UCLA International Institute 2009-2010 International Human Rights Film Series
The Bitter Taste of Tea: A Journey into
the World of Fair Trade
Film screening followed by a forum on tea and fair trade.
Tom Heinemann and Erling Borgen’s 2008 documentary
travels to tea estates in Sri Lanka, Kenya, India, and
Bangladesh—some traditional, some fair trade—to
expose unsafe work environments and labor exploitation.
Finding little meaningful difference between fair trade and
non-fair trade operations, questions arise: Are fair trade
organizations such as the E.U.’s Max Havelaar Foundation
being duped by tea growers? Or are growers doing the
best they can in a brutal industry and a market that has
yet to demand the quantities of fair trade tea that would
create meaningful trickle-down profits for their workers?
It is left to the viewer to weigh the arguments and decide.
The film will be followed by a discussion forum on tea and fair trade with:
Katherine Stone, UCLA Professor of Law
Rodney North, "The Answer Man," Equal Exchange
David Funkhouser, TransFair USA
Moderated by Beatrice Hohenegger, author and guest curator of
“Steeped in History: The Art of Tea”
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
James Bridges Theater, 1409 Melnitz
*There will be an informal reception before the screening beginning at 6:00 pm.
Part of the UCLA International Institute Human Rights Film Series.
For more info visit www.international.ucla.edu/humanrights
A heavy topic - and that gives me gratitude and pride that our/QTrade CEO Manik selected to join the advisory committee for tea, herbs, and spices Fair Trade Labeling organization (FLO). He will be attending their first meeting in London during the first week of February.
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