Showing posts with label Fairtrade Fortnight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fairtrade Fortnight. Show all posts
Thursday, 3 March 2022
Fairtrade Fortnight on Market Day
Thursday, 24 February 2022
Fairtrade Fortnight
We're in the first week of Fairtrade Fortnight, and Eighteen Rabbit has a basket of goodies in the window for a prize raffle.
The theme this year is Climate Justice, in the aftermath of the COP26 talks last November. The message is that there is still time to mitigate the most extreme effects of climate change, but only if pledges are turned into action. Big changes to the global economy are needed. On the personal level, people can buy Fairtrade products, but action also has to be taken by governments and multinational companies. The Fairtrade Foundation is already planning what they want to do for COP27, which will be held in Cairo.
Farmers in poorer countries are already feeling the effects of climate change. In Honduras, Guatamala and Nicaragua farmers have seen their crops of coffee, cocoa, honey and bananas devastated by extreme weather events.
Wednesday, 17 February 2021
Virtual Fairtrade Fortnight
It's been a strange year since I last posted, and of course no real life events could be arranged for Fairtrade Fortnight this year.
However, Fairtrade Fortnight is still going ahead virtually from February 22nd to March 7th. The theme this year is Climate Justice.
Fairtrade Wales are holding a Climate Change Coffee Morning on Saturday February 27th from 11am to noon via Zoom, to talk about climate change and to hear from Jennipher, a coffee farmer in Uganda. Her coffee is grown on the slopes of Mt Elgon in Uganda and roasted in Wales, and is both organic and Fairtrade. Tickets are free, and there is also an opportunity to buy some of Jennipher's coffee before the event.
On Thursday March 4th, from 7pm to 8.30pm, there will be a panel discussion organised by Swansea Fair Trade Forum on Climate Justice for a Fairer World.
Tickets and more information are available from the Fairtrade Wales website.
Tuesday, 3 March 2020
Latest News from Fairtrade Hay
The Fairtrade Foundation have renewed Hay's status as a Fairtrade Town. Quite a bit of work has to go into providing the evidence for this, so the Fairtrade Hay group are rightly delighted.
The Fairtrade Foundation commented: "Your group has demonstrated dedication to ensure Fairtrade becomes part of daily life in Hay-on-Wye. You have managed to engage successfully with a great number of people and with a variety of local organisations."
We're coming to the end of Fairtrade Fortnight now, and the Fairtrade Hay group are speaking twice to the pupils of Hay School, and showing a short film about cocoa farming in West Africa, as well as a display in the school lobby. The theme this year is the campaign to secure a fair wage for farmers, especially women farmers.
Hay Deli is promoting the Fairtrade Palestinian company Zaytoun in its shop window, with a Saturday tasting session. Zaytoun's range includes olive oil, herb mixes, grains, almonds and dates.
The Fairtrade Hay group are also going to do a survey shortly of shops and businesses in Hay to assess how much Fairtrade produce is offered, and to see where they can encourage an increase. I was involved in the very first such survey - it'll be interesting to compare the two.
Fairtrade Hay meets on the first Monday of every month at 6.30pm in the Blue Boar - new members always welcome!
The Fairtrade Foundation commented: "Your group has demonstrated dedication to ensure Fairtrade becomes part of daily life in Hay-on-Wye. You have managed to engage successfully with a great number of people and with a variety of local organisations."
We're coming to the end of Fairtrade Fortnight now, and the Fairtrade Hay group are speaking twice to the pupils of Hay School, and showing a short film about cocoa farming in West Africa, as well as a display in the school lobby. The theme this year is the campaign to secure a fair wage for farmers, especially women farmers.
Hay Deli is promoting the Fairtrade Palestinian company Zaytoun in its shop window, with a Saturday tasting session. Zaytoun's range includes olive oil, herb mixes, grains, almonds and dates.
The Fairtrade Hay group are also going to do a survey shortly of shops and businesses in Hay to assess how much Fairtrade produce is offered, and to see where they can encourage an increase. I was involved in the very first such survey - it'll be interesting to compare the two.
Fairtrade Hay meets on the first Monday of every month at 6.30pm in the Blue Boar - new members always welcome!
Saturday, 23 February 2019
Fairtrade Fortnight
Fairtrade Fortnight is coming up soon! This year it is from February 25th to March 10th.
In Hay, there will be a stall on the Thursday market on Thursday 28th February, with information about local activities and the global efforts to guarantee a living wage for farmers - this year the focus of the campaign is West Africa, including Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana. Between them, these two countries produce 60% of the world's cocoa beans, so a simple way to help them would be to buy more Fairtrade chocolate! Hot chocolate and homemade cupcakes will also be available at the stall.
Hay Co-op uses Fairtrade chocolate in all its own brands, and Fairtrade chocolate is also available at the Hay Deli and other local food shops.
Many women work on cocoa farms, and at present they have fewer rights than men, so the Fairtrade Foundation is working with governments and retailers to improve conditions for women in particular, with the slogan "She Deserves a Living Income".
In Hay, there will be a stall on the Thursday market on Thursday 28th February, with information about local activities and the global efforts to guarantee a living wage for farmers - this year the focus of the campaign is West Africa, including Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana. Between them, these two countries produce 60% of the world's cocoa beans, so a simple way to help them would be to buy more Fairtrade chocolate! Hot chocolate and homemade cupcakes will also be available at the stall.
Hay Co-op uses Fairtrade chocolate in all its own brands, and Fairtrade chocolate is also available at the Hay Deli and other local food shops.
Many women work on cocoa farms, and at present they have fewer rights than men, so the Fairtrade Foundation is working with governments and retailers to improve conditions for women in particular, with the slogan "She Deserves a Living Income".
Saturday, 3 March 2018
Talks Postponed
As Hay is presently under a deep blanket of snow, the talks scheduled for this afternoon and early evening have been postponed until Thursday 8th March.
Monday, 26 February 2018
Fairtrade Fortnight
For Fairtrade Fortnight this year, these talks will be starting at Haymakers, which sells the silverwork and leatherwork from Timbuktu, going on to the Wholefood Shop, which sells Zaytoun products, and finishing at the Eighteen Rabbit shop.
Sunday, 5 March 2017
Fairtrade Goes to Parliament
Jo Eliot, of Fairtrade Hay, was part of a delegation to the Houses of Parliament at the beginning of Fairtrade Fortnight. There were Fairtrade representatives from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as people from the Co-op, and Traidcraft. They had gathered to talk to the All-Party Parliamentary Committee for Fairtrade.
Jo said she was surprised at how busy it was, with MPs coming and going all the time.
The Fairtrade Foundation made a presentation, and there was also a presentation from the Minister of International Development, Rory Stewart, who seemed very interested and well informed.
There was also a speaker from a coffee co-operative in Tanzania, telling the MPs how Fairtrade is helping his community.
The Parliamentary Committees are where a lot of the important work of the House is done, so it was a very positive step for them to invite Fairtrade representatives and listen to what they had to say.
Jo said she was surprised at how busy it was, with MPs coming and going all the time.
The Fairtrade Foundation made a presentation, and there was also a presentation from the Minister of International Development, Rory Stewart, who seemed very interested and well informed.
There was also a speaker from a coffee co-operative in Tanzania, telling the MPs how Fairtrade is helping his community.
The Parliamentary Committees are where a lot of the important work of the House is done, so it was a very positive step for them to invite Fairtrade representatives and listen to what they had to say.
Saturday, 4 March 2017
Palestine Comes to Cusop
Cusop Hall was full last night for the talk organised by the Hay Fairtrade group - and Ange Grunsell, who sells Zaytoun products as the volunteer distributor for the Hay area. Zaytoun is Arabic for "olive", and it was olive oil that started the Zaytoun brand.
Taysir Arabasi, who has been working for Zaytoun since the beginning in 2004 and is their Palestinian director, started off the evening with some basic information about the situation in Palestine. There is a map, showing Palestinian and Israeli territory over the years, with the area available for the Palestinians getting smaller all the time.
Meanwhile, the Israeli settlers have been moving in, despite UN agreements - and they get priority for the water supplies. This has made it difficult for the local farmers, many of whom have had to stop growing certain vegetables - and the shallower wells they have access to contain salty water, which also limits the sort of things they are able to grow. Taysir said that one farmer he talked to was planning to do as much as he could in the next ten years, because after that he estimated that there would not be enough water for him to do any farming.
Another difficulty the Palestinian farmers have is actually being able to export their produce. Cathi Pawson, who is one of the people who started Zaytoun, said that she had been in Palestine in 2004 as an observer, and as a "protective shield" for the Palestinians - if a white, European observer is there, often the Israeli troops will back off from doing bad things. At that time, there was a glut of olive oil, and the farmers had nowhere to sell it. Cathi and the group she was with decided to try to help, thinking at first that it would be on quite a small scale, but when they announced what they wanted to do back in the UK, they got a huge number of orders, and money sent to them, with the people sending the money saying that they were prepared to wait for the olive oil for as long as it took.
From that small beginning, they worked with a Palestinian NGO to get the olive oil to Haifa, the only port they can use. The olive oil is quite expensive, and this is not only because it is Fairtrade and organic, but because of the extra costs of transporting the products, by sea, and transferring from one truck to another at checkpoints. Also, the containers can only be loaded to the height a sniffer dog can jump, rather than be filled to the top.
There are two sorts of Zaytoun olive oil, clearly labelled - one being the organic Fairtrade certified, and the other being olive oil from the same co-operatives where the farmers couldn't afford the certification, but Zaytoun felt that they were still producing a quality product and deserved the chance to sell it.
As time has gone on, they have added other products to their range, such as almonds, herb mixtures, maftoul (a nutty Palestinian grain made from bulgar and wheat flour), freekeh (another sort of wheat grain), and medjoul dates. There was also some olive oil soap on sale on Ange's stall.
They do a lot of work with women farmers, especially with the herbs. One lady farmer was supposed to be coming to the UK to speak about her work. In fact there were supposed to be three visiting Palestinians, but only Taysir was able to get a visa. Bassema Barahmeh and another lady had their visa applications refused, but were only told two days before they were due to fly out - too late for them to appeal the decision. The reason they were given for the refusal was that they didn't have enough money in their bank accounts,and lack of family dependents to prove sufficient ‘ties to their home country’ - even though Zaytoun and Fairtrade were paying for everything while they were in the UK.
A member of the audience said that this also happens when people from Timbuktu try to come to Hay, for twin town events.
Taysir emphasised how important it was for the whole household economy to be improved by trade, which meant that it was important to involve the women of the families. What they wanted, he said, was to live a life with dignity - they weren't interested in what sort of political solution would be sorted out - One State, Two State, Three State - as long as they could live with dignity and continue to farm. The land is fertile, if there is enough water to irrigate in the summer.
And if they had access to their own land - often the olive farmers are only allowed to visit their groves for one month of the year, to harvest the olives, which means that any problems with the trees during the rest of the year cannot be dealt with.
One of the benefits of Fairtrade is the community dividend, which can be spent on projects that the local co-operatives agree on. This can be new classrooms for the local school, or a clinic, or roads - and again they have problems, as the Israelis demolish what they have built. Taysir spoke of one village where they have rebuilt the school five times in a year and a half, and said that this was the best way to resist - they keep knocking it down, and the Palestinians keep rebuilding. But it does mean that a lot of projects from charities such as Oxfam have their money wasted, because they pay for buildings which are then knocked down. Some farmers prefer to put the community dividend into tools, which are moveable.
And finally, a positive story from Hay:
A lady in the audience said that there had been a baptism last year, and when Father Richard arrived to take the service, he had forgotten the oil to anoint the baby. So the lady dashed home and got some olive oil out of her kitchen. The baptism proceeded as planned, and at the end, she was able to tell them that, not only was it Fairtrade and organic olive oil that had been used, but that it had come from the Holy Land, because it was Zaytoun olive oil!
At which Taysir smiled and said that some of the olive oil actually comes from Bethlehem, so is the holiest oil of all!
And Cathi said that a lot of British cathedrals now use Zaytoun olive oil in their services where anointing is required.
The Zaytoun website can be found at www.zaytoun.org
Taysir Arabasi, who has been working for Zaytoun since the beginning in 2004 and is their Palestinian director, started off the evening with some basic information about the situation in Palestine. There is a map, showing Palestinian and Israeli territory over the years, with the area available for the Palestinians getting smaller all the time.
Meanwhile, the Israeli settlers have been moving in, despite UN agreements - and they get priority for the water supplies. This has made it difficult for the local farmers, many of whom have had to stop growing certain vegetables - and the shallower wells they have access to contain salty water, which also limits the sort of things they are able to grow. Taysir said that one farmer he talked to was planning to do as much as he could in the next ten years, because after that he estimated that there would not be enough water for him to do any farming.
Another difficulty the Palestinian farmers have is actually being able to export their produce. Cathi Pawson, who is one of the people who started Zaytoun, said that she had been in Palestine in 2004 as an observer, and as a "protective shield" for the Palestinians - if a white, European observer is there, often the Israeli troops will back off from doing bad things. At that time, there was a glut of olive oil, and the farmers had nowhere to sell it. Cathi and the group she was with decided to try to help, thinking at first that it would be on quite a small scale, but when they announced what they wanted to do back in the UK, they got a huge number of orders, and money sent to them, with the people sending the money saying that they were prepared to wait for the olive oil for as long as it took.
From that small beginning, they worked with a Palestinian NGO to get the olive oil to Haifa, the only port they can use. The olive oil is quite expensive, and this is not only because it is Fairtrade and organic, but because of the extra costs of transporting the products, by sea, and transferring from one truck to another at checkpoints. Also, the containers can only be loaded to the height a sniffer dog can jump, rather than be filled to the top.
There are two sorts of Zaytoun olive oil, clearly labelled - one being the organic Fairtrade certified, and the other being olive oil from the same co-operatives where the farmers couldn't afford the certification, but Zaytoun felt that they were still producing a quality product and deserved the chance to sell it.
As time has gone on, they have added other products to their range, such as almonds, herb mixtures, maftoul (a nutty Palestinian grain made from bulgar and wheat flour), freekeh (another sort of wheat grain), and medjoul dates. There was also some olive oil soap on sale on Ange's stall.
They do a lot of work with women farmers, especially with the herbs. One lady farmer was supposed to be coming to the UK to speak about her work. In fact there were supposed to be three visiting Palestinians, but only Taysir was able to get a visa. Bassema Barahmeh and another lady had their visa applications refused, but were only told two days before they were due to fly out - too late for them to appeal the decision. The reason they were given for the refusal was that they didn't have enough money in their bank accounts,and lack of family dependents to prove sufficient ‘ties to their home country’ - even though Zaytoun and Fairtrade were paying for everything while they were in the UK.
A member of the audience said that this also happens when people from Timbuktu try to come to Hay, for twin town events.
Taysir emphasised how important it was for the whole household economy to be improved by trade, which meant that it was important to involve the women of the families. What they wanted, he said, was to live a life with dignity - they weren't interested in what sort of political solution would be sorted out - One State, Two State, Three State - as long as they could live with dignity and continue to farm. The land is fertile, if there is enough water to irrigate in the summer.
And if they had access to their own land - often the olive farmers are only allowed to visit their groves for one month of the year, to harvest the olives, which means that any problems with the trees during the rest of the year cannot be dealt with.
One of the benefits of Fairtrade is the community dividend, which can be spent on projects that the local co-operatives agree on. This can be new classrooms for the local school, or a clinic, or roads - and again they have problems, as the Israelis demolish what they have built. Taysir spoke of one village where they have rebuilt the school five times in a year and a half, and said that this was the best way to resist - they keep knocking it down, and the Palestinians keep rebuilding. But it does mean that a lot of projects from charities such as Oxfam have their money wasted, because they pay for buildings which are then knocked down. Some farmers prefer to put the community dividend into tools, which are moveable.
And finally, a positive story from Hay:
A lady in the audience said that there had been a baptism last year, and when Father Richard arrived to take the service, he had forgotten the oil to anoint the baby. So the lady dashed home and got some olive oil out of her kitchen. The baptism proceeded as planned, and at the end, she was able to tell them that, not only was it Fairtrade and organic olive oil that had been used, but that it had come from the Holy Land, because it was Zaytoun olive oil!
At which Taysir smiled and said that some of the olive oil actually comes from Bethlehem, so is the holiest oil of all!
And Cathi said that a lot of British cathedrals now use Zaytoun olive oil in their services where anointing is required.
The Zaytoun website can be found at www.zaytoun.org
Friday, 24 February 2017
You Can't Predict the Weather!
Today, of course, it's bright and sunny.
Yesterday, when the Fairtrade group were supposed to be (wo)manning a stall on Hay Market, we had Storm Doris, and the Fire brigade had to be called to dismantle the stalls before they blew away!
Here's hoping the olive oil evening - in Cusop Hall on Friday 3rd March at 7pm - goes smoothly!
Yesterday, when the Fairtrade group were supposed to be (wo)manning a stall on Hay Market, we had Storm Doris, and the Fire brigade had to be called to dismantle the stalls before they blew away!
Here's hoping the olive oil evening - in Cusop Hall on Friday 3rd March at 7pm - goes smoothly!
Saturday, 14 January 2017
Planning for Fairtrade Fortnight
Plans are being finalised for the events of Fairtrade Fortnight, which this year will be 27th February to 12th March. The theme this year is Don't Feed Exploitation.
Here in Hay, there will be a tea stall on Hay Market on the 23rd February, on a Take a Break theme, where leaflets will be handed out to publicise the following week's events on the 2nd and 3rd of March(we're starting early!).
On the 2nd March, there will be no tea stall, but there will be volunteers at the Market.
On the 3rd March, Taysir Arbasi, Director Zaytoun Palestine, and Cathy Porson co-founder of Zaytoun and their Communications Officer will be at Cusop Village Hall from 7pm to 11pm. Zaytoun is the label for Palestinian Fairtrade goods such as olive oil (which is very good!), za'atar which is a Palestinian herb mix, maftoul and freekeh which are types of wheat grains, almonds and medjoul dates.
Wine will be available for donations, and there will be a tasting session.
Jo and Julia will also be doing a workshop at Hay School on 3rd March.
Here in Hay, there will be a tea stall on Hay Market on the 23rd February, on a Take a Break theme, where leaflets will be handed out to publicise the following week's events on the 2nd and 3rd of March(we're starting early!).
On the 2nd March, there will be no tea stall, but there will be volunteers at the Market.
On the 3rd March, Taysir Arbasi, Director Zaytoun Palestine, and Cathy Porson co-founder of Zaytoun and their Communications Officer will be at Cusop Village Hall from 7pm to 11pm. Zaytoun is the label for Palestinian Fairtrade goods such as olive oil (which is very good!), za'atar which is a Palestinian herb mix, maftoul and freekeh which are types of wheat grains, almonds and medjoul dates.
Wine will be available for donations, and there will be a tasting session.
Jo and Julia will also be doing a workshop at Hay School on 3rd March.
Sunday, 6 March 2016
Friday, 5 February 2016
Fairtrade for Breakfast
Fairtrade Fortnight is coming up soon - this year it runs from 29th February to 13th March - and the theme this year is Breakfast!
Breakfast ingredients come from all around the world - and some of those people who supply our breakfast tables can't afford to feed their own families. Fairly traded food can help to support those farmers and other workers who produce the products we need - sugar on your cornflakes, tea and coffee, fruit, and much more.
So come to The Old Electric Shop on Thursday 3rd March and Thursday 10th March for a Fairtrade breakfast.
Many cafes in Hay also serve Fairtrade coffee - look for the Fairtrade sign in the window, or ask.
And if you're looking for a Valentine's Day gift, try something fairly traded from Eighteen Rabbit.
Breakfast ingredients come from all around the world - and some of those people who supply our breakfast tables can't afford to feed their own families. Fairly traded food can help to support those farmers and other workers who produce the products we need - sugar on your cornflakes, tea and coffee, fruit, and much more.
So come to The Old Electric Shop on Thursday 3rd March and Thursday 10th March for a Fairtrade breakfast.
Many cafes in Hay also serve Fairtrade coffee - look for the Fairtrade sign in the window, or ask.
And if you're looking for a Valentine's Day gift, try something fairly traded from Eighteen Rabbit.
Friday, 27 February 2015
Friday, 20 February 2015
Fairtrade Fortnight - Return of the Tea Ladies!
The Tea Ladies are back! This was something that was very popular the first time it was tried - dispensing free Fairtrade tea from a tea trolley at the Thursday market. So, next week, the Fairtrade team are doing it again.
And the following week, there's this:
And the following week, there's this:
Saturday, 22 February 2014
Eighteen Rabbits go Bananas!
Here's Andrew from Eighteen Rabbit, impersonating a banana for this year's Fairtrade Fortnight!
Thursday, 19 December 2013
Going Bananas for Fairtrade Fortnight
While most people are thinking about Christmas, the Fairtrade group are starting to plan ahead for Fairtrade Fortnight, in February. This year's theme is bananas, and they are considering a market stall with banana cake, a tea tasting (because it doesn't have to be all about bananas) and doing something involving banana-y songs with Hay School ('Yes, we have no Bananas' is an oldy but goodie!)
Support Fairtrade - 'ave a banana!
Support Fairtrade - 'ave a banana!
Wednesday, 23 January 2013
Fairtrade Wine and Cheese Evening
Tickets are now on sale at Eighteen Rabbit, up at Hay Castle, for the Fairtrade Fortnight Wine and Cheese Evening.
Nine Fairtrade wines, a selection of local cheeses, with a short talk by the cheese maker and someone who knows about the wine, all at Tomatito's Tapas Bar, in the back room.
Numbers are limited because of space, and tickets cost £10. The event starts at 7pm on the 26th February.
Saturday, 3 March 2012
Take a Step up Cusop Dingle
Here we all are, setting off across the fields up one of the loveliest Dingles in the area. There are lots of good footpaths, and this one started off as part of the Offa's Dyke Path. We turned off to cut across the Dingle to Cusop Church, which is now St Mary's, but was originally dedicated to St Cewydd - the Welsh rain saint! We had some pretty heavy rain at the start of the walk, but the sun came out beautifully later.
Twenty one people (and one dog) came on the walk, and a lot of us brought Fairtrade snacks to share.
Thursday, 1 March 2012
Fairtrade tent on the Market
There we are, across the market square - it's more of a gazebo than a tent, so it doesn't look quite as overwhelming as I thought it might, though it does have all four sides if anyone wanted to use it as a marquee.
I arrived at lunchtime, when the Indian lady had gone to speak at Hay School, but Christina was there with the Fairtrade leaflets and the treasure game. You can see by all the little flags in the sand tray that a lot of people had a go! Christina put all the flags that were next to the treasure into the Fairtrade bag (made in Mongolia, from felt) which was the star prize, and I pulled out the winner - Emanation Smith - who was thrilled when she was presented with it later!
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