Fairtrade stall at Brent Civic Centre Friday March 10th

From Brent Fairtrade Network 

 

CELEBRATING FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT

FAIRTRADE STALL AT BRENT CIVIC CENTRE

ON FRIDAY 10 MARCH - AND A NEW FILM

By the kind permission of the Borough Council, Brent Fairtrade Network is holding a stall at Brent Civic Centre 10.00-14.00 on Friday 10 March.  We shall be encouraging library users, Council staff and others passing by to buy Fairtrade goods at local shops and cafes. Do look in if you are nearby. Here is how to get there: www.brent.gov.uk/your-council/brent-civic-centre/your-visit-to-the-civic-centre/

The Fairtrade Foundation has produced a film to bring home the shocking reality that Fairtrade is tackling.  Watch this. 

Fairtrade Fortnight ends on Saturday 11 March. Remember to look out for Fairtrade products in your shopping this week. 

DOES FAIRTRADE HAVE A FUTURE?

PUBLIC DEBATE ON 17 NOVEMBER

We had an excellent debate at St Martin's Church, Kensal Rise, on 17 November, jointly hosted with Fairtrade groups in Harrow, Ealing, Hounslow, Richmond and Kingston. Our speakers were Anne Cooper of Oxfam, Barbara Crowther of the Fairtrade Foundation, Stuart Singleton-White of the Rainforest Alliance and Vidya Rangan of ISEAL, the global movement of sustainability standards. Points that emerged included the following:

•   Is the Fairtrade model still a good one? Yes - but it will continue to change, as illustrated by the Cocoa Life partnership announced that day with Cadbury's.

•   Rainforest Alliance and Fairtrade are complementary - but the scope for collaboration is shown by the fact that 80% of their standards are the same. There are now some 450 ethical labels, hence the need for ISEAL's work to clarify which can be trusted. 

•   The new Fairtrade Sourcing Programme enables products to be sold with a new Fairtrade logo when only the cocoa, sugar or cotton involved is Fairtrade. This will increase sales of Fairtrade products. 

•   Only 1% of world agricultural trade is ethically certified so there is huge potential for growth.

Feedback after the event was very positive. The consensus seemed to be that it was an excellent event with very good speakers. The main regret was that only 40 people attended. It was felt that a more central location could have attracted people from all over London. As it was, we welcomed several visitors from outside Brent, some of whom we now welcome as new readers of this newsletter. 

We are most grateful to the speakers and St Martin's Church for making this debate possible.