHAND, FOUNDER OF THE WOMEN’S PEACE COLLECTION.

EVENT: Fair Trade in Africa, April 2, 2009

2009-03-25T09:36:00.000-07:00

Fair Trade in Africa
Thursday, April 2, 2009
12:30-2pm
International Education Conference room (Science Library, G-5).
(This is in the new Science Library Building connected to the Campus Center)

The Consortium on Africa and the U Albany Fair Trade Alliance is co-sponsoring a presentation/discussion on “Fair Trade in Africa.”

Jean Dobbs from the African Reflections Foundation (and Store in the Empire State Plaza) will speak to us about their project. U Albany Fair Trade Alliance will share updates and ways to get involved in Fair Trade in the Capital Region.

If you are doing research in this area, please come and share your research projects with us. If you would like time to present, please e-mail Deborah LaFond at: dlafond@uamail.albany.edu

Come participate in the discussion on the importance of Fair Trade in Africa and beyond!

We will meet from 12:30-2 pm in the International Education Conference room (Science Library, G-5). This is in the new Science Library Building connected to the Campus Center.

Fair Trade for a Fair World!

2009-01-31T17:13:00.000-08:00

UAlbany Fair Trade Alliance Presents:
Fair Trade for a Fair World!

Wednesday, Feb. 11th, 2009
4pm: Participatory Art Installation
5-7pm: Fair Trade Event
Assembly Hall, Campus Center, UAlbany

Participating Groups: UAlbany Fair Trade Alliance, Honest Weight Food Co-op, Mango Tree, Mayan Hands

For more info contact: uafairtradealliance@gmail.com

Fair Trade for a Fair World

2009-01-29T22:14:00.000-08:00

Press Release: Fair Trade for a Fair World!!

2009-01-29T05:56:00.000-08:00

Press Release:
U ALBANY FAIR TRADE ALLIANCE PRESENTS:
“FAIR TRADE FOR A FAIR WORLD”

The UAlbany Fair Trade Alliance will host presentations and conversations between the Alliance, Fair Trade organizations and UAlbany students, staff, and faculty will from 5:00pm – 7:00 pm on February 11, 2009. A participatory art installation on “Why, Fair Trade?” begins at 4:00pm that same day. The U Albany Fair Trade Alliance hopes to inspire open dialogue on “How to Create a Fair Trade University at UAlbany?” Participating organizations include: The Honest Weight Food Co-op, Mayan Hands, The Mango Tree, and many others that will describe how they participate and work toward Fair Trade. The Department of Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies is one of the sponsors along with other co-sponsoring departments on the campus.

The main goals of this gathering are:

1) To share information on and make known the importance of Fair Trade among the members of the UAlbany community;

2) To express that there is a strong desire within the UAlbany community of promoting Fair Trade within Social Justice and Sustainability efforts;

3) To build alliances between individuals and groups interested in promoting Fair Trade, Sustainability and Social Justice, both within and outside UAlbany.
Date: Wednesday, February 11th, 2009

Time: 4pm – 7pm
4pm - 5pm: Participatory Art Installation
5pm - 7pm: Fair Trade Presentations and Fair

Where: University at Albany,
Campus Center, Assembly Hall,
1400 Washington Ave, Albany, NY 12222

Cost: Free – All welcome, open to the public

Contact: Fair Trade Alliance UAFairTradeAlliance@Gmail.com

Patricia Pinho
Assistant Professor of Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies
Phone: 442-4893 E-Mail Address: ppinho@albany.edu

Deborah LaFond
Associate Librarian, Social Sciences Bibliographer
Phone: 442-3599 E-Mail Address: Dlafond@uamail.albany.edu
On February 11, 2009 from 9:20-11:20am, Professor Pinho will offer a lecture on Fair Trade at the University at Albany, Social Sciences Building, Room 134.

UALBANY FAIR TRADE ALLIANCE

We are a UAlbany alliance working to create a Fair Trade University. We invite you to get involved in this process that combines activism and scholarship.

Fair trade is an ethical, transparent and co-responsible relationship among all the participants in the productive chain, and it requires that producers receive a fair payment for their work, thus challenging those economic relations in which the middlemen make the greatest profit. Fair Trade allows workers to support workers, both locally (e.g. through domestic Fair Trade such as Farmers’ Markets), and transnationally since it is an important means of improving the quality of life of impoverished people in developing countries.

Because the university is a space of intellectual reflection it is potentially imbued with the ethical and political commitment to promoting global equality and justice. “Fair trade status” has been applied in the UK and Canada to schools, colleges, universities, and even to entire towns. This movement is increasing in the US. UAlbany can be at the forefront of this process because it has been historically committed to the principles of humane working conditions for workers all over the world. The main goal of this status consists in calling the attention of students, staff, faculty and the general public to the inequality within international trade. Fair Trade is a means to overcome this inequality.

For online information see: http://www.UAFairTradeAlliance.Blogspot.com

UWO first in U.S. to become a Fair Trade University

2008-10-27T08:11:00.001-07:00

UWO first in U.S. to become a Fair Trade University
September 4, 2008 uwosh.edu
News Bureau

The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh is the first university in the U.S. to become a Fair Trade University by making a commitment to do its part toward ending trade injustices that result in millions of people living in poverty.

Fair trade products have been produced providing artisans and farmers with a living wage for their work and humane working conditions, while also protecting the environment. About 70 universities in Europe have Fair Trade University status, including the University of Birmingham and the University of Edinburgh, but UW Oshkosh is the first American university to do so.

To become a Fair Trade University, UW Oshkosh’s four governing bodies endorsed a resolution outlining its commitment to: selling Fair Trade Certified coffee, tea and chocolate in dining establishments, at catered functions and in department offices whenever feasible and within the confines of its food service contract; offering Fair Trade Certified food products and handicrafts at University stores whenever possible; and identifying and acknowledging Fair Trade Certified products and encouraging their purchase by students, faculty and staff. The Fair Trade program will be overseen by the newly formed Campus Sustainability Council.

“Sustainability goes well beyond being ‘green’,” said Chancellor Richard H. Wells. “It includes social justice as well. By becoming a Fair Trade University, UW Oshkosh is making a commitment to do our part toward helping workers around the world get a livable wage and humane working conditions. As a large institution, UW Oshkosh can play an important part in shaping the future and in supporting green practices on all levels.”

Becoming a Fair Trade University is not the first step UW Oshkosh has taken toward becoming more sustainable. The University is a member of the Fair Labor Association, and only works with vendors who have been inspected by the organization and certified as not subjecting employees to sweatshop conditions.

“Becoming a Fair Trade University is a natural next step for us,” said Petra Roter, vice chancellor for student affairs. “This is part of who we are and demonstrates what we believe.”

In 2002 the University became one of the first to endorse the Earth Charter - an international declaration of interdependence that outlines fundamental principles for building a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society for the 21st century.

In 2003, UW Oshkosh became the first Wisconsin university to join the Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership by agreeing to purchase at least 3 percent of its energy from renewable sources, making it at the time the largest purchaser of green energy in Wisconsin. As a result, the University won an EPA Green Power Purchase Award and was listed by the EPA as an Energy Star Case Study.

The University also received the 2003 EPA Leadership Award - the 11th U.S. university to receive the EPA’s highest leadership award. In 2004, UW Oshkosh won a National Wildlife Federation Campus Ecology Recognition Award for its campus environmental audit and in 2005, the university received a second Energy Star Award from the EPA.

In 2008, the University adopted a policy to purchase cage-free eggs and unveiled its Campus Sustainability Plan, which guides its efforts to continue as a national leader in responsible environmental stewardship, education, outreach and research.
Additionally, UW Oshkosh is one of only 41 universities in the United States listed on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Web site as a large purchaser of renewable energy.
The University will also be announcing this month the results of a carbon footprint study, conducted in collaboration with Johnson Controls.

“Sustainability is a long-term commitment and an important one for higher education. Fair trade is particularly important because it is focused on both social justice and environmental responsibility,” said David Barnhill, chair of UW Oshkosh’s environmental studies program. “One of the most important features of fair trade is that, unlike free trade, it empowers growers and workers in developing countries and provides economic security.”

Barnhill added that he expects that UW Oshkosh’s declaration will result in other universities in the U.S. seeking Fair Trade University status, leading to the formation of a formal organization to monitor and support their efforts.

While there are no other Fair Trade Universities in the U.S., there are Fair Trade Towns. Milwaukee was one of the first cities in the U.S. to become a Fair Trade Town.

For more information about the sustainability initiatives at UW Oshkosh, visit www.uwosh.edu/sustainability.
For more information about Fair Trade Universities in Europe, visit www.fairtrade.org.uk.
For more information about Fair Trade Towns, visit www.fairtradetownsusa.org.
Posted in Fair Trade Towns USA News

UW-Milwaukee groups demand fair trade policy (news article)

2008-10-21T14:46:00.001-07:00

http://badgerherald.com/news/2008/10/10/uw-milwaukee_groups_.php

NEWS
UW-Milwaukee groups demand fair trade policy

by Mallory Cybulski
Friday, October 10, 2008

Two student groups at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee staged an on-campus demonstration Wednesday in support of the Designated Supplier Program, a proposal demanding fair treatment for sweatshop workers manufacturing university apparel.

The Milwaukee Students for a Democratic Society and the Milwaukee Graduate Assistant Association initiated the demonstration in protest against UW-Milwaukee’s refusal to adopt DSP policies.

Beth Robinson, secretary of MGAA and an SDS member, said the purpose of the demonstration was to raise awareness concerning worker conditions and the DSP initiative.

“We felt like it was time to get the student body more engaged with the issue,” Robinson said.

According to Rod Palmquist, international campaigns coordinator for the United Students Against Sweatshops Organization, DSP intends to protect the rights of workers who sew university logo apparel, mandating universities source their apparel exclusively from stores that meet standards of fair treatment and respect for their employees.

“The root problem of sweatshops is a downward price compression that pits factories against each other to see who can produce the most product at the lowest cost, with no respect for human rights,” Palmquist said.

Palmquist added simply monitoring the factories that produce university apparel is not enough.

“The DSP is to address the root of the problem and protect workers’ rights,” he said.

Eric Hemming, UW-Milwaukee Bookstore director, said the goals of MGAA and SDS student groups are “excellently” thought out and supported by the university, but UW-Milwaukee made the decision to not adopt the program because DSP policy “raises issues.”

According to Hemming, the DSP limits outsourcing to a small number of vendors in an effort to monitor the flow of trade throughout the entire UW System. But in doing so, the DSP has the potential to commit an antitrust violation in restricting legitimate trade.

“[DSP policy] takes trade away from people and vendors who are potentially doing nothing wrong,” Hemming said. “We all think that this is a very thoughtful idea, but unfortunately in the current legal environment and in the way the program is currently constructed, it is not possible.”

According to Palmquist, the DSP is currently awaiting an antitrust review letter from the Department of Justice, which could determine if it violates the law. If the DSP receives a positive review, it will be nearly impossible for the program to be challenged legally in the future.

So far 45 schools have issued DSP adoption letters.

Dawn Crim, specialty assistant to the General Educational Administration at UW-Madison, said in an e-mail to The Badger Herald that UW was one of the first institutions to sign the DSP and has been one of the leaders within the group since.

Palmquist said it is important for schools to sign the issue to gain strength in numbers.

“One school alone cannot fix the system, but as a whole their leverage is much more strong, and they can really push through the program and implement its models and practices,” he said, referring to UW-Madison.

Robinson said it is important for universities to be involved in the issue to stop the unfair treatment of sweatshop workers.

“The protest today was successful because it got people talking and thinking about the issue, so I hope that a lot of students now see that they can really have an impact and are interested in getting involved,” Robinson added.

Support the Guatemala Emergency Relief Fund

2008-09-22T11:25:00.001-07:00

The Guatemala Emergency Relief Fund is making an active contribution to ongoing humanitarian efforts addressing the substantial loss of life, property, and livelihood in Guatemala caused by hurricane Stan in early October.

We are seeking donations and volunteers for ongoing projects in one of the affected communities, Santa Catarina Palopó, Department of Sololá, Guatemala. Find out more about us and our current projects.

Visit: http://www.albany.edu/relief/

The Great African Scandal

2008-09-15T12:37:00.000-07:00

Watch the rest (parts 2-5) on YouTube!

Welcome to UAlbany Fair Trade Alliance Blog Spot!

2008-08-25T17:51:00.001-07:00

Welcome to UAlbany Fair Trade Alliance Blog Spot! We hope this can become a place to exchange ideas about Fair Trade news, initiatives and projects on and off UAlbany's campus. We can also use this blog as a space to track our progress, post important milestones and chat about fair trade issues.