Fairtrade
Fortnight, Dundee – 6th-19th March 2006
Cocoa farmers Comfort
Kwasibbea
and Comfort
Assari-Kwei
‘Make Fair Trade Your Habit’
During Fairtrade Fortnight,
the One World centre aimed to:
(a) Provide the opportunity for
the public using local
Neighbourhood Centres to see and sample Fairtrade products as a
vehicle to opening discussion about the issues involved.
(b) Begin the process of
updating Dundee’s Fair Trade Guide.
(c) Ensure that
local supermarkets were highlighting
their Fairtrade products.
Programme
Neighbourhood Centre Visits:
During the
fortnight, the One World Centre staff (Paula McGregor, a first year
Community Education student, and Helen Patrick) visited and were
welcomed into eight Neighbourhood Centres – Ardler, Whitfield, Mitchell
Street, The Hub, The Corner, Douglas, Finmill and Kirkton.
We found ourselves
talking with a range of individuals and groups, from management
committees, to teenagers visiting a Job Fair; from youngsters in the
after school healthy eating club, to men attending a computing class:
from grownups with learning difficulties, to parents from a mother and
toddlers’ group; from adults attending an English as a second language
class, to assorted community education staff, and of course there was
the general public popping into the centres for any number of reasons.
In the majority of
places we had a display of Fairtrade goods with a range of free tasters
including coffee, tea, drinking chocolate, biscuits, dried fruit and
chocolate. The phrase ‘snaw aff a dyke’ comes to mind in terms of their
uptake! Stickers and leaflets were also available. In retrospect, the
most conducive location was to have our stall within the coffee bar
itself, however in Ardler our position in the busy foyer worked very
well to the point that we almost ran out of tea and coffee!
The response from
centres themselves varied from providing space for a poster display to
actively involving individuals in the process. At The Corner , a banner
was painted and put on display and the windows were painted with the
Fairtrade symbol and appropriate slogans. One of the most interesting
venues was the coffee bar in Mitchell Street where we were asked by the
centre manager to give individuals the opportunity to make a direct
comparison between the taste of ‘ordinary’ and ‘fairtrade ‘ tea and
coffee. The result was overwhelmingly in favour of fairtrade in both
instances. As one woman put it, ‘It’s a helluva lot better than the tea
we normally get here!’ It’s worth noting that Mitchell Street centre is
now buying Fairtrade tea and coffee.
Activities carried out in
each centre:
Ardler – two visits. one each
week at different times.. Display of products in foyer with a chance to
sample tea, coffee and a range of free tasters.
Douglas – one visit after a
short presentation to the management committee, who were very
supportive. Display of products in the foyer, with the opportunity to
taste items.
Finmill – one visit. Display of
products in coffee bar, with chance to sample products.
Kirkton – poster display in
foyer.
Mitchell Street – two visits,
one each week at different times. Display of products in foyer with
chance to sample tea, coffee and a range of free tasters.
The Corner – one visit. Display
of products in reception area with a chance to sample tea, coffee and a
range of free tasters.
The Hub – one visit, to which no
local mums showed up. Discussion with centre staff instead.
Whitfield – one visit.
Discussion about Fair Trade followed by an assortment of games with a
range of primary school children.
The Neighbourhood Centres were
just one of the areas of focus for the One World Centre during Fair
Trade Fortnight.
Fairtrade
Guide:
We are grateful to both Paula
and Claire – also a student at Dundee University – for starting, during
the fortnight, the process of updating Dundee City Council’s Fair Trade
Guide which lists the eating places and retailers in the city who sell
Fairtrade products. This process continues and is extending the list to
include local businesses.
Local
Supermarkets
Local supermarkets including the
Co-op, Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury were contacted and encouraged to use the
fortnight to highlight their Fairtrade products. Backup from volunteers
was much appreciated with this project.
General:
As the Fairtrade
campaign spreads, it goes without saying, that many Churches and schools
etc had their own way of marking the fortnight. Sally and Helen were
involved in one such venture which took place in Barnhill Primary
supported by the Quality Contact team. It was an exciting, challenging
programme of work looking at the interconnectedness of global issues,
and carried out by the primary seven classes. It culminated in an
ambitious presentation by the pupils. In these children’s hands, our
planet has a future!
Without doubt, the
visit to Dundee by chocolate farmers Comfort
Kwasibbea
and Comfort
Assari-Kwei at the end of Fairtrade Fortnight
was a memorable occasion. After a Civic Reception, our visitiors had the
opportunity to meet the pupils at Barnhill. In so many ways such
personal contact is the real inspiration for change –from supporting the
idea of Fairtrade to making it a habit.
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