 |
Winter 2007 Fair Trade Rice Speaker Tour
San Francisco Bay Area, CA -- Boston, MA -- Lewiston, ME -- Brunswick, ME -- Amherst, MA -- Clinton, NY -- Chappaqua, NY -- New York City, NY -- Washington, DC -- Richmond, VA -- San Francisco Bay Area, CA
Enjoy a selection of photos from the tour, below!
On their first full day in the United States, Paw Man Samsee and P'Samrat Thong-iam were able
to meet with Daniel Stokes of TransFair USA and discuss the role of Transfair USA in Fair Trade
certification...in Thai! Here (left to right), Daniel, Paw Man, P'Samrat and ENGAGE Fair Trade
Rice Campaign Coordinator, Alex Nosnik, smile in front of a wall of Fair Trade products now
available for sale in the United States.
Paw Man and P'Samrat find their rice on the shelf of Berkeley, CA's Whole Foods Supermarket
and
show it off to the Whole Foods Floor Manager.
After the blustery winter weather in Boston, the farmers
ventured out in the cold to visit Seth and the Crystal Springs
Farm and CSA in Brunswick, Maine. Before seeing Seth's
newborn sheep and organic chicken, Paw Man joked that
farmers in Maine must grow nothing but snow!
Jay Burns of the Bates College alumni magazine interviews Paw Man and P'Samrat for a feature article discussing the importance of the relationships ENGAGE fosters in Thai communities.
Thai Jasmine rice is on the menu at Bowdoin College for the first time.
More than 250 faculty and staff (above) packed into Hamilton College's Annex to listen to the
farmers share their story. Paw Man and P'Samrat pose afterwards (below) with ENGAGE
member Jenney Stringer and students who helped coordinate the dinner event.
After more than a week of freezing weather, our Thai friends enjoy being outdoors and discover it
is possible break a sweat in the snow! Trying to figure out how Americans exercise was a major preoccupation for Paw Man and P'Samrat, who also enjoyed weightlifting and running on a
treadmill at our host homes in New York! Thanks to the Stringer family for hosting our mini-WinterFunFest.
The tour provided a bounty of opportunities to explore the lighter and more sobering sides of American culture and history. Above left, Paw Man and P'Samrat enjoy New York pretzels and hot dogs, while above right, Paw Man and ENGAGE Global Action Director Kyra Busch and and
USFT liaison Demetrius Marcoulides pause in front of the site of the former World Trade Center.
The audience lingers after an exchange in New York City's Bluestockings Collective and
Bookstore.
Khun Rujikorn Saengchantr of the Royal Thai Embassy in Washington, DC takes notes on our presentation at Georgetown University.
Students at the University of Richmond gather over their lunch hour to discuss bringing Fair
Trade rice to their campus. University of Richmond is one of five campuses that now committed
to carrying Fair Trade rice.
Paw Man and P'Samrat share a Thai string-tying custom ("bai sii") with ENGAGE member Gabe Anderson and their American hosts at the University of Richmond.
A crowd (above) gathers at Grandma Mary's Organic Farm in El Cerrito, CA to share
seeds,
stories and a laugh with Paw Man, ENGAGE Global Action Director Kyra Busch and P'Samrat
(below).
(Above and below) On their last day in the United States, Paw Man and P'Samrat finally
experi
ence a bit of green.Greg Massa, an organic grower of brown rice, showed them American
farming technology, including tractors and irrigation. The farmers were duly impressed by the
differ
ences from the
hand-held tractors used in the rain-watered Thai rice paddies.
ENGAGE Managing Director Chris Westcott shares a last meal at the Black Bear Diner, where hamburgers supplant pizza as the tastiest meal the Thais tried in America!
Until the next tour!
