Fair Trade Woman 2008: Blog

Hi folks, this is an email I got from one of my colleagues that I though would be nice to share. The fact that I didn't know about FT choclate cake (we don't have co-op in the Republic) has really put a dampner on my day:

Eilis,

I know you're probably up to your eyes in sweet FT stuff and finding it difficult to get enough protein and 'main meal' sort of things into your FT diet. Look for FT avocados (saw them in supermarkets up here over the weekend) - a good source of protein and other good stuff. Also all the supermarkets up here have FT grapes on offer.

I think maybe a trip up North would be good - the supermarkets here seem to have much more in the way of FT products - quinoa, many varieties of rice, new veg (limited at the minute to green beans and peppers I think) as well as just a wider variety of stuff altogether.

But my real tip is the best 'feel good' desert:
FT Chocolate Cake - one piece of (available from the Co-op and is actually optional to the recipe depending on your personal taste)
Ice Cream, Ben and Jerry's FT Vanilla - one large scoop of (or maybe a half a carton - up to you) Traidcraft FT Hazlenut Chocolate Spread (available as far as I know exclusively from Oxfam FT shops) - one large scoop of (or more)
FT peanuts - handful of, chopped

Put the hazlenut chocolate spread in the micro for a bit til it gets to pouring consistency. Put ice cream on top of chocolate cake. Pour sauce over ice cream. Sprinkle nuts over sauce.
Savour!!!!!

Good luck!
Margaret

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It was great to come home to a bottle of wine on Friday night and the fact that it was Fairtrade did indeed make it all the tastier! I needed a treat after all the rice and bananas. What came to be the topic of conversation, however, was an issue that is more than a little controversial. I occassionally (and to my shame) smoke when I have a drink. So on Friday night a comment was passed about the cigarettes not being FT. And it occurred to me that that was one of the points that Yahya Msangi spoke about when he came to visit.

He was saying that the conditions in tobacco farms can be really atrocious, that if we visited one it would break our hearts (I paraphrase), but it's not an area anyone wants to touch because of the views in developed countries on smoking. Tobacco, however, is a huge export for quite a few developing countries and while the producers are living on close to nothing, stressing day to day about how they're going to feed their families, cigarette companies are some of the biggest funders of American presidential elections - there's HUGE money there.

It's a seriously divisive topic. Tobacco is not something that anyone wants to see people buying - I know I battle constantly with the fact that I smoke sometimes and I know how sick they can make me after a night out. I don't condone in the least the selling of cigarettes.

Yet I cannot ignore the fact that people are growing their crops - which are perfectly legal - and they are struggling to keep their families fed and healthy, so much so that they panic when a child falls ill because they know they have no money to pay for a doctor, nevermind medicines.

This is something I know too little about at this stage to comment on decisively, but I'd love to hear your views on it. Let me know what you think.

Hi guys, as you can see I've been playing catch up today in order to update the blog for you. I've got some nice comments from you so far and I'm dying to hear more from you. So get writing.

Since Tuesday, when I did so much complaining about not being able to find something substantial to eat, a couple of things happended on Wednesday to really boost me. Firstly, in the morning I went out with a volunteer to make a video of Fairtrade Woman taking to the streets superhero style. And we had a blast. Keep an eye out for that on Monday or Tuesday to see what we got up to.

The second thing that happened was that, when I came back to the office, there was a pile of shopping on my desk with a note from my 'friendly neighbourhood Fairtrade Team' with basmati rice, jam, honey, bananas and yes, red and white Fairtrade vino. It was exactly what I needed to get me out of the sugar and caffeine slump. These were the basics I had been looking for and couldn't find and it all came from Marks and Spencers.

Then Bec, who works with me here in Campaigns, picked up some Brazil nut oil from the Oxfam shop of South King Street, as well as pasta, cashew nuts and beautiful jasmine rice. So for the last few nights, rather than living off snacks, I've been eating rice with fried banana coated in honey and toasted cashew nuts, or pasta with Brazil nut oil. Brilliant - dinner is served. I could do with some Fairtrade veg - some tomato sauce would be excellent - but until we start asking, we won't get.

So get posting folks!

Hi folks,



So for all my promises of good recipes and directions to your nearest Fairtrade supermarket, my shopping mission was nigh on disastrous. Or at least that's how it felt at 9.30pm on my second night in. I was knackered, I'd been shopping since I left work, and my moods had been in a whirlwind from eating chocolate, geobars, fruitcake and dried fruits all day. Sugar rush, sugar crash, coffee rush, coffee crash. But all for a good cause, eh?

What I thought about this morning was the issue of my personal dichotomy - I am, I reckon, relatively speaking, a pretty ethical consumer: I buy Fairtrade tea, coffee and chocolate when I see it, I don't buy certain sports brands, fast foods or fizzy drinks because of their corporate irresponsibility, and I re-use m plastic bags religiously. Yet, I am a creature of habit: I get into work every morning, check my emails, trot downstairs and make myself a bowl of half milk-half water porridge with honey. I choose between a list of possibly 8 ingredients to make a wrap for my lunch and I get the bus to work and walk home. Every day from Monday to Friday. And this, folks, is the crux. If my supermarket doesn't stock what I need, will I move elsewhere? If it only has FT teas and coffees, will I shop somewhere else especially for my FT rice and pasta?

And then I thought of what I can do - I can shop in Lidl, Superquinn, M&S and Dunnes, who all have made at least some commitment to fairer trading practices and I can ask them over and over and over again, to stock more Fairtrade products - vegetables, flowers, fruit... All those raw materials that are exported should be done without leaving behind hunger, disease and struggle.

If you want a 'Stock It' card to hand in to your manager, you can contact me or you can contact Fairtrade Ireland and they will send some out. It's a start - and it's all about the first step.

Hi folks,

I'm afraid we've been having some trouble getting our videos up on the net so I've decided to we've fallen a little behind. On Day 2 I recorded a little piece for you to give you an update on how I was doing:



At that point, I was incredibly cranky.

You know they say not to go food shopping when you're hungry? Well, to me that was always a reference to all the crazy stuff I end up buying just because everything looks so tasty. I'm pretty sure taht's what 'they' were referring to. That saying has taken on a whole new meaning since Monday. Because some supermarkets are great at stocking particular FT foods, like maybe bananas and chocolate, but no coffee. Or tea and juice, but no bananas, I ended up spending teh first couple of shops just throwing those things back on to the shelf thinking I'd find a better range of choice somewhere else. And the hungrier I got, the crankier I got, the less bananas seemed like a good buy, and the more I longed for something substantial and tasty and most importantly, savoury.

So this video shows where I was at that point. Enjoy!

Hi folks,

So another day of checking out what's on offer and I have it all laid out in the video here. I guess the point I want to make is that there is lots out there for you to choose from, but because I'm living on Fairtrade-certified products only, things like FT jam, marmalade or chocolate spread, of which there is plenty in the shops, are lost to me because the very thing they're spreadable on - bread - is produced right here so does not need the Fairtrade mark, which rules conserves out.

But for you folk, who don't have such strict rules to live by during these weeks, they're easily available in Lidl, M&S, Tescos and Oxfam Fairtrade shops, so get buying! They're just as tasty and pretty much the same price as those stocked on the shelves above and below them.

The lesson to be learned here is that Fairtrade products are everywhere now and they're not for someone else to buy, they're for you. And the more you buy and the more you ask for them, the bigger the demand and the lower the prices will fall. This fortnight is about consumer choice and voting with your wallet - so get out there and prove that if money equals power, then you have the power!