Finland broke the record for the World’s Largest Fairtrade Coffee Break on 21.10.2008 between 2 - 3 pm. The aim was to collect more than 50 000 participants and break the record set by Fair Trade Resource Network and Fair Trade Towns USA: 12 158 participants in the United States in May 2008. The population of Finland is merely 5.3 million people but Finland easily broke the record with 52 061 people enjoying Fairtrade products. The event was the launch and main event of Fairtrade Weeks 2008. (more…)
International News
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UN calls food summit in 2009, hopes for fair trade December 1, 2008 -
Reuters South Africa
The world should hold a food summit in the first half of next year to seek fairer trade and help farmers in poor countries make a decent living, the head of the United Nations food agency said on Wednesday. Jacques Diouf, head of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), said the summit would seek to reform trade, encourage greater food production in developing countries and ensure funding for infrastructure and agricultural productivity. “I have just put the idea (of holding a food summit) to U.S. President-elect Barack Obama in my message of congratulations,” he told the body’s governing conference. (more…) FTTSA responds to calls for a global fair trade tourism label November 14, 2008 -
www.travelwires.com
Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa is a South African based non profit initiative, working to promote equitable and sustainable tourism development. Since 2003, FTTSA has been operating a destination-specific certification programme, based on global principles of Fair Trade as well as local development imperatives to reduce poverty and inequality within the post-apartheid context. (more…) 35 years of fair trade venture November 3, 2008 -
Times, NZ
IT’S hard to believe that 35 years ago hippie bargain hunters were buying ethnic sandals and jute bags from New Zealand’s first Trade Aid shops. This foresighted enterprise that promises to pay crafts people from developing nations a fair price for their wares was launched in Christchurch in 1973 and since then has successfully spread throughout the nation. Howick’s first Trade Aid shop opened in 1993 next to Rishworth’s drapery and fashion outlet. With a one month lease on the tired building, Trade Aid volunteer David Rose and co-workers endured a leaky roof for a year before moving to Howickville when it was a bustling shopping centre. (more…) Town launches fair trade bid November 1, 2008 -
Great Yarmouth Mercury, UK
The objective of the lesson was to teach children about global poverty on the day Great Yarmouth launched itself as a Fair Trade town. But it was not just the Edward Worlledge Middle School pupils who were gaining knowledge - Ivan Lewis, minister for international development, learned just how passionate the younger generation is about issues concerning others less fortunate than themselves. The MP for Bury South joined Yarmouth MP Tony Wright on a visit to the Suffolk Road school to watch the youngsters taking part in a quiz, Race Against Global Poverty, which tests children aged 11 to 16 on their knowledge of world poverty. (more…) Fairtrade coffee sales steady in economic downturn October 30, 2008 -
The Guardian, UK
Global sales of Fairtrade coffee are holding up well despite an economic slowdown, coffee dealers and farmers’ unions said on Thursday. The Fairtrade system helps farmers and workers from poor countries to develop their communities through fairer terms of trade. The movement developed in the 1990s at a time of falling commodity prices. (more…) Reverse-Trick-or-Treating: A sweet surprise at your door this Halloween October 27, 2008 -
www.newswire.ca
Thousands of costumed trick-or-treaters across Canada are turning the traditional Halloween ritual on its head; for the second year in a row, it is the trick-or-treaters who are handing out chocolate. Hundreds of thousands of Fair Trade Certified chocolate samples will be given out across North America to raise awareness on the persistent problems of poverty in cocoa-growing communities, the use of exploited child labour in the cocoa fields of countries like Cote D’Ivoire, which produces 40 percent of the world’s cocoa, and the environmental damage resulting from unsustainable farming practices. Participants will reach nearly a quarter of a million households in Canada and the United States in a single night. (more…) Kicking goals in fair trade sports goods October 21, 2008 -
The Daily Telegraph (Australia)
AS a teacher, Nick Savaidis spent time talking to students about the impact of globalisation — especially the common use of sweat shops and child labour. “The kids used to get upset about the way kids were treated in the sweat shops,” he said. “But then they would turn up in their brand name gear that is well known to be made in sweat shops.” Mr Savaidis said he felt so strongly about the plight of people being exploited in sweat shops that he started importing fair trade goods in 2004 under the No Sweat label. (more…) Uganda: Women Wield Fair Trade Tools to Beat Poverty September 23, 2008 -
All Africa
Producing baskets and mats in central Uganda has traditionally been women’s work. Women made these items for use in homes. The National Association of Women Organisations in Uganda (NAWOU) has changed this practice into a powerful force fighting poverty. The organisation has a big crafts collection centre in the east African country’s capital of Kampala. Baskets, toys, mats and hand-made cotton cloth can be found there, among other things. The collection centre operates according to fair trade principles and is affiliated to the International Fair Trade Association (IFAT). (more…) Schools urged to achieve Fair Trade status September 22, 2008 -
Westmorland Gazette, UK
Schoolchildren across South Lakeland could help people living in developing countries, according to their MP. Tim Farron, MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, has embarked on a drive to encourage schools in the district to achieve Fair Trade status. “Young people living in rural communities like ours can relate very well to the injustices experienced by farming communities in poorer countries,” he said. (more…) |