Fairtrade Fortnight is Here…….

………. and tomorrow’s Pancake Day (24th February!). So why not combine the two?

Here’s a basic pancake recipe:-

220g/8oz plain flour, sifted
pinch of salt
2 eggs
1 pint of milk
50g/2oz butter

1. Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl with a sieve held high above the bowl so the flour gets a airing.

2. Make a well in the centre of the flour and break the eggs into it.

3. Whisk the eggs making sure any bits of flour from around the edge of the bowl are mixed in with the egg.

4. Gradually add small quantities of the milk, still whisking

5.  Continue whisking until the batter is smooth, with the consistency of thin cream.

6.  Melt the 50g/2oz of butter in a non-stick frying pan.

7. Spoon 2 tbsp of the melted butter into the batter and whisk it in.

8. Let the pancake mix stand for at least 30 minutes before cooking.

9. Pour any left over butter into a dish. This will be used later to grease the frying pan after each pancake has been made.

10. Make sure the non-stick frying pan is really hot before adding about 2 tbsp of the batter mixture.

11. As soon as the batter hits the hot pan, tip the pan around from side to side to get the base evenly coated with batter.

12. Carefully lift the edge of the cooked pancake with a palette knife to see if it’s tinged gold as it should be.

13. Flip the pancake over with a pan slice or palette knife to cook the other side.

14. Slide it out of the pan onto a plate.

15. Stack the pancakes as you make them between sheets of greaseproof paper on a plate.

(Original recipe can be found here).

Now, if you’re having pancakes, it really has to be with a sweet topping!  Why not add a Fairtrade Banana, chopped up with some Fairtrade nuts or spread some Fairtrade chocolate spread/sauce. Fairtrade Bananas are now available in most supermarkets and both M&S and The Co-op do Fairtrade chocolate sauces.

Enjoy!

Saturday 28th February – Fair Trade Shopping in King’s Lynn

On Saturday 28th February we are holding a stall at Nourish Cafe. Nourish is situated on London Road in King’s Lynn and is run by husband and wife, Jonathan and Sara, who are supported by a team of volunteers.  Nourish is a community cafe for local people and all food and drink is locally produced, organic or fairtrade. As well as being a cafe, they also have internet access and a children’s play area.  Pop in and see what we’re all about!

Fairtrade Fortnight

As all Fairtrade supporters know, Fairtrade Fortnight is here. Fairtrade Fortnight is the Fairtrade Foundation’s annual promotional campaign to encourage people to buy more products bearing the FAIRTRADE mark. This year it takes place from 25^th February to 9^th March 2008.

This year’s theme is Change Today, Choose Fairtrade. Fairtrade towns across the UK will have a visit from the ‘Choose Fairtrade Bus’ throughout the fortnight, beginning on London’s South Bank. People that board the campaign bus will be able to learn more from the on-board cinema and though interactive activities.

 

As it’s my first year as an official fairtrader, I’ve been really excited about FTF14. It’s been really interesting to see what’s been taking place throughout. There’s been two particularly interesting pieces in the news:-

Tate & Lyle have announced that by the end of 2009 all of their range will be Fairtrade. This is fantastic news and I’ll write about it in another entry.

The Adam Smith Institute chose to release their report at the start of FTF14. You can read it at www.adamsmith.org. The report makes many claims, to which The Fairtrade Foundation has provided a response to on their website.

It’s fairly obvious that the report was released to coincide with Fairtrade Fortnight to gain maximum exposure and they appear to have succeeded.

The report makes many claims against Fairtrade. I won’t go into all my thoughts on it and I don’t/won’t claim to be an expert on all matters Fairtrade, but I would just say the following. The Fairtrade Foundation was set up by CAFOD, Oxfam, Traidcraft, Christian Aid, and the World Development Movement and were joined by the National Federation of Women’s Institutes. All of these charities are still involved with Fairtrade and fighting poverty and have been joined along the way by many others. If the assertion that Fairtrade harms producers in developing countries rather than helping them, then surely they wouldn’t be involved with it?

The report also states there are other ethical alternatives to Fairtrade. The problem with this is that many companies can claim to offer ethical alternatives but what do they measure it against? People are more than willing to make their own choices as consumers but there can often be confusion over various ethical labels. How are they supposed to know which is the most trustworthy? Recognition of the Fairtrade label is now higher than ever and sales have been increasing since 2002 by over 40% each year (see the Fairtrade Foundation’s website).

For me,  I think there will always be people that criticise it, but Fairtrade is about more than just paying a fair price. It’s about allowing farmers and craftspeople access to markets that they would otherwise be excluded from. It allows them to set up long term contracts and put processes in place for long term development that they would otherwise be unable to do. Not only that but it allows them to put more back into their communities and there are many case studies that show and support this.

Fairtrade Facts

1. Fairtrade Fortnight is the Fairtrade Foundation’s annual promotional campaign to encourage people to buy more products bearing the FAIRTRADE mark. This year it takes place from 25^th February to 9^th March 2008.
2. The Fairtrade Foundation was established in 1992 by CAFOD,(Catholic Agency for Overseas Development), Christian Aid, New Consumer, Oxfam, Traidcraft and the World Development Movement. They were later joined by Britain’s largest women’s organisation, the Women’s Institute.
3. The first Fairtrade label was launched in 1988 in the Netherlands and only applied to coffee.
4. The FAIRTRADE Mark now appears on over 2000 different products.
5. The following items can be found bearing the FAIRTRADE mark – coffee, tea, chocolate, cocoa, sugar, bananas, apples, pears, grapes, plums, lemons, oranges, satsumas, clementines, lychees, avocados, pineapples, mangoes, fruit juices, smoothies, quinoa, peppers, green beans, coconuts, dried fruit, rooibos tea, green tea, ice-cream, cakes, biscuits, honey, muesli, cereal bars, jams, chutney, sauces, herbs, spices, nuts, nut oil, wine, beer, rum, flowers, sports balls, rice, yoghurt, babyfood, sugar body scrub, cotton wool and cotton products.
6. The first UK town to be declared as a Fairtrade town was Garstang in May 2000.
7. The 242^nd Fairtrade town was declared in May 2007.
8. As at December 2007 there were over 3,860 churches registered as fairtrade. For a church to register as fairtrade they must use fairtrade tea and coffee for all meetings and after services and move towards using other fairtrade items such as sugar. They must also promote fairtrade throughout the year, as well as through Fairtrade Fortnight. Why not help your church become a fair trade church?
9. In 2006 sales of fairtrade products increased by 46% on 2005, by hitting £290 million.
10. A number of supermarkets now only stock fairtrade bananas including Sainsburys and Waitrose. Visit Banana Link to find out more about their work towards a fair and sustainable banana trade.

Visit the Fairtrade Foundation for more fairtrade facts!

Bolton Fairtrade Town

The lovely folks from Bolton Fairtrade Group have kindly added a link to Only Fair on their website. Make sure you visit their website to find out about the fantastic work they are doing – including winning the Outstanding Achievement Award for Fairtrade Fortnight 2007.  Special thanks to Jim for the hints and tips.