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DESCRIPTION:NATIONAL SPEAKING TOUR: THAI FARMERS WORKING FOR FAIR TRADE\n\nThursday, 
 May 1 at 7:30 pm\nNew College Theater, 777 Valencia, San 
 Francisco\n\nCorporate globalization often seems both anonymous and 
 omniscient, but two\nJasmine Rice Farmers from Thailand have some very 
 specific personal stories\nto share about both the impact of globalization 
 and how they are fighting\nback.\n\nJasmine rice, Developed by Thai Farmers 
 of over centuries as a high quality\ngrain exported all over the world, is 
 being impacted by globalization.\nCurrently under international law it is 
 permitted to sell inferior quality\nand genetically modified rice under the 
 Jasmine Rice label. The market for\nJasmine rice and therefore the lives 
 and livelihoods of Jasmine rice\nfarmers, is being threatened by these 
 unethical labeling practices and the\nlack of information to global 
 citizens about the products they buy and eat.\n\nBamrung Kayuta, a Jasmine 
 rice farmer, is the Southeast representative for\nVia Campesina, the 
 international peasants’ movement. He has spoken at the\nUnited Nations as 
 a representative of poor people’s issues in developing\ncountries. Ubon 
 Yuwa is an organizer with the Alternative Agriculture\nNetwork and in the 
 Assembly of the Poor movement in Thailand. He is a\nlife-long advocate for 
 sustainable agriculture and has worked to protect\nindigenous farmers’ 
 rights to their seeds.\n\nThe farmers are also hoping to link groups 
 interested in working on joint\nfuture actions such as working to develop a 
 fair trading network. This\nnetwork would link Thai Farmers with 
 organizations in the United States\nselling directly to the consumers. This 
 would allow Thai farmers to get a\nfair price, and would assure American 
 consumers about the origins of their\nfood. The European Fair Trade 
 Association (EFTA) currently supports a fair\ntrading network between 
 small-scale Jasmine rice farmers and conscientious\nEuropean consumers. 
 Fairly traded rice is organic, farmers receive a fair\nprice, and consumers 
 are ensured a quality product.\n\nThe San Francisco Bay Area portion of the 
 Jasmine Rice Campaign National\nSpeaker Tour is sponsored by: Global 
 Exchange, Oxfam America, Food First,\nOakland, Foundation for Global 
 Community, Palo Alto, Magic Inc., Palo Alto,\nNew College of California, 
 Stanford Thai Club, Stanford University, Thai\nBasil Restaurant and the 
 Thai Restaurant Association, USA.\nFor more information, contact: Katrina 
 Brink, 415-861-7429,\nkatvicbrin@yahoo.com\n\n 
 https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2004/02/03/19473.php
SUMMARY:National Speaking Tour - Thai Farmers Working for Fair Trade
LOCATION:New College Theater, 777 Valencia, San Francisco
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2004/02/03/19473.php
DTSTART:20030502T023000Z
DTEND:20030502T043000Z
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