FAIRTRADE
St Joseph's Justice and Peace group wants to raise awareness and support for Fairtrade.
What is FAIRTRADE?
Fairtrade aims to help people in developing countries find their own way out of poverty. Fairtrade challenges the injustices of international trade, a major cause of world poverty, by:
- payment of fair prices direct to farmers and factory workers who produce the goods we buy
- fair wages for these workers
- improving working conditions
The Fairtrade organisation was set up by Traidcraft, CAFOD, Oxfam, Christian Aid and others. It awards the Fairtrade mark (see below) to products that meet internationally recognised standards of fair trade.
FAIRTRADE MARK:
How can we make a difference?
We can take responsibility as consumers for the role we play when we buy products from the developing world.
buy Fairtrade products:
- Look out for the Fairtrade mark in shops, on chocolate, coffee, tea, bananas etc. This sends a powerful message to supermarkets and government that we are concerned about the people who produce the goods we buy.
- Visit our Traidcraft stall held at St Joseph's Church after every Mass on the second Sunday of the month. It stocks a wide range of delicious, high quality fairtrade goods.
- buy online and find out more about Fairtrade issues:
www.fairtrade.org.uk and www.traidcraft.co.uk
FAIRTRADE CELEBRATIONS AT ST JOSEPH'S
extract from Newsletter Feb 2005
1 March, marked the start of Fairtrade Fortnight. Over the
last two years we have tried to mark this event at St Joseph's
with chocolate tasting and coffee mornings. In 2005 we had something
to celebrate: we had achieved Fairtrade status in the Parish
and were awaiting a certificate. This means that we mark Fairtrade
Fortnight, that we serve Fairtrade tea and coffee at parish
events and that we promote the use of other Fairtrade goods,
such as selling Traicraft goods after Mass and offering Fairtrade
bananas to the children at St Joseph's School.
Traidcraft goods were first sold in the parish when Fr Heaney
was Parish Priest. When the stall restarted in 1996 we were
pleased to sell £20 worth of goods. Now we sell goods worth
£200 each month. In the early days Fairtrade coffee and tea
were considered to be inferior to the major brands. Now they
hold their own and can be found in most supermarkets, in Epsom
at least, along with fresh and dried fruits, sugar, biscuits
and fruit juice. Fairtrade Fortnight aims to highlight the importance
of Fairtrade in tackling poverty. There are over 700 products
carrying the Fairtrade Mark and Fairtrade sales rise by 40%
each year. Look out for the Fairtrade Mark when you next do
your shopping.
The Mark guarantees that:
- Farmers receive a fair and stable price for their products
- Farmers and plantation workers have the opportunity to improve their lives
- There is greater respect for the environment
- Small scale farmers gain a stronger position in world markets
- There is a closer link between consumers and producers