Browsing: Useful

This Christmas, my hubby and I received a fabulous addition to our kitchen.  A Morphy Richards Slow Cooker!  Now, unfortunately, it doesn’t permanently live on our kitchen counter as our house is a little on the small side, so we keep it in a cupboard and bring it out ocassionally, but we’re determined to make use of it as often as we can.  It was christened a couple of weeks ago with an averagely-good hot-pot dish, however, this weekend I cooked a corker.

Read the rest of My First Slow Cooked Curry »

Joanna’s recent blog  ‘The Great Packaging Debate’ touched a nerve with me.  Don’t get me wrong I’m all in favour of recycling. Too much so, if you ask my kids, as I’m rather fond of picking up bottles and cans whilst walking our dog and bringing home the spoils to add to our kerb-it box. Perhaps it’s the way that I then record my results on the calendar (21 cans is my personal best) which prompts their accusations that I’m obsessive. But I’m also firmly of the opinion that recycling shouldn’t be viewed as the first option when dealing with our waste.

So here’s my top 5 ideas for cutting down recycling without adding anything to landfill.

1 – Plan ahead.

One of the biggest improvements we’ve made to reducing waste in our home is by taking time

Read the rest of Top tips to cut your recycling »

Here is my third and final part of the A-Z of Fairtrade; enjoy!

R – RICE: “In 2000, FLO took the first steps towards the introduction of the Fairtrade Standard for Rice to open up new markets for the benefit of small farmers. Today a total of 15 rice producer organizations in Thailand, India, Egypt and Laos are Fairtrade Certified.” This means that more farmers are able to work their way out of poverty and provide for their families as well as avoid the vicious circle of debt which is typical of small rice farmers.

Image by Addictive Picasso (Flickr)

S – SUGAR: Sugar is one of the worlds’ most important and sought after commodities and is bought and sold around the globe. However, significant obstacles lie in the path of those small scale sugarcane farmers who struggle to earn a living. Farmers who produce Fairtrade Certified Sugar are guaranteed a Fairtrade Minimum Price for their produce and a Fairtrade Premium to invest in social and economic initiatives in their communities. Sugar producers are organised into cooperatives that are governed democratically and they must adhere to environmental standards which encourage sustainability and restricts the use of agrochemicals.

T – TRAIDCRAFT: Traidcraft work with more than 100 producer groups in over 30 developing countries to provide 450 fair trade food, craft and textile products. It was instrumental in setting up the Fairtrade Foundation which awards the Fairtrade Mark to products which meet internationally recognised standards. Established in 1979, Traidcraft’s mission is to fight poverty through trade, by practicing and promoting approaches to trade that help poor people in developing countries transform their lives. Traidcraft can also claim to have produced the first Fairtrade composite product, the Traidcraft Apricot Geobar.

U – UBUNTU: Ubuntu Cola was the first cola in the UK to get the Fairtrade Mark (back in 2007) and is made with Fairtrade sugar from the Kasinthula Cooperative in Malawi and from the Kaleya Cooperative in Zambia. Each year, Ubuntu give at least 15% of its profits to the Ubuntu Africa Programme which supports sugar producers and their communities and encourages entrepreneurial projects aimed at tackling poverty. As well as that, it tastes great too!

V – VAN DER HOFF: Frans Van Der Hoff, Nico Roozen and a Dutch development NGO, Solidaridad, pioneered the first Fairtrade Certification in 1988; Max Havelaar. In the same year the first ‘Fairtrade’ coffee from Mexico was sold into Dutch supermarkets. It was branded “Max Havelaar,” after a fictional Dutch character who opposed the exploitation of coffee pickers in Dutch colonies. In the late 80’s/early 90’s this initiative was replicated across Europe and North America to include the “Fairtrade Mark” in the UK and Ireland.

Read the rest of The A-Z of Fairtrade: Part 3 »

Here’s my A-Z of Fairtrade: Part 2; following on from Part 1.

Image by Mralan (Flickr)

J – JUICES: A lot of fruit used for juice production is grown on plantations ran by farmers who cannot compete with the International market in terms of production costs. This means that many plantations rely on temporary workers who face low wages and poor living conditions. The Fairtrade movement helps small farmers to survive on the world market by selling their products for a guaranteed price that is independent from market developments. Fairtrade also guarantees a fair wage for plantation workers and secures humane living and working conditions.

K – KENYAN FLOWER INDUSTRY:Fairtrade certification provides an independent verification that the workers on large-scale flower farms have decent wages and working conditions; including the right to join a trade union, the right to negotiate collectively with the employer on terms and conditions of employment, freedom from discrimination, no child labour, and a safe and healthy working environment.

January and February 2008 saw rioting and protests in Kenya due to charges of vote rigging following December elections which badly affected it’s three major foreign currency earners – tea, flowers, and tourism. On some Fairtrade certified farms premium money was used to assist the workers and management to be able to fulfill orders from the UK and other markets, despite fuel and fertiliser shortages and the need for military escort for all transportation.

February is obviously a crucial time for flower farmers, what with Valentine’s Day and Mothers Day orders coming in, and thanks to the Fairtrade Premium they were able to maintain production so that after the violence had passed, the business which so many people have come to rely on could function as normal.

Fairtrade flowers were first sold in the UK in March 2004 and the Fairtrade flower category now comprises 75 licensed products.

Similar organisations offer the opportunity to buy flowers grown with an emphasis on social sustainability and a controlled and traceable supply chain such as the Fair Flowers Fair Plants initiative.

The Fairtrade Label

L – LABEL: The Fairtrade Label or Fairtrade Certification Mark is is a registered certification label for products sourced from producers in developing countries. According to the Fairtrade Foundation, “For a product to display the Fairtrade Mark it must meet international Fairtrade standards which are set by the international certification body Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO). These standards are agreed through a process of research and consultation with key participants in the Fairtrade scheme, including producers themselves, traders, NGOs, academic institutions and labelling organisations such as the Fairtrade Foundation.”

Read the rest of The A-Z of Fairtrade: Part 2 »

70% of the population recognise the FAIRTRADE Mark

The first Annual Fairtrade Fortnight was back in 1995 and was marked by Justino Peck, a cocoa farmer from Belize, touring the country. The theme for this year is “Make it Happen – Choose Fairtrade”, and in keeping with this spirit, In the run up to Fairtrade Fortnight 2009 I attempted an ambitious A-Z of all things Fairtrade. From Accreditation to Zimbabwe and everything in between including the Fairtrade Label explained, profiles of some pioneering Fairtrade brands, and some key product areas in the Fairtrade arena.

A – ACCREDITATION: To carry the Fairtrade Mark each and every product and producer must go through an independent process of auditing and accreditation to standards set by FLO. Faritrade is a people’s movement for change that aims to tip the balance of trade in favour of poor producers. Fairtrade Fortnight is a celebration of the fact that when you buy a product bearing the Fairtrade Mark you can be confident that the producer has received a fair deal.

B – BANANAS: Currently, there are Fairtrade standards for 18 different product categories; bananas are one of these products. As the European Union is the biggest market in the world for bananas, a massive proportion of all bananas in the world are shipped to the EU every year. However, due to licensing, quotas and duty rates, banana producers in Latin America are at a severe disadvantage. Also, because of the time-sensitive supply chain, the banana industry is increasingly dominated by transnational corporations who control the markets and price.

Image by Simon Rawles

Due to the falling prices of bananas over recent years, the everyday life of a plantation worker or small farmer has worsened and is characterised by an unfairly low wage and poor working conditions.

Bananas bearing the Fairtrade Certification Mark have been produced on smaller scale farms or on plantations that adhere to very high socio-economic standards. The farmers are guaranteed a Minimum Price to cover production costs and receive a Fairtrade Premium to invest in social and economic initiatives that will benefit their communities.

Image by Simon Rawles

C – COTTON: It is estimated that 10 million people in the West Africa region depend entirely on cotton production for their living. According to the World Bank, this region is among the lowest-cost producers of cotton, but is losing world markets, and its cotton farmers are suffering rising poverty. With the hope of improving the lives of many of these farmers, the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation (FLO) developed Fairtrade Standards for cotton in 2005 and it is estimated that 28,000 farmers are benefitting from the initiative. According to FLO, “In the 2005/06 harvest, the income farmers received for Fairtrade Cotton compared to the cotton traded under conventional terms was 40% higher in Senegal and 70% higher in Mali.”

Read the rest of The A-Z of Fairtrade: Part 1 »

Wrapping illustration

Christmas is a stressful time of year, of that there is no doubt. At a time where we are required to be jolly, full of good cheer and be having the time of our lives, we are also expected to cook the best meal of the year, buy the perfect gift for our loved ones, attend every show and carol service that our children are in and look our best at every opportunity.

I can’t help you with any of that, I’m sorry. But if on top of all that, you wrestle with a guilty conscience throughout the festive season as I do, then I hope that these tips may be of some use.

Read the rest of Less guilt, less stress this Christmas »