Fairtrade Fortnight #Lentlink 6

What do we buy and where do we buy it from? During Fairtrade Fortnight you are invited to Take a Step in 2012 as a way of engaging with justice for farmers in developing countries. If you want to know why you should bother then watch this video.

Countdown

The Christmas countdown is well under way and the prize for most bizarre Advent calendar so far goes to Lego who have produced a Star Wars calendar.



Lego tell us:

With 24 unique gifts, including iconic minifigures, vehicles and accessories from the Star Wars universe, the all-new LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar is the perfect way to set the festive holidays into hyperspeed!

Do they refer to the baby Jesus as a youngling and does it warn children that the figures aren’t edible?

Sorry Lego but I think I will stick to a more traditional approach and this year will be going for the TradeCraft Advent calendar. You know, the one that reminds us what Christmas is about.

Update 201801: The TradeCraft calendar link no longer works but you can find out more about TradeCraft here.

Fair Trade Spooks

Interesting idea from Fair Trade Canada for Halloween to encourage people to give out Fair Trade chocolate and stickers to visiting trick or treaters. I thought the wording of the French version of the poster was particularly amusing.



In our church we are offering an alternative to Halloween called Glitter and Glo. The event has been very successful in the past and we are looking forward to welcoming loads of local children again this year.




The Diocese of Winchester has some good links to interesting resources for Halloween.

h/t @fairtradesleuth

Fairtrade fortnight

Fairtrade Fortnight began yesterday and to get you in the mood here’s Harry Hill talking about his nuts.



For more information about Fairtrade check out their site.

The Big Swap – Lent (4)

Fairtrade Fortnight runs from today until 7th March and during this period we are being asked to take part in The Big Swap. Fairtrade describe the idea as follows:

For this year's Fairtrade Fortnight we're asking the nation to join us in The Big Swap. For two whole weeks we'll be asking you to swap your usual stuff for Fairtrade stuff. Your usual bananas for Fairtrade bananas, your usual cotton socks for Fairtrade cotton socks, and your usual cuppa for a Fairtrade cuppa. Whenever you pop to the shops, you can use your wallet to make a stand.

The Fairtrade site has a section for people to register their swaps and they are looking to register one million and one swaps during the fortnight; they have already reached the 100,000 mark on the first day. You can follow Fairtrade on Twitter at @FairtradeUK.

Looks like a really simple and effective idea and another good way to mark Lent by taking time out to reflect on how what we consume affects others. Of course if you’ve given up chocolate for Lent then you can’t really switch to Fairtrade; I haven’t so I can.

drink Fairtrade

Excellent recommendations for some Fairtrade wines in The Observer by Tim Atkin. Here’s a way to enjoy a glass or three of wine and feel good about it. Tim writes:

The quickest way to make a difference as an ordinary wine drinker is to buy from a Fairtrade producer. This is not the gamble it once was. There are now 51 of these, in South Africa (29), Argentina (12) and Chile (10) and quality is much better than it was even two years ago. I was a judge at the 2009 Fairtrade Awards (the results will be announced on 19 November) and I was impressed by the best wines.

The Co-operative has by far the best range of Fairtrade wines, with 16 different labels, but all of the other supermarkets are now supporting the brand. My current favourites, three of which did well in the 2009 awards, are the juicy, raspberryish 2008 Sainsbury's Fairtrade Pinotage, Citrusdal, Olifant's River (£4.99, 14%); the peachy, honeyed 2009 Fairhills Fairtrade Chenin/Chardonnay, Western Cape (£5.48, 12.5%, Asda), both from South Africa; the grassy 2008 Los Unidos Fairtrade Carmenère/Cabernet Franc, Chile (£5.49, 13%, Waitrose); the vibrant, slightly sweet 2009 Co-operative Fairtrade Chilean Merlot Rosé (£4.99, 14%) and from Argentina, the floral, citrus-scented 2009 Fairtrade Tilimuqui Single Vineyard Torrontés, Famatina Valley, La Riojana (£6.29, 12.5%, Waitrose). These are wines you can drink with pleasure…

In contrast, this week has been designated International Nestlé-Free Week and thanks to David Keen over at St Aidan to Abbey Manor for drawing this to my attention. As a family we have sought to avoid Nestlé products because of their disastrous baby milk policy. Babymilkaction.org has a helpful list of Nestlé linked products; I did a quick check in the kitchen this morning and was pleased to discover that at the moment we appear to be Nestlé free. Using Fairtrade products and avoiding the products of ethically dubious companies may seem a rather small gesture in the global scheme of things, but it sets down a marker and helps us as a family to reflect upon our priorities.

celebrating Fairtrade

The Fairtrade Foundation celebrates its 15th birthday and to mark the occasion the UK Government has announced it will be investing £12 million in the enterprise. Fairtrade has come a long way since those early days when drinking their endorsed range of tea and coffee was a triumph of hope over experience for the taste buds. The UK is the biggest market for Fairtrade and this is something we should be proud of in the midst of all the talk about ‘broken Britain’; their range of products, while still limited, are nevertheless very good quality. There is still a very long way to go and Fairtrade is not without its critics, but we should celebrate the great strides Fairtrade has already made and remember the people whose lives have been transformed by their endeavours.

At the Chelmsford Diocesan Office we try and use only Fairtrade products where possible, though at times it has been something of a struggle. I remember sitting in a Diocesan Pastoral Committee meeting when someone complained that we were using Nestle coffee rather than Fairtrade. On further enquiry it turned out that because the Fairtrade coffee came in large tins someone was transferring the coffee to smaller empty jars for convenience; the smaller jars were labelled Nescafe!

By the way, were you aware that Nestle have been sourcing their milk from farms owned by Robert Mugabe’s wife Grace; farms that have been confiscated from their owners under his odious regime.

Update: In an earlier earlier version of this post I wrongly implied that Spring Harvest don't supply Fairtrade coffee; they do and I apologise for any misunderstanding.