Fun and free chocolate – it’s a Fairtrade Café crawl!
Shilpa Shah | 24.02.2006 11:45 | Education | Workers' Movements | Cambridge
Cambridge World Development Movement (WDM) are planning a fun Fairtrade Café Crawl on Saturday 11th March.
Fairtrade enthusiasts will take to the streets of Cambridge to persuade local cafés and members of the public to choose Fairtrade when buying tea, coffee, chocolate, fruit… and dozens of other products now available from a the Fairtrade source. Campaigners will take a meandering route through the city centre, sending a Fairtrade representative into each café to ask if they serve Fairtrade. If they do, they will be given a Fairtrade certificate to display and if they don’t, they will get an information pack about the benefits of Fairtrade and how to switch over. They will also be giving out chocolate samples and Fairtrade leaflets to members of the public.
The Fairtrade mark appears on more than 850 varieties of coffee, tea, cocoa, chocolate, sugar, honey, cakes, biscuits, fresh fruit, and juices. Fairtrade foods are available in most major supermarkets and a number of independent cafes and shops. Fairtrade products guarantee producers in the South a fair deal; fair wages for workers, a social premium to invest in community development and longer-term, more secure trading relationships with companies in richer countries. Fairtrade provides an alternative approach to conventional world trade and tackles long-term economic problems in the South through sustainable development for excluded and disadvantaged producers.
Sue Woodsford from the Cambridge World Development Movement said: “Cambridge became a Fairtrade City two years ago and Cambridge WDM produced the Fairtrade Guide to Cambridge last year. This year, we shall be updating this Fairtrade Guide and celebrating Fairtrade Fortnight by our fun Fairtrade Café Crawl. We shall show everyone the benefits of Fairtrade by giving away free Fairtrade chocolate and cake as well as rewarding cafes that serve Fairtrade already. We hope to persuade the others to come on board. The benefits are obvious! We are meeting at Clare College at 10am on Saturday 11th March for an 11am start. Do come and join us!’
Ends
Contact: For details of Cambridge WDM and its campaigns, see www.cambridgewdm.org.uk or contact Sue Woodsford, Sec of Cambridge WDM email:
sue.woodsford@ntlworld.com
or tel 01223 562983 or Shilpa Shah, Cambridge WDM tel 07779 658211 or
email shilpashah23@yahoo.co.uk
For national WDM campaigns, see www.wdm.org.uk
Photo opportunity at 11am in front of the Guildhall in Cambridge Market Square on Saturday 11 March.
Notes for editors:
- The Fairtrade Foundation is responsible for certifying products as Fairtrade in the UK: see www.fairtrade.org.uk.
- Fairtrade Fortnight is running nationwide from the 6th – 19th March 2006. This event is just one of hundreds of events across the UK raising awareness of Fairtrade, which is a key part of the Trade Justice Movement (www.tjm.org.uk) and the MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY campaign.
The Fairtrade mark appears on more than 850 varieties of coffee, tea, cocoa, chocolate, sugar, honey, cakes, biscuits, fresh fruit, and juices. Fairtrade foods are available in most major supermarkets and a number of independent cafes and shops. Fairtrade products guarantee producers in the South a fair deal; fair wages for workers, a social premium to invest in community development and longer-term, more secure trading relationships with companies in richer countries. Fairtrade provides an alternative approach to conventional world trade and tackles long-term economic problems in the South through sustainable development for excluded and disadvantaged producers.
Sue Woodsford from the Cambridge World Development Movement said: “Cambridge became a Fairtrade City two years ago and Cambridge WDM produced the Fairtrade Guide to Cambridge last year. This year, we shall be updating this Fairtrade Guide and celebrating Fairtrade Fortnight by our fun Fairtrade Café Crawl. We shall show everyone the benefits of Fairtrade by giving away free Fairtrade chocolate and cake as well as rewarding cafes that serve Fairtrade already. We hope to persuade the others to come on board. The benefits are obvious! We are meeting at Clare College at 10am on Saturday 11th March for an 11am start. Do come and join us!’
Ends
Contact: For details of Cambridge WDM and its campaigns, see www.cambridgewdm.org.uk or contact Sue Woodsford, Sec of Cambridge WDM email:
sue.woodsford@ntlworld.com or tel 01223 562983 or Shilpa Shah, Cambridge WDM tel 07779 658211 or
shilpashah23@yahoo.co.uk For national WDM campaigns, see www.wdm.org.uk
Photo opportunity at 11am in front of the Guildhall in Cambridge Market Square on Saturday 11 March.
Notes for editors:
- The Fairtrade Foundation is responsible for certifying products as Fairtrade in the UK: see www.fairtrade.org.uk.
- Fairtrade Fortnight is running nationwide from the 6th – 19th March 2006. This event is just one of hundreds of events across the UK raising awareness of Fairtrade, which is a key part of the Trade Justice Movement (www.tjm.org.uk) and the MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY campaign.
Shilpa Shah
e-mail:
shilps2@hotmail.com
Comments
Hide the following 3 comments
hmmm don't forget.
24.02.2006 12:19
jools
fairish trade
24.02.2006 20:16
My concern is the term fair trader - perhaps relatively fair trade is more accurate.;
Cash crops and land ownership issues should be thought about a little more clearly by the 'trade solutions' thinkers.
People didn't tend to starve to death en masse pre colonial invasion as they could store food and Africa was seen as a continent of plenty.
Climate change, food miles, corporate farms, large lands in the hands of a minority, monocultures more suceptible to disaster e.g Monsanto in Argentina.
Sure there are small producers that we can help out but they shouldn't be the slaves of Waitrose shoppers just to survive./pay rent.
Whats the betting the problem is the capitalist/consumerist system ( as ignored by people who insist on sweashop wristbands )
oh and fuck tescos.
crappy shopper
True, but............
27.02.2006 12:11
I see where you're coming from. There are SO many other factors to be considered- Fairtrade doesn't effectively address the problems of emissions from food miles, land ownership and other things you mentioned, nor does is really challenge the power relationships that characterise today's global economy- it is still us in the West who are decidng to make trade 'fairer' by OUR consumer choice. Now, with the FT foundation awarding Nestle a FT brand, many of us who are aware of the issues and walk around with our eyes open will have begun to feel distinctively uncomfortable about the future of 'fairtrade'.
But, the past couple of years has shown FT fortnight to be a really good opportunity for engaging a wider audience in considering where their tea/coffee/chocolate comes from. Many Indymedia readers will be so passionate about workers conditions in low-income countries and unfair trade rules- but we have to accept that the majority of people here are happy to bury their head in the sand. For those living busybusy earn-shop-earn-shop lives, it is easier to ignore thoughts about the supply chain simply because they're too complicated, resulting in a helpless 'what can I do anyway?' shrug of the shoulders. And many of our passionate activist events continue to end up with a slightly 'preaching to the converted', how do we get this message OUT THERE? puzzlement to them?
FT's not perfect, but- as you say- it's a relatively good initiative, a (small) step in the right direction, maybe. I think it's power lies in getting new people to think, open their eyes, ask questions. Hopefully an event like the cafe crawl will help to inspire the interest of Saturday morning shoppers with minds on other things-we will be encouraging them to chat about workers' conditions and give them leaflets for further info. It's worth a try isn't it? Why don't you come along..............
Shilpa
Homepage:
http://www.cambridgewdm.org.uk