Posts filed under 'Ethical Trading Initiatives'
By: Nick Martin
Published by the Winnipeg Free Press
Jobs for dozens of inner-city residents, environmentally friendly local food and a renowned chef — all coming soon to the University of Winnipeg campus.The university’s Community Renewal Corporation will announce details today of a deal with SEED Winnipeg to create Diversity Food Services. It will provide all food services on campus, including all three cafeterias, the food plan for the new student residence and catering.
SEED Winnipeg is a non-profit agency working to overcome poverty in the inner city.
It expects the new campus food plan will employ 25 people, including immigrants and aboriginals, to provide all food services on campus.
“There was a chance to do something quite different,” said U of W president Lloyd Axworthy. “We came to the conclusion that the existing food supplier was not meeting our needs.”
Students asked for far more options and for lower prices, said Axworthy, who said the cafeterias will serve fresh and local produce and a much wider range of dishes, including Middle Eastern and African food.
The food will reflect the cultural diversity of the campus, use local products wherever possible, and concentrate on environmentally friendly and healthy food.
Heading the operation will be executive chef Ben Kramer, formerly of Dandelion Eatery in Osborne Village. Operational manager will be Kirsten Godbout, formerly of Bread and Circuses.
“We will create authentic cultural food that is prepared from scratch using authentic ingredients and recipes. We will make our food alive with flavour and nutrition,” said Kramer. “We will start with food in its simplest, most natural form and will purchase local and seasonal products. Our freezers will be small and our intention to serve great food will be big.”
Axworthy said the employees will be able to acquire some ownership of Diversity Food Services as the new service develops.
He said U of W and its students are committed to the environment, sustainability and good health, but the current supplier was inflexible and unable to meet the needs of a diverse population.
SEED executive director Cindy Coker said there are groups working with recent immigrants from Sudan and Afghanistan who have obtained their food-handling certificates and could be considered for jobs.
“We will be able to do a pretty intensive training program in the summer. We will be accepting applications from a number of groups,” Coker said.
It will also be a chance for SEED to model a community business venture, “a workplace where they know their culture will be respected,” she said.
The new food service comes into effect this summer at the expiration of the contract of the company that has served the campus for the past five years.
nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca
June 15th, 2009
Published online for KBS Radio
Sun, 2009-05-10 09:25
An idea that came to life at a Nakusp Secondary School Sustainability Club Meeting, is now a reality. Nakusp has now been designated as the first Fair Trade Town in BC. The quest to become a Fair Trade Community began 6 month ago and was accomplished by NSS Student Alyshia Gustofson.
Gustofson says once everyone was informed and on board, she had to send an application to register for fair trade status. She added that now that they have received the status one of the requirements to form a steering group focused on making sure the town stays committed the the project and to create new initiatives in the community.
Erin Miller KBS News
May 13th, 2009
November 14th, 2008
Nov 22, 2008 10:00am - 4:00pm
Location: First Metropolitan United Church Hall (932 Balmoral Road)
Be a conscious consumer this holiday at VIDEA’s Fair Trade Fair!
Admission by donation with several door prizes.
Arts & Crafts, Coffee & Chocolate,
Toys & Gifts.
Hot food & beverages, music and more!
NEW ADDITION!
Get inspired by Stacey Toews of Level Ground Trading talking about ethical purchasing and the importance of supporting fair trade.
This exciting and informative workshop will run from 2-3pm!
Space for the workshop is limited, so confirm your seat by contacting Michelle at mspencer@videa.ca
November 12th, 2008
Looking for Ethical clothing, food, cosmetics, home reno products, etc, etc, etc. Then check out this link to the Organic Islands Green Directory. I just noticed their directory in my search for organic face paints. I still haven’t found face paints, but I found a lot of other local organic, fair trade and other products. And ps. If you know where I can find organic face paints, please let me know!
From the Organic Islands Website:
“Divided into categorical listings for easy searching, the Organic Islands Green Directory online helps you find out about the local green community. Please contact us about picking up your copy of the 2007 print edition.
Over 150 local businesses, farms and community groups involved in helping to create a sustainable, organic future on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands are listed in the directory. Discover green businesses, co-op start ups, and social change advocates.
Every day more and more people are eager to find out about what is available locallyto help reduce the impact of climate change, to build the green economy and to ensure that our children enjoy the beauty and bounty of this bioregion.
Please help the Organic Islands Festival to continue the work of growing and bringing together the green community.
For only $35 you can purchase an annual listing in the online directory. It takes only 5 minutes to book your listing now.
Opportunities to profile green initiatives include:
Categorical Listing
For only $35, we publish your:
- Business Name, Address, Phone Numbers
- Email and Web Address
- Products and services description (up to 150 characters, or about 20 words)
Have you or has your organization received an award for ethical or environmental practices or achievements? Initiatives and businesses published in the directory will be recognized in a dedicated section for this purpose.
Profits generated from the listings and advertising will be used to expand the online directory to include event listings, local resources, and blog capabilities.
Contact Info
Deb Morse, Publisher, deb@organicislands.ca or phone: 250-658-8148.”
October 27th, 2008
Here’s an ethical consumption initiative that might work really well on the west coast.
“Sustainable Ottawa was initiated by local citizens interested and concerned about the environment. The formation of Sustainable Ottawa is a response to collective environmental concerns, and questions about access to sustainable technologies that reduce an individual’s environmental footprint. Sustainable Ottawa exists as a buyer’s Co-Operative that provides its membership with lower prices for goods and services by organizing bulk purchases and installations of small to medium scale sustainable technologies. Sustainable Ottawa also strives to build capacity in the National Capital Region by generating interest and knowledge for both the public and local businesses.” Check out their website.
July 9th, 2008
I just came across the website for this organization that helps start up green worker co-ops in the South Bronx and had to post it here. I love their slogan: “Creating “green collar” jobs and worker owernship in the South Bronx…because your work shouldn’t kill you, your community, or the earth.”
Check them out:
GREEN WORKER COOPERATIVES is a South Bronx-based organization dedicated to incubating worker-owned and environmentally friendly cooperatives in the South Bronx. Our approach is a response to high unemployment and decades of environmental racism. We don’t have the luxury to wait for new alternatives. That’s why we’re creating them. We believe that in order to address our environmental and economic problems we need new ways to earn a living that don’t require polluting the earth or exploiting human labor.
July 9th, 2008
Activist Notes is a new blog to discuss issues relating to socially just and environmentally sustainable trade. Trade justice! It is coordinated by a few Canadian community organizers. Here is your invite, you obviously decide your level of involvement - read the blog, comment, write a post, affiliate, or take off…eh
At the recent Activist School of the Canadian Student Fair Trade Network, students said it would be cool to have a place to send affiliate information so a ‘map’ of the student trade justice community in Canada could be produced. Well, here is your chance…but this isn’t just for students. If you’re involved in a student or community group, NGO, union, coop, mission-based business, etc working on socially just and/or environmentally sustainable trade and want your info posted in a common e-space with a bunch of other groups from across Canada, then send whatever contact info you’re comfortable with (email address, website, phone, etc) and a BRIEF description of your group to activistnotes@gmail.com.
We’ll build the broad-based affiliate section as groups send us their info. We reserve the right to not post your info if we are uncomfortable with it as organizers.
We hope that coalitions or events or campaigns come out of this grassroots networking format. In the least, there will be some great discussions. Trade justice activists, Patrick Clark and Ian Hussey are writing a piece right now comparing and contrasting United Students for Fair Trade and United Students Against Sweatshops - the organizing styles of the groups, the messaging, etc. To quote Pat and Ian, “we hope it agitates someone and we hope they do something about it” 
For now, the first post is on the garment industry and where to find just clothing. We get asked this question all the time, here is the answer. Tell us if you know of more ethical apparel groups.
We’ll be blogging every 3 - 7 days depending on the week. If you want to discuss a certain topic, then drop us a line by email or on the blog. Like, is Fair Trade fair for women? How to work in solidarity with indigenous group and not be tokenistic, and so on
As we build the blog, event listings, campaign info, etc will be posted.
The revised Ethical Purchasing Policy Action Guide of the CSFTN will be posted on the blog within a month. The basis of the revised guide will be the action guide the CSFTN e-published this past August and recent research done by two Trent University student (hi Steve and Hayley!) which include 9 case studies of various policy developments in schools across Canada. The summary, next steps and full notes from the CSFTN Activist School will be posted within a week or two.
activist notes
http://activistnotes.wordpress.com/
February 20th, 2008
Published in New Consumer.com
4:30pm, 3rd January 2008
Sarah Dryden writes
From 1 June 2008, the Fairtrade minimum price for Arabica coffee will increase to ensure that farmers continue to receive a price which covers the cost of sustainable production.
Producers will receive a guaranteed minimum price of at least US $1.25 per pound of Fairtrade certified Arabica coffee and US $1.20 for unwashed Arabica coffee, or the market price, if that is higher. In accordance with the Fairtrade model, producer organisations will also continue to receive an additional Fairtrade Premium of 10 cents per pound for investment in community and business improvements. For organic Fairtrade certified coffee an additional minimum differential of 20 cents is applied.
The announcement from Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO) means that farmers will receive an average increase of US$ 5 cents per pound on their coffee. This price adjustment will benefit more than 250 producer organisations across the developing world - around one million farmers and their families.
“I represent more than one million family farmers who need Fairtrade pricing to put food on the table and keep their kids in school”, said Raul de Aguila, a Peruvian coffee grower and Cafe Direct board member. No other label or certification system ensures a fair income for a hard days work. This increase will have a direct and positive impact on the lives of Fairtrade Certified coffee farmers around the world.
The price increase is the result of extensive field research into the real costs of sustainable production to ensure that Fairtrade continues to address the needs of coffee-producing communities. The research was followed by a multi-stakeholder review process involving producers, consumers and industry representatives from more than twenty countries around the world. The new minimum price will be valid until June 2010, when another price review will take place.
Penny Newman, CEO of Cafe Direct, says, “It’s our mission to create secure, sustainable livelihoods for growers, and this decision is a step in the right direction. Working closely with our grower partners, Cafe Direct champions the need to continually assess the Fairtrade pricing structure to ensure it’s relevant to their needs.”
The price increase has also received support from other UK coffee industry players. David Williamson, Managing Director of independent coffee roaster Matthew Algie said: We are 100% behind Fairtrade as the best way to work in partnership with smallholder co-operatives and provide them with stability. Today over 70% of our green coffee is Fairtrade certified and we welcome this increase in the Fairtrade minimum price.
Fairtrade is the only certification model that guarantees prices to farmers that meet strict social and environmental sustainability criteria, and the FAIRTRADE Mark has become one of the most recognized consumer labels in the UK. Research by DEFRA this year showed that more than eighty percent of the UK public say they have heard of Fairtrade, and more than half of those people said they made an effort to buy it.
According to Ian Bretman, Deputy Director of the Fairtrade Foundationin theUKand FLO Board member, the conscious consumer demands high-quality products that make a difference in the world. The research is clear: consumers are willing to pay more for Fairtrade products because they help lift farmers out of poverty. This moderate price increase in Fairtrade coffee will not undercut the dramatic growth of consumer demand for Fairtrade products; on the contrary, it gives concerned consumers additional evidence that Fairtrade truly delivers on its promise of farmer empowerment.
The Fairtrade minimum price for coffee is important because the international coffee market is highly volatile. Frequently international coffee prices have plummeted to under US$ 0.60 per pound, well below the cost of production, forcing literally millions of family farmers into poverty. In this difficult and unstable market, the Fairtrade price makes a tangible difference in the lives of farmers by ensuring greater price stability and a sustainable income.
January 3rd, 2008
Edited by John Stokes
Published in The Canadian
Cocoa Camino
Do you think that you might like to try some full-bodied and delicious hot chocolate this Canadian winter? Our editorial committee having sampled a variety of hot chocolate picks Cocoa Camino as the best hot chocolate available for sale in Canada. This hot chocolate is delcicious, and neither has an arguably chalky Hershey’s aftertaste nor has a taste of artificial ingredients. It is also available in two delectable flavours: Milk Hot Chocolate and Dark Hot Chocolate.
Cocoa Camino hot chocolate is flavourful, GMO-free and soy lecithin-free. This fabulous cocoa is made with certified fair trade, organic, and kosher cocoa. It’s is also reputed to be delicious for baking. However, if you have tried Cocoa Camino, but think that you have tried a better hot chocolate, e-mail us your findings.
Cocoa Camino’s premium quality products adhere to strict fair trade and organic standards.
January 3rd, 2008
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