Sustainability Film Series: "Buyer be Fair"

Monday, November 3, 2008
7 p.m.

Under the auspices of the WTO, globalization of world trade seems like a juggernaut that will not be stopped. But is there a way to make trade fair? How can retailers and consumers use their purchasing power and market choice to make the world better for people and the environment? What is the promise of product certification and labeling?

This film looks at two major trade goods – timber and coffee – to find out how certification works and whether it helps the world's poor and their lands. Can the lessons from certification of timber, by the Forest Stewardship Council, and coffee, by Fair Trade, be applied to other products? This film takes viewers to Mexico, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Sweden, the U.S. and Canada, where compelling stories and characters raise and answer these questions in a powerful documentary that explores new ways to make globalization work for all of us.

Audience: All