Join us in Washington D.C., April 20–22, 2026, as we draw on our shared faith traditions to inspire one another, and call on Congress to commit to Protecting People, Peace, and Planet!
to register click here
How can members of a community take back control of the resources that shape their lives? Join us on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, 7:00-8:30pm ET, for a free webinar with co-op developer and community organizer Jonathan Welle to explore this question.
to register click here
Along the Pacific coast of Guatemala on plantations subcontracted by Chiquita, agricultural workers with gaunt faces thread their way between banana trees, rubber boots sinking into black mud, machetes sharpened and strapped to their belts. They know the day will be long: 10 hours, sometimes 12, for a paltry wage – often below the legal minimum.
Although these plantations are certified by Rainforest Alliance (as “safe” for workers and the environment), researchers heard the same accounts from workers over and over: extreme fatigue, inadequate pay, unprotected exposure to chemicals, restrictions on the freedom of association.
The fungicide Mancozeb—banned in the European Union in 2020 after being classified as an endocrine disruptor that’s toxic to reproduction—is routinely sprayed on the banana fields. Without any warning to the workers, the crop dusters fly very low, and the yellow acidic powder falls straight on them. The certification body Rainforest Alliance has granted an exceptional authorization for its use on Guatemalan plantations until December 31, 2028, citing the need for “rigorous disease management” of the Black Sigatoka leaf disease. Other fungicides, herbicides and insecticides are applied throughout the growing cycle, both from the air and workers applying them with backpack sprayers.
This report by Public Eye takes us deep inside the plantations where the global economy meets the silence – and often complicity – of local institutions. It’s a world where thousands of people labor in near-total invisibility. Here, Guatemala’s brutal history is still being written with a machete; it’s a story not of progress, but of sweat, pesticides and drug cocktails to alleviate workers’ aches and pains.
(You can learn about alternative trade organizations that partner with worker-owned banana farms at EqualExchange.coop )
this article presents 25 year old enviromental activist Yuvelis, who won the Goldman prize for opposing Fracking in her hometown of Puerto Wilches.
Join us for the screening of "Yanuni" with the Cleveland International Film Festival on april 17th at Playhouse Square
to purchase tickets for the creening click here
Promo Code: IRTF
$1 off any ticket, with the exception of Opening Night, 7x7 Retrospective and Day Pass purchases.
Join us for the screening of "Yanuni" with the Cleveland International Film Festival on april 17th at Cedar Lee Theatre
to purchase tickets for the creening click here (ticket sale will start on march 18th)
Promo Code: IRTF
$1 off any ticket, with the exception of Opening Night, 7x7 Retrospective and Day Pass purchases.
$1 off any ticket, with the exception of Opening Night, 7x7 Retrospective and Day Pass purchases.
IRTF initiated our annual Social Justice Teach-In (aka Liberation Lab) in 1999. This spring we feel a great need to call together justice-minded folks who are committed to human rights, liberation, and respect and dignity for all people.
Every year for the past 26 years, this event has been an informative and inter-generational day of community building and education for high school and college students and other community members seeking ways to take positive action for social justice.
To buy tickets or become a sponsor, click here. To sign up for a volunteer shift, click here.
Why a tree march? Our country and planet are facing dire challenges. As we mark the anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (April 4, 1968), we are reminded of the “triplets of evil” that he so aptly identified: racism, poverty, and war. Today, the successors of MLK’s campaigns to overcome these entrenched systems of injustice have rightfully added ecological destruction to the list. As we approach Tax Day (April 15), we admit our complicity in supporting the $1.5 trillion US war budget that fuels the US military—the largest institutional emitter of greenhouse gases on the planet. MLK warned that our nation—spending many times more on the military than on programs of social uplift—is approaching spiritual death.
Planting a tree is an act of hope. With each step forward on April 11, we’ll say YES to life and NO to death. YES to trees and NO to war. With our trees we are investing in a future liberated from the evils of racism, extreme materialism, militarism, and environmental degradation. We are taking a concrete step toward climate restoration. We are planting our vision for the future.
The Civil Disobedience + Resistance Training will provide historical grounding, practical skills and nonviolent discipline strategies anyone who wants help navigating the current landscape. Participants will leave the training with a deeper understanding of direct action, policy change and solidarity building strategies for sustaining long-term movements for justice.
To register for this training being organized by Cleveland Votes, click here
This Equal exchange article examines how Fair Trade profits are reinvested into bio-fertilizers to tackle disease and climate change conditions on co-op run farms in peru.
