another interesting site

http://www.globalexchange.org/

http://www.change.org/

Well, there you go hey!  I'm glad there's a Fair Trade group on here.

There's been some good discussion on Fair Trade @ Fair Trade Feedback - check it out!

For anyone who missed Matthew's blog, there is a great promotion from World Vision to promote child sponsorship as they are struggling in today's current financial market to find sponsors for their children:

http://www.worldvision.com.au/childsponsorship/sponsorachild.aspx?souce=1168

Here in Oz, McDonalds are advertising that they are now using Rainforest Alliance coffee and thanks to a comment here, I thought I'd find out a bit more about it...

I quote from the Rainforest Alliance Website:

"As a leader in the development of best management practices for sustainable land use, we offer third-party certification under the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal to forests and farms managed in ways that reduce environmental impacts and increase social benefits. Our SmartWood program certifies well-managed forestry businesses to the strict standards of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Our Sustainable Agriculture program certifies farms that meet the exacting standards of the Sustainable Agriculture Network."

As I understand it this means that at least 35% of McDonalds coffee is certified as having been farmed sustainably.  This is a great step and is a responsible step for the earth's future.  One thing concerns me though, that there is no mention of a fair deal for workers, unlike Fair Trade - thoughts anyone?

a non product related form of unfair trade is happening in india right now. this is the oxfam mid year appeal. donations can be made online, over the phone or in your nearest oxfam store.

Fair Trade Fortnight 3-18 May 2008 is approaching, and this year everyone in Australia can get involved by participating in the national Fairtrade Coffee Break, or by going along to local events promoting Fair Trade.  

The Fair Trade Fortnight website is now online at www.fairtrade.com.au and has information on the Fairtrade Coffee Break; an events listing for local events including the Fair Trade Fiestas; resources; information and more.

If your church or community group would like to book a coffee break, you can go online and they will send you some samples to use to promote fair trade.

feature producer this week as i cant decide on the product from them, LOL!!  (most Oxfam shops should stock some of their stuff)

Maroma is run by a French man and an American woman who live in Auroville, India. They export their fairly traded goods to over 25 countries around the globe with their promary products being of the good smelling variety! hehe (delicious smelling incence wands and cones, beautiful candles, fragrence sachets, bath salts and aromatherapy oils) they are sitting right next to the counter here so it is hard not to smell them ::)'s

The mostly female workforce of Maroma come from surounding villages and are provided with health care, education, free loans, production bonuses and work insurance. Maroma pays some of the highest wages in the region. They have also recently put some of their profits back into a lab to fund environmentally sustainable production of their goods. in addition to this they put 45% of their net profit into other local  projects.

www.maroma.com

is the website check it out, there is no online shop as far as i can tell but their range is viewable. tis wicked smelling coolies! ::)'s from becca!

i have also emailed Clay if we can do a fair trade auction using some of the new features of minti as part of FTF coming up in may. profits will go to Pekerti a handycrafts and folk art producer in Indonesia. stay tuned for a yay or ney from the minti gods! heheeeee!

I have just listed on ebay some fair trade handcrafts from my market stall - so if you would like to have a look - mostly bags and jewellery, look here.

Batsiranai twins
retails for $29.95 (oxfam shop price)
these cotton dolls are handmade by mothers with disabled children through the Batsiranai craft project in Harare, Zimbabwe. when perchased, a twin of the doll is given to a child in Zimbabwe affected by AIDS/HIV.  There are 12 twins to chose from, (they are all really cute) each has their own name as does their twin. perfect pressie for a special little girl or boy to cuddle and help make the world a brighter place for another child far away.
"Batsiranai" translates to helping each other.
www.batsiranai.co.zw

sorry it has been a while peeps, shop has been busy and kids were being kids. how you all been? here is the feature product

Oxfam shops own brand Chermoula Sauce!!

Retails for $8.95 240ml from oxfam shops nation wide.

Feature product for this week is an African garlic sauce called Chermoula. Developed with the cusine of all of Africa in mind. it has spicy flavours of corriander, lemon, garlic and green capsicum. It can be used as a marinade for fish, chicken or lamb or as an addition to guacamole dip.  it also works well in moroccan targine recipies... please DOOO try!! i am not much of a capsicum fan but am taking a bottle home tonight to try with some fish, the things i do for Fair Trade... will let you know how it turned out. ::)'s from becca!

Thought I'd share a few articles on Fair Trade:

FairTrade Farce?

Darker side of chocolate

You are what you buy

Interesting reading/viewing! 

Here is the link for some more information in regards to

, which happens to be the manufacturer for the Easter Special in the previous blog by kseers...

I bought one of these great Easter Specials and wish I'd bought more now as they are so well packaged and so affordable.  They come wrapped in celophane, with this little picture on them - a great gift!:

just thought i would introduce a regular thing/post (hopefully once a week if you lot like the idea). on products in the shop that i have played with, tried, kicked around, tried on, jingled and smelled LOL! i hope to always include a link to an online retailer if the oxfam website dosn't have it up so let me know if you want me to do it again, what you think of the products if you have tried them or if you think i am just babbling... ::)

first up is alter eco's dark chocolate called blackout it retails 100g @ $5.95*

This is perhaps the highest cocoa content i have found in any chocolate, at 85% cocoa it is by far the best for getting a choc fix. not only is the cocoa sorced through El ceibo cooperative (a fair trade group of small scale cocoa farmers) but the sugars are unrefined and organic cane sugar (giving the choc a hint of a vanilla flavour) which is also grown exclusivly by small scale farms. produced in bolivia, south america it is certified fair trade and usda standards certified organic.  to check out the rest of the range head to your local oxfam or you can purchase online here.

www.alterecopacific.com

 it is well worth a try. - cheers from becca! ::)

*(this is the oxfam shop price, it is subject to change when purchased elsewhere)

You can search by area, product and so on... Here!

Pretty comprehensive, and I was pleasantly surprised to find so many retail outlets in Sydney!

When you look down at your engagement ring, think about the thousands of people who have had to work unfairly due to Blood Diamonds. If you aren't sure what I am talking about, rent out the movie Blood Diamond.
I'm not sure whether the big name diamond dealers have done any thing like certification or whatever to ensure that they are only getting non-'blood diamonds'.

have just taken a bunch of pics of the shop and all the new stuff we have had in recently. and came across a brand new drinking choc by dagoba organic chocolate... get this hot chocolate with chillies and cinnamon, will upload a pic later. along with the rest ::)'s all have a coolies day.

The 10 Standards of Fair Trade

IFAT prescribes 10 standards that Fair Trade organizations must follow in their day-to-day work and carries out continuous monitoring to ensure these standards are upheld these company philosophies are considered:

• Creating opportunities for economically disadvantaged producers
• Transparency and accountability
• Capacity building
• Promoting Fair Trade
• Payment of a fair price
• Gender Equity
• Working conditions
• Child Labour
• The environment
• Trade Relations

from www.ifat.org

please regard the IFAT logo on the same grounds as the fair trade stamp, some small traders do not have the money to pay for aditional certification. ::)'s to those who want a fairer worldbecca!