Scotland - A Fair Trade Nation
You choose your Coffee!
Members of RCC Fair Trade group spent an evening sampling different blends of coffee with a view to recommending 2 blends for you to sample and decide which one we should use at church. The 2 blends are Arabica and Pareto. Pareto is a Brazilian and Tanzanian blend, while Arabica is blends of Sumatran, Honduran and Colombian beans. Monies raised from these coffees go to the work of Tear Fund, Latin Link and Toybox, as well as to the FT producers. There will always be Decaf available for those who prefer, and Fair Trade tea will be Co-op “99”. We shall be offering the 2 recommendations on Sunday 30 th June, so come prepared!
MAIN FOCUS
BUY LOCAL. Part of supporting Fair Trade is the idea of buying local produce. During the summer months, this is easier, so here are some recommendations: ARDARDAN: fruit, vegetables, meat. eggs. etc. LINBURN FARM ERSKINE: lamb & Aberdeen Angus beef. LOMOND SHORES FARMERS MARKET: 1st Sunday of the month (when we don’t meet at the Rock!) NATURE’S HARVEST: 31 W. Princes St., Helens burgh - local produce including fruit & veg.
Olive Oil
In Palestine, olive and olive oil production is a vital source of income for many farmers.Mahmoud Issa, a member of the Anin Co- operative, is ecstatic about his Co-op becoming Fairtrade certified in 2009. His village is surrounded on 3 sides by a wire fence and has just 1 road entering it, as it borders an illegal Israeli settlement area. Because some farmers have olive groves which lie on the other side of the fence, they have to cross an Israeli army checkpoint to tend their crop, but this is only open for a few hours in the morning and early evening. Faced with increasing financial hardship, farmers are forced to look for work elsewhere, which means leaving their land and crops for long periods of time. Mahmood says: “All I want is a fair price for my olives so I can continue to farm and support my family.” With their Fairtrade premium, farmers want to buy mobile storage containers. The quicker the olives are pressed and transferred to the stainless steel containers, the better the quality of the oil. Fairtrade olive oil is sold in the Co- operative in Balloch, but please put pressure on Morrison’s to add this to their shelves. It can also be bought from www.zaytoun.org and www.equalexchange.co.uk
Iced Raspberry and Nougat Terrine
Ingredients: 400g fresh raspberries – preferably locally grown! 50g icing sugar (Tate & Lyle Fairtrade) 300g soft nougat (without wafer edge) - good quality and preferably almond or pistachio or macadamia nuts 450 ml double cream additional chopped pistachios to decorate (Fairtrade) Method: 1. Line a 2lb loaf tin with cling film (oil bottom and slides of tin first to help cling film stick) 2. Whizz raspberries and icing sugar together in a food processor. Sieve to remove seeds. Pour seed-free sauce into loaf tin and freeze for 1 hour. 3. Melt nougat in 200ml cream over a soft heat - stir gently with a wooden spoon until all the nougat is melted. Leave aside to cool to cool a little. 4. Whip remaining 250 ml cream until stiff peaks. Fold cooled nougat mixture in, one-third at a time. (Add more nuts if you like.) Pour on top of the frozen raspberry sauce. 5. Cover with cling film and freeze overnight - it keeps up to 1 month in the freezer. 6. Before serving, take out of the freezer for 10-15 mins. Turn on to rectangular serving plate and remove cling film. Chop the pistachios and scatter in a thin, centre line along the top of the pudding. 7. Slice and enjoy! (And don't count the calories.)
Prayer Points For Palestinian farmers to be allowed access to their olive groves, and for the October harvest to be successful.
What’s going on in Dumbarton?
Rock Community Church had a stall at the East End Gala day in June, where we distributed Fair Trade information to visitors. We’ll aso be at levengrove park Open day and the pipe band Championships. Levette is now a member of West Dunbartonshire Council’s Fair Trade group. She attended a “Meet the Buyer” event in Clydebank and spoke to several people about becoming more Fair Trade aware in their places of employment. She has also been involved in matching useful websites to the curriculum in both Primary and Secondary schools in the area. Some Secondary pupils are going to undertake a survey of the area’s involvement in promoting and selling FT products.
Useful Websites
www.ethicalsuperstore.com Online shopping www.tradeasone.com Promoting sustainable business & breaking cycles of poverty www.one.org www.notforsalecampaign.org Working to end child slavery and inhuman working conditions www.glasgowfairtrade.com The Indica shop on Cresswell Lane.
What’s going on across the World?
No-one could fail to have been moved and horrified by the Bangladeshi factory collapse. One day before the collapse, the building was briefly evacuated when cracks appeared in the walls. A Bangladesh government report into the collapse of a multi-storey factory building, which killed more than 1,100 , has uncovered a series of violations. The report said the building had been constructed with sub-standard materials on unsuitable land. The Rana Plaza collapse on 24 April is one of the world's worst industrial disasters and sparked global outrage. It highlighted working conditions, low wages and safety standards in the country's garment sector. In the wake of the disaster, there have been a series of angry protests by workers in the garment industry. The good news is that, as this is written, all Western companies using garment producers in Bangladesh - with the exception of GAP! - have signed up to the Fire and Safety legislation. However, it did take MANY petitions to bring the likes of Walmart to the table. Please look at the label on prospective purchases and ask if you are helping or hindering workers lives.
www.nomadsclothing.com Online shopping www.fairwear.org Lists responsible brands www.peopletree.co.uk Online shopping
For further information, please go to www.fairtradefoundation.org.uk
The Fair Trade group welcome your comments and suggestions.
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