|
NEWS & REPORTS
index of papers
Feb, 2005
Coop News:
Shopping for a Better World in San Miguel
by Betsy Bowman and Bob Stone
Globalization -- the attempt to build a human world by
spreading US-style market economics -- has failed. A larger percent
of humanity is underfed today than when the World Bank and IMF started
60 years ago. If globalization is ruining farmers, polarizing wealth,
polluting and depleting the planet, causing war and even hurting foreigner-local
relations in San Miguel, what can we do about it? The issue has arisen
at events put on by the Center for Global Justice. Infrequently using
our political power is not enough. How about also exercising our economic
power? One strategy is to morally choose how and what we produce, what
we buy, and how we save and invest our money.
Flooded by cheap, subsidized NAFTA farm products, Mexican
farmers are “desperate,” says Alberto Arroyo of RMALC, Mexico’s
anti-NAFTA network (www.remalc.org.mx/) As consumers who are free to
set our own criteria for sustainability, organics, fair trade, responsible
consumerism, credit unions, and social investing, we can help. Let’s
sort these movements by their criteria.
If you ask for “organic” you’ll likely
get chemical-free results of environmentally sound farming but not necessarily
under good working conditions. Local organic produce is available, for
example, at BBQ Bob’s on Ancha San Antonio. Mexico’s organic
certifier, Certimex, requires soil and watercourse protection. But “organic”
can mean selling super-exploited stuff in high-end niches. We get what
we ask for. Organic Consumers Association (www.organicconsumers.org)
combines “organic” with “fair trade” criteria
(see below). Luckily for us, a leader of this 600,000 strong group lives
part-time in San Miguel, and is encouraging “community supported
agriculture” here. New to Mexico, CSA farmers pay infrastructural
costs but nearby shareholders buy their crops, picking them up at harvest
time. (See www.csacenter.org for a national database of CSAs in the
US.)
If you “buy local” you get fresher food, re-circulate
community wealth, and short-circuit the globalizing WalMart economy.
Campaigns by FoodRoutes (www.foodroutes.org) and Global Exchange (www.globalexchange.org)
are gathering momentum. But again: labor relations may be poor. Deliverers
of a local water told us the company does not pay their seguro.
If you want good labor practices, progressively better
ones are implied in these criteria: “socially sustainable,”
“sweat free,” “fair trade,” “union made,”
and “co-op made.” In effect, “free trade” means
free of environmental and labor standards. By contrast, “fair
trade” or “comercio justo” labels are backed by certifying
agencies and usually mean long-term contracts at above world market
prices, without middle men. Mexico’s Comercio Justo aims to directly
help coffee co-ops or family farms. But to get the label, only 50% of
product has to be from such “small producers,” a large loophole.
(www.comerciojusto.com.mx) And not all
The gold standard in labor relations is “co-op made” meaning
worker co-ops where the workers are the owners, democratically run the
place, and share all profits. A union wage is still a wage: others profit
from your labor. Last May in Minneapolis, following Canada, the 300
or so worker co-ops in the US, with an estimated 10,000 worker-owners,
founded the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives. (www.usworkercoop.org)
Mexico is forming such a federation.
Co-op products available in San Miguel include: Mujeres
Productoras. This cooperative of 104 women artisans, sells exploitation-free
baskets, embroidery, clothing, shampoo and soap from their shop in Meson
San Jose on Mesones. Union de la Selva. Coffee from this Chiapas cooperative
is available at La Ventana on Sollano. Boing-brand soft drinks. Fruit-based
refrescos from this worker cooperative, Pascual, are at many groceries.
Other local “buy-coop” opportunities are available, but
need investigation. We will report.
Economic power is being used not just to create eddies
of humanity in corporate globalization but to move beyond it altogether.
Solidarity economies, well along in Europe, are starting in Mexico.
(www.vinculando.org) Alternative economies include kill banks and local
currencies, social change consumerism, and movements for voluntary simplicity.
All show “a better world is possible,” in the slogan of
the World Social Forums. We’ll do a later piece on them.
When we do jointly set and act on criteria for where
we spend or invest, results can be dramatic: many civil rights victories
and the defeat of apartheid owed much to ethical buying and investment.
Changing the world with economic power is not easy (deep habits need
re-direction), cannot be done at all in isolation from each other, and
is not the only strategy needed. But if we band together, set goals
and criteria, and examine producer candidates, we can build a more human
economy. A consumer co-op could find (and elicit) products suited to
its criteria. Why shouldn’t we set an example? A meeting time
and place will soon be announced.
see also
"Better World Column:" David vs. Goliath: Small Cooperatives vs. Multinational Corporations
index of papers
|
