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.