Maryrrf,hang in there, progress will be slow but they will come around. I heard a story on Bob Edwards show a year or so ago, about the coffee industry, and some people doing the same type of thing. Sorry I don't have a link for it, but a search of his archives might turn it up.

Two of the big names involved are Starbucks and Seattles Best. At the time of the story anyway, they both were requiring that the coffee they purchased be produced under humane conditions, and the grower be paid enough to send his, and his workers children, to school. The economic impact in the regions where the coffee is produced is far greater than the impact here.

Coffee production is very labor intensive, and as a result, a lot of the big corps purchase from countries that do it cheaper. We have been led to believe, through advertising, that Columbia has the best coffee. That is far from true, they just have the cheapest coffee.

There are alternatives out there to many products, but we need more organisations willing to put pressure on these govts. Unfortunately, in some places, this can be a very dangerous proposition.

BHSC

PS. Carol, did you misspeak, or did you really mean to imply that slaves should be grateful to their masters for saving them from having to look for a job in tough economic times?