OREO MOBILE visits FAIR WORLD GALLERY The OreoMobile demystifies the federal budget.
Making tough things easy to understand is our thing. We use Oreos to explain what’s up with the federal budget. Each cookie equals $10 billion. Stacks of cookies next to each other representing education, kids healthcare, job training and other stuff make it easy to see Washington’s spending priorities.
Turns out over half the money Congress allocates each year goes to the Pentagon, including about $60 billion (that’s 6 Oreos for you keeping score at home) spent annually on weapons designed to fight the Soviet Union which went out of business.
Polls show that Americans, republicans and democrats alike, want to change the country’s spending priorities – by cutting unneeded Pentagon spending and increasing investments in programs that build strong communities.
The OreoMobile, through 15-minute live performances around the country, describes the current budget priorities and how the people want them changed.
Senator Tom Harkin - TOM TRAVELS ACROSS IOWA 
Tom Outside of the Fair World Gallery
.........We then moved on to Fair World Gallery. Fair World is the only for-profit fair trade store in the State. (There are 5 other fair trade shops that are not-for-profit). I toured the shops beautiful wood furniture and trinkets, all produced under fair labor conditions. Owner Christine McNunn presented me with The ONE Declaration which I gladly signed. The ONE Campaign is a grassroots effort to build support for the fight against global AIDS and extreme poverty. For the complete article click here.
Des Moines Register, September 2004
WHAT WE LOVE. Talk about a hot item. A new line of furniture at Fair World Gallery in Valley Junction is made of "entombed wood" unearthed from sites near volcanoes. Some even have visible burn marks, which adds character and could make an interesting conversation piece:
"No, I did not burn the coffee table with my cigarette. It was a volcano."
The furniture comes from Indonesia. Some pieces are combinations of the "entombed wood" and tropical hardwoods salvaged from old Indonesian homes.
Gallery owners Christine McNunn and Liz Salaba traveled to Indonesia to see the furniture and are expecting a shipment of 160 pieces in October. A few pieces are already in the store, including a $750 chest of drawers and a $1,575 bed with tropical birds carved on its posts. Fair World Gallery is located at 116 Fifth St. in West Des Moines. Call (515) 277-7550.
- Laurie Mansfield, staff NEW STORE SUPPORTS POOR COUNTRIES and ALABAMA
In Valley Junction there is a new store, just opened by a couple of women who want to be in business. No news here. Boutiques that spring out of bored housewives having coffee and saying, "You know what a great store would be?" have emptied out many a familys bank accounts.
But wait, there is more. These two entrepreneurs are not selling lotions, bath soaps or overpriced trendy furniture from Bohemia. They are not even an art gallery dedicated to everything cute about cats. Although that sounds like a grrreat store, does is not?
Seriously, this new small store at 116 Fifth St. in West Des Moines is called Fair World Gallery and is run by Christine McNunn and Liz Salaba, two women from Cumming who are partnering to bring the crafts and functional art of the world to Valley Junction. They will even have a booth out front during the Thursday evening farmers market during the summer.
The products range from wire sculptures on greeting cards from Kenya, woven work from Guatemala, to journals from Nepal. There are 25 countries represented and about 50 vendors. Also there are pieces from Florida and Alabama and pottery from Altoona.
I purchased a wonderfully charming wooden sculpture from India of a nose, with a clip on the back that serves as an eyeglasses stand. Very interesting and guaranteed to bring a smile to a visitors face.
The concept behind the store is that the vendors and craftsmen are paid a fair price for their work. You can buy gifts in West Des Moines and have a clear conscience that your are not exploiting people in the Third World, or Florida, Alabama and/or Altoona.
It conjures the idea that somewhere in Bangladesh, a couple of hutwives (work with me here) might be having a spot of tea, and one might being saying to the other, "You know what a great business would be? It would be where we are not being exploited by some big global company. Let s make colorful table cloths and send them halfway around the world where we know we will get a fair price."
Liz says, "It was originally going to be a fair trade coffee shop, which is a concept that people need to understand is different from free trade." After seeing all the items available from different vendors, she and Christine decided to go with a full shop that still includes fair trade coffee.
A fair price for a fair day of work. It is a simple concept, something that is at the heart of the "living wage." Heading down to Valley Junction to buy that perfect birthday gift or housewarming dish just became an adventure in taking part in global economic justice. That is a great idea!
John Gap, III - Staff
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