Image Copyright Scottish Fair Trade Forum / Ross Stirling

On a recent visit to the Isle of Arran, it was inspiring to witness the amount of shops, cafes, restaurants and accommodation providers promoting Fair Trade products in their organisations.

The Isle of Arran become a Fair Trade Island in 2008 and currently has more than 80 Fair Trade promoters on the island!

Arran is easily accessible by ferry from Ardrossan and the crossing takes under an hour. Visitors can hop on one of many Caledonian MacBrayne’s ferry services operating to Arran (who are also Fair Trade supporters themselves!). One of the easiest and cheapest ways of visiting the island is by crossing as a foot passenger, where on arrival into Brodick, the island can be explored by cycle hire, bus tour or walking.

Watch out for upcoming Fair Trade events on the Isle of Arran which will be advertised on the SFTF web site. Read the rest of this entry »

The weather this weekend was a reminder that summer is almost here. July and August, in particular, are busy months in our office, as we use the ‘quiet’ of school holidays and Parliamentary recess to catch up and plan ahead.

So, watch this space for…

• updates on the SFTF stall at the Royal Highland Show June 25-28, where we will be chatting with visitors and VIP guests about the links between local Scottish farming and Fair Trade producers;
• pictures (we hope) and a bit of glossy update on both our tea party with People & Planet Edinburgh University to celebrate our petition to ask the Queen to drink Fairtrade tea and
• our trip to the Queen’s Garden Party at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh the end of June, representing the Scottish Fair Trade Forum to her Majesty.

We’ll be launching a national campaign in autumn 2009 that you can get involved in. It’s super-secret for now, but we’ll be letting you know what it is and how you can help, so watch this space!

Betsy

Congratulations to mid-Formartine, which was yesterday awarded status as Scotland’s latest Fairtrade Zone!

Former SFTF board member Eilidh Whiteford presented the award at the Formartine Fairtrade Festival, which was part-funded through one of the SFTF’s recent mini grants:

‘The people of Mid-formartine are to be congratulated on becoming a Fairtrade Zone. This award represents a lot of hard work by many people across the area.  Fairtrade makes a tremendous difference to the lives of producers and their families in developing countries, ensuring they get a fair price for their produce and providing dividends for their communities.  The importance of that is well understood in areas like Mid-formartine where so many people are involved in food production and understand the pressures faced by farmers all over the world. The Scottish Fair Trade Forum is delighted to support today’s event and is working with communities across the country to make Scotland a Fair Trade Nation.”

Formartine is an area where farming is important to the local economy and communities. Our experience has been that Scottish farmers understand better than most the plight of farmers in the developing world whose lives have been improved through Fair Trade, and their commitment is invaluable in this campaign to make Scotland one of the world’s first Fair Trade Nations.

Thanks to Formatine for getting us one step closer to that goal!

Despite the typical Scottish weather, the event proved to be a big hit with visitors, enticed by the prospect of sampling fair trade chocolate and bananas. The stall attracted adults and children alike and volunteers informed the visitors of the work of the SFTF. With free chocolate on offer, raising awareness has never been so easy!

Watch out for our May newsletter which features a full report of the event!

Image copyright Scottish Fair Trade Forum / Koko Brown Photography

Fair Trade movement welcomes support by the European Commission to Fair Trade
5 May 2009 (Brussels) -

The Fair Trade movement welcomes the adoption today of a communication on Fair Trade by the European Commission, ‘Contributing to Sustainable Development: The role of Fair Trade and non-governmental trade-relayed sustainability assurance schemes’. The Fair Trade movement is pleased that the EC recognizes Fair Trade’s values and has referenced the principles defined by the Fair Trade movement and offers to continue working together with the European Union, EU Member States and regional and local authorities to the benefit of marginalised producers and poor workers in the South.

Rob Cameron, Chief Executive Officer of Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO) stated, on behalf of the four main Fair Trade networks FLO, WFTO, NEWS and EFTA! ‘We welcome today’s announcement as a very positive step forward. The EC Communication will be welcomed by producers throughout the Global South, especially now during uncertain economic times. Fair Trade’s goal is to support marginalized producers and workers in the South. European consumers have already pledged their commitment to Fair Trade and it is great to see the EC acknowledging this. We look forward to the future support this Communication will generate.”

…Fair Trade has become all the more relevant in the current global economic crisis, as the world’s poor suffer the effects of the economic recession disproportionately. Over a million and a half producers and workers throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America already benefit from the better deal that Fair Trade offers. Worldwide, consumers spent over 2.3 billion Euros on Fairtrade certified products in 2007. This represents a 47% annual increase.
 
A key instrument available to public authorities across the EU to “share the burden of sustainable development” is their public purchasing policies. A large number of EU, national, regional and local authorities across the European Union have already put in place policies and passed legislation on public procurement and Fair Trade.

The Fair Trade movement looks forward to the upcoming European Commission guidelines on social considerations on public procurement and trusts they will, in the framework of existing EU rules on public procurement, provide practical “can-do” guidance on the role that public authorities can play, in practice, in supporting marginalised producers and poor workers in the South. The Fair Trade movement offers to work together with the European Commission services to identify best practices and constructive benchmarks for public authorities….

For the full text of the press release, go to this page.

Dressing up has never been so much fun! SFTF volunteer Ross Stirling poses in a rather ‘lifelike’ looking Gorilla suit to promote an upcoming event for World Fair Trade Day on Saturday 9th May 2009.

The event will take place between 12:00 until 16:00 in the Budongo Trail chimpanzee enclosure at Edinburgh Zoo.

Show your support and come along on the day! Visit our website at www.sftf.org.uk and look at our events section for more information.

I was out driving at the weekend when I came across this sign! I was that impressed I had to stop and take a picture! Perth city achieved Fairtrade City status in June 2005 and Kinross-shire area achieved Fairtrade County status in August 2005. Whilst attending a local event in Perth last week, I met George Millar, Chair of Perth City Fairtrade Steering Group. It was refreshing to hear that George and other members are still committed to ensuring continued Fairtrade status for Perth and Kinross… Watch this space for upcoming events taking place in the Perth and Kinross area.

The World Development Movement (WDM) and our friends at WDM Scotland continue to highlight the issue of trade justice, which is at the heart of the fair trade movement. 

Come along to the Glasgow stop of their Speaking Tour at Glasgow University on Tuesday March 17 to hear Mary Lou Malig speak.

Firstly, I got a text this morning from the Head of Campaigns at the Fairtrade Foundation that Cadbury’s is going Fairtrade! See the full article in the Financial Times here. 

Today we’re in Ullapool and about to set off on our tour of schools and participating in events with local activists. The next few days will be incredibly busy so I thought I’d post some pictures while I have time.

Over the past week, Towera and I have spoken to approximately 1,200 people in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Stirling, Perth, and Fife during our Fairtrade Fortnight tour.

We’ve spent today in Oban, speaking to two primary schools and the high school and are setting off tomorrow for Skye, Ullapool, Inverness, Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen and Dundee the rest of this week.

Last year, I was introducing people around Scotland to the Fair Trade Nation campaign. This year, with recent poll findings that 1 in 4 Scots now know about the campaign in mind, I have noticed a tangible growth in awareness of fair trade in general and of the Fair Trade Nation campaign in particular.

Over 2 million people in Scotland already know that Scotland is working to lead the way as a Fair Trade Nation, and, after this Fairtrade Fortnight, word will continue to spread. Over the past year, more towns have become Fairtrade Towns, more schools are working to become Fairtrade Schools, more local authorities have become Fairtrade Zones and Fife is even working to become the world’s first Fairtrade Kingdom.

We are well on our way to becoming a Fair Trade Nation and the next year will be exciting as we seek to intensify our work with universities, local authorities, towns and helping local groups to work as effectively as possible and network more with other groups throughout Scotland.

Thanks to all who’ve come along to events we’ve spoken at and to those who’ve worked so hard to plan and host events during Fairtrade Fortnight in Scotland. You are helping Scotland lead the world on fair trade activity.

Towera has certainly been impressed and she has been telling audiences everywhere we’ve gone:
‘…the power is in your hands to change the lives of people in places like Malawi through buying fair trade. You are leading the world by working to become a Fair Trade Nation. Join the campaign and change people’s lives.’