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information for the concerned consumer
The final Fair and Square activity kit offers a little food for thought about the way we consume at Christmas.
The kit contains materials for group activities lasting up to two hours. This would make an excellent input to any pre- or post-xmas group meeting. All the instructions are provided and not a lot of preparation is needed.
CLICK HERE to download the kit (a zip file containing a pdf and a powerpoint presentation)
Fair and Square - Ethical Shopping Matters is the final publication from the Fair and Square project, bringing together many of the themes which have been covered on this website and through the training sessions and events which have run over the last three years.
You can download a copy of the book here
Beyond a Fair Price: the Co-operative Movement and Fair Trade
Cooperatives for Development have just launched a new report entitled 'Beyond a Fair Price' which examines the history of co-operative involvement in the Fair Trade movement and makes recommendations for the future of Fair Trade.
Cooperatives for Development is a programme of the Co-operative College. It is supports and strengthens the contribution that co-operatives make to poverty reduction through research and policy work.
Download the document here
Reports warn of troubled fish stocks
Two recent reports have both warned about the state of the world fish population. "Hungry Oceans" by environmental group Oceana warned that the growing trend of eating smaller "prey" fish such as herring and squid is depriving larger "predator" fish of their food, who are already threatened by overfishing. The UN report said that aquaculture may not grow to meet demand and their declining fish stocks pose a potential problem for humans. Both reports warned of the effect of climate change as it could lead to migrations and fish populations can collapse during warm periods.
Global trade and the food crisis
The campaigning organisation 'War on Want' is challenging the global rules that have contributed to the current food crisis. They work with partner groups across the world to mitigate the effects of decades of global 'free trade' rules set by a World Trade Organisation lobbied by powerful countries. The current crisis has been exacerbated by the destabilising of government support, leaving small farmers unable to respond to the natural fluctuations in food production.
War on Want is involved in projects such as the one run by MONLAR, their Sri Lankan partner organisation. By providing farmers with training, seeds, equipment and knowledge, they have helped smallholders grow all their own food, insulating them from the effects of rising food prices.
