Sit down for breakfast, stand up for farmers – it’s Fairtrade Fortnight 2016!
As Martin Luther King famously said: ‘Before you finish eating breakfast in the morning, you’ve depended on more than half the world’.
Despite our dependence on farmers and workers for the foods, drinks and products that we love, millions of people across our world are still badly undernourished and desperately poor. The theme of this year’s Fairtrade Fortnight (29th February – 13th March) is harnessing the power of Fairtrade to highlight this scandalous inequality, and to challenge us to continue to support and promote the work of the Fair Trade movement.
What’s On?
There are lots of great events taking place throughout the city during Fairtrade Fortnight – here’s a selection:
Monday 29 February
3-4.30pm: Fairtrade Schools Celebration at City of Edinburgh Methodist Church, 25 Nicolson Square
A special celebration for those schools that have embraced school uniforms made with Fairtrade cotton. Pamela L’Intelligent from Craft Aid, Mauritius will be speaking at the event, telling her inspirational personal journey from child textile worker in a sweatshop to cotton uniform employee in a Fair Trade company. Schools from all over Scotland will be attending.
Saturday 5 March
10.30am-2.30pm: Fairtrade Festival at Southside Community Centre, Nicolson Street
A free one-day family friendly Festival event at the South Side Community Centre with stalls, free drinks and refreshments, storytelling, the Edinburgh Contemporary Choir and lots more! Tania Pintado, a young plantain farmer from Ecuador, has been invited to speak and give a presentation on the challenges her community faces and how Fairtrade has made a vital difference to their lives. The Lord Provost of the City of Edinburgh the Rt Hon Donald Wilson and Malcolm Brown from Scotmid will also be speaking and urging everyone to learn more and get involved in bringing about changes to unfair trading practices.
Saturday 5 March
10am-12 noon: Balerno Fair Trade Breakfast Challenge
Get ready for the Big Fairtrade Breakfast Challenge in Balerno! The Balerno Fairtrade Village Group want as many people as possible to take part in the challenge during Fairtrade Fortnight, whether they’re eating breakfast at home or stopping off at Vanilla Pod, the kiosk by Harlaw Visitor Centre in the Pentlands, or meeting a friend for brunch in the Mill Cafe. Then, on Saturday 5 March, in the Parish Church Halls, from 10 – 12 noon, there will be a late ‘breakfast’, with FT drinks and home-baking + stalls selling fairly traded products, activities for children, a presentation of prizes to pupils from Dean Park and more! To keep in touch, see the Balerno Fairtrade Village Group Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Balernofairtradegroup/?fref=ts
Wednesday 9 March
5.30 – 7pm: Fairtrade on your Doorstep – from local to global at One World Shop, 25, Nicolson Square
An open event for students and young people – come and find out how you can get more involved in Fair Trade and hear from relevant student societies who embrace it. Free refreshments and delicious organic chocolate tasting from Equal Exchange!
More details of these events and more can be found on Edinburgh Fairtrade City’s Facebook page or at www.edinburgh.gov.uk/fairtrade and www.fairtrade.org.uk/en, or by contacting Rachel Farey, Chair of Edinburgh Fairtrade City Group, at rachel@oneworldshop.co.uk. With thanks to Russell Salton, Edinburgh Fairtrade City Group.
If you are organising your own Fairtrade Fortnight event, let us know and we will include it in our weekly listings – email rosemary@theedinburghreporter.co.uk.
