Fair trade on the fringe

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe runs from 7-31 August and is the largest arts festival in the world, so its exciting to hear that Fair Trade on the Fringe will take place from Thursday 27^th to Sunday 30^th August on the Grassmarket.  With exhibitors, kids activities, live music and samples its sure to be well worth a visit. I just wish I lived closer to be able to attend myself!

Visit the Fairtrade Foundation’s Events page  for further information.

Complaints to the BBC – George Alagiah

According to The Guardian, the BBC has received 200 complaints since the story broke about George Alagiah being asked to step down as patron of the Fairtrade Foundation (you can read my previous posts here and here).

If you would like to make a complaint and you happen to be on Facebook (and lets face it – most of us are on Facebook!) visit Superbadger and follow the instructions – quick and easy.

Why the BBC asked George Alagiah to step down

My last post reported that George Alagiah had been made to step down from his post at The Fairtrade Foundation by the BBC.

The Times has today published a letter from The BBC Director of News, setting out why they asked him to step down. Whilst its important for readers to make their own judgment, I will just say that I hope they will be applying this impartiality to all areas and staff of their organisation.

George Alagiah forced to quit as Fairtrade patron

Although he has held the position for seven years, George Alagiah has been forced to quit his position as official patron of The Fairtrade Foundation by the BBC.

There is an excellent article regarding this in The Times. Like many, I don’t understand why the BBC now considers it necessary for him to step down after having held the position for several years.  You can read what Mr Alagiah has to say himself, by clicking HERE.

Canaan Fair Trade

Based in Jenin, Palestine, Canaan Fair Trade sell, amongst other products, olive oil. Their products are produced by over 1,700 small farmers belonging to informal cooperatives that are represented by the Palestine Fair Trade Association. (Click here to read the Olive Oil Guidelines and Standards). 

The Israel-Palestine conflicts are well publicised but the effects they have on individuals and their livelihoods less so.  This is what Canaan has to say:

“……. by giving incentives to produce a high quality product, Canaan and its partners hope to reestablish traditional, sustainable farming as an avenue for Palestinian farmers earning a livelihood. Fair trade provides a vehicle for alternative cultural expression and the opportunity for communities caught in conflict to connect with the outside world……..”

In December 2008, The Fairtrade Foundation released this press release, confirming that the oil would be hitting UK shelves in 2009. 

Find out more about Canaan by visiting their website.  You can find the oil at, amongst other places, Traidcraft.

Fairtrade Beauty

Last week The Fairtrade Foundation announce the first beauty products to hold the FAIRTRADE Mark in the UK.

Currently, there are 57 products available from 5 different companies including Boots and Lush. With these companies paving the way, they are showing other companies how to make it easy for consumers to support Fairtrade workers with minimum effort and hopefully more will shortly follow suit.

Each product contains at least one Fairtrade certified ingredient. There are serveral natural products that could be sourced from Fairtrade producers, such as cocoa butter, brazil nut oil, honey and vanilla.  Click HERE for information regarding the minimum levels set for Fairtrade ingredients.

Brighton to lose Fairtrade status?

I really hope this isn’t the case.  According to The Argus, the local Council has stopped serving Fairtrade tea and  coffee. It has been quoted that this is due to ‘cost-cutting’. 

So much hard work goes into gaining Fairtrade status for a town, it seems such a shame to waste all the time and effort that people have put in to it and because of this, surely the Council should feel some sense of obligation to continue with it?  They are also public figures, with the ideal opportunity to show people how the switch to Fairtrade can be done and encourage others to do the same. 

The Fairtrade Foundation are believed to be reviewing the situation. Hopefully the Council will turn this situation around before its too late.

Cadburys commits to going Fairtrade

At last!  The news I’ve been waiting for! Cadburys have announced that they plan to achieve Fairtrade certification by the end of Summer 2009 fo their Cadbury’s Dairy Milk.  You can read all about it here, on the Fairtrade Foundation’s website.  This is such great news! Now I can grab a bar of chocolate when I fancy it without the associated guilt I usually feel because it isn’t Fairtrade!

Harriet Lamb wins prestigious award

Harriet Lamb, Executive Director of the Fairtrade Foundation is, in my opinion an amazing woman.  And it looks like I’m not the only one to think so – she recently won the Credit Suisse Outstanding Woman in Business Award and Cosmo recently named her as the Ultimate Eco Queen.  Its really fantastic to see someone who has put in so much work to the Fairtrade cause receive recognition for doing so.

Fairtrade Sugar

During this year’s Fairtrade Fortnight, Tate & Lyle announced that they were converting all of their sugar to Fairtrade. To be honest, I’d been meaning to write about it but with so much going on, it completely slipped my mind, so it was a nice surprise when I went to make a drink today and saw it there on the packet.

Tate & Lyle source their cane sugar from Belize and have done so for over 35 years. They have been working closely with the Fairtrade Foundation, Belize Sugar Industries and the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association throughout the process.

The sugar industry is very important in Belize, both to the farmers that grow the sugar canes and others that are employed in the industry, such as in the productions areas where the cane is processed.

It’s really fantastic to see a mainstream brand taking such a postive step to support Fairtrade and I’m keeping my fingers firmly crossed that more brands will decide to follow suit.

You can read more about Tate & Lyle here. The Fairtrade Foundation have a real-life story of a farmer here which shows the opportunities that Fairtrade brings.