You hear “Battle in Seattle,” and what first comes to mind?
Most likely, tear gas and street brawling between police and protesters.
As for the real legacy of the 1999 World Trade Organization meeting that failed to reach any consensus?
How about small-scale Community Supported Agriculture farms and a push for sustainable, locally produced food?
Or, the “buy local” mentality of shoppers toward crafts, wines, clothing — and the fair-trade brew served in countless coffee shops?
Beyond the Seattle showdown came a broader awakening of the strong links between everyday habits, purchases, the world and local economies — even the health of the planet itself.
Those lessons are central to a special event planned at the Washington State University Vancouver campus Thursday night.
The symposium — “Where do we stand? Neoliberal globalization, the WTO and the U.S. 10 years later” — promises guests a dialogue with Clark County community members and WTO “survivors.”
Free and open to the public, the event runs 6 to 9 p.m. in the Firstenburg Student Commons. It is sponsored by the school’s Social & Environmental Justice Club.
“We just want to bring awareness to the school of what was protested, and still needs to be protested,” said Kate Tijerina, a club organizer. Mega-farming monopolies and child and slave labor are just some of the 1999 issues that remain relevant, she said.
Event sponsors include local farmers markets, organic growers, food banks and stores. Local foods and fair-trade coffee will be on display.
“We are encouraging people to just go out in their community and make smart purchases,” said Tijerina, who like many of her WSUV classmates was barely into her teens during the Seattle confrontations. “We feel there’s a lot of power in this, because it’s something students can do every day.”
Speakers include Jim Hunter, co-owner of the Hunters’ Greens local CSA in Brush Prairie, another local fair-trade/organic merchant, the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign director and two WSUV professors well-versed in global trade issues. Clips from several WTO-related movies will be shown.
Hunter has grown produce locally since 1996. He said he’s watched his CSA sales shift from “a luxury for yuppies with consciences” to more middle-class families willing to pay extra for locally grown food.
“They’re more likely to be the ones protesting 10 years ago,” he said. “They’re digging a little deeper to be part of a CSA, because of concern over globalization.”
On Thursday, Hunter will pose the question: “How (will) the U.S. transition out of this crisis? Will we incorporate our humane and environmental values into our new economy?”
Wake-up calls have been abundant, including food scares over foreign ingredients, he said.
“I’m finding that globalization has sort of snuck up on us,” he said. While he and others were preoccupied with 9/11, the Iraq War and other worries, he “woke up one morning and the state of Washington was importing apple juice from China. It was a total shock,” he said.
The mass rallies in Seattle did open many eyes in America and abroad, however.
“Very definitely,” said Paul Theirs, WSUV political science professor who closely follows China and its agriculture and was an off-site presenter during the ’99 WTO meeting.
“Developing countries became more informed and more skeptical and more organized, because of the protest in Seattle,” Theirs said. “For workers, environmentalists and even consumers, Seattle in ’99 opened up a criticism of globalization. People care about something they see as a threat,” Theirs said. Where before, international trade was a topic that “made people’s eyes glaze over,” he recalled, “suddenly everybody wanted to talk about it.”
Howard Buck: 360-735-4515 or howard.buck@columbian.com.
