Have a "Coffee Break" during Fairtrade Fortnight.
Oxfam Australia and the Fair Trade Association encourage you to hold a "Coffee Break" during Fairtrade Fortnight (3–17 May). It's as simple as organising a Fairtrade morning or afternoon tea in your workplace, community, school or home.
We'll provide you with lots of resources including a short DVD about Fairtrade coffee, posters, fliers, postcards and tea and coffee samples. We will also be selling Fairtrade t-shirts at half price ($15) when you register your Coffee Break. All you need to do is invite your colleagues and friends.
Fairtrade coffee is a practical, everyday way to help eradicate poverty. Most of the world's coffee is produced by small scale farmers in developing countries. The additional price - or Fairtrade premium - they receive when we buy Fairtrade coffee can mean the difference between having three meals a day or just one, being able to send kids to school, or being able to access health and other social services.
The Fairtrade premium of 28 cents a kilo levied on the sale of all Fairtrade coffee funds development projects in these farming communities including building health centres; providing desks and books for schools; and helping farmers diversify their incomes through micro-credit schemes and training.
While Australia was late in establishing a Fairtrade certification system, it is the fastest growing Fairtrade market in the world with Fairtrade coffee sales rising around 50% from 2006 to 2007. Sales of Fairtrade coffee for 2007 are estimated to be in excess of $8.5m. When we consider that the Fairtrade system was only established in late 2003, this is a remarkable achievement. But much more can be achieved and Coffee Break helps each one of us to play a small part by spreading the word about Fairtrade.
Visit the link below to register your Coffee Break, find out more about Coffee Break and Fairtrade, or to buy Fairtrade tea and coffee.
Participation in Fair Trade Communities helps meet corporate and social responsibility goals. It helps to build awareness among consumers of inequalities in international trade and empower people to make socially responsible choices.
It also provides a higher standard of living for disadvantaged producers in developing countries who receive a guaranteed fair and sustainable price for their products, better working conditions, and a contribution toward community development.
Through the Fair Trade Communities initiative you can promote fair trade within your area of influence. Specific guidelines have been developed for schools, universities, workplaces, faith groups, and councils.
It is FREE for schools, workplaces, faith groups to apply and get registered as a Fair Trade Workplace. We also provide a range of services as well including promotional and informational resources and a subscription to our quarterly newsletter.
Becoming a Fair Trade Community has never been easier to do. What are you waiting for? |
