Happy Post Labor Day

I took a break from house/duplex hunting long enough yesterday to go over to Harriet Island for the AFL/CIO labor picnic. Veggie burgers and Miller Genuine Draft in the hot sun. On the main stage Jim Hightower said some inspiration words while noting that his new book, Thieves in High Places is for sale and will be on the New York Times best seller list next week. On the riverboat there was good discussion on the creation of a domestic fair trade project. Many people were getting excited about bringing the idea down to the fair trade expo that will be taking place in the shadow of the WTO talks in Cancun in two weeks. For some reason the idea of a Seattle style WTO protest in the streets of Cancun brings a funny smile to my face. I’m very bummed that I wont be able to be down there to see all the Black Anarchists getting funky at Senior Frogs or Cats. As for fair trade domestically, peacecoffee seemed to be the great success story and people are obviously watching them with a curious eye. The big question seems to be supply and volume and what it would take to get fair trade products into the mass market retail shops like Target. Or should small producer/worker run co-ops even be thinking about playing with the big boys. It’s a fascinating question. I was trying to find other fair trade places online where one could order some things. The White Earth Land Recovery Project has items for sale and Equal Exchange has set up a yahoo store.