Walk the Fair Trade Way in May!

New Year Update

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Open meeting report

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SOFA report

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Cumbria Local and Fair

Fair dealing for a sustainable future: the case for Fairtrade and local

A Day Conference
Friday 4th November 2011, Rheged,Penrith
Conference Reports

Background:

Cumbrian farmers and food producers face a range of challenges which include: poor milk prices; increasing costs of farming inputs; increasing costs of distribution; reluctance of retailers to market local products;insufficient awareness by the public of local products and insufficient commitment to buy them, and inadequate commitment from the public sector to procure local products. Many of these challenges, if not all, are faced by farmers in developing countries, and for a particular group, that is those who sell their produce - their bananas, coffee, sugar, cocoa etc. - in our markets Fairtrade has offered long term, sustainable solutions.

The Conference reports are now complete and are downloadable here:

1. Conference Summary

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2. Workshop 1: Connecting local producers to local consumers

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3. Workshop 2: Farmers Together

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4. Workshop 3: Cumbrian Brand

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5. Workshop4: Adding value to wool

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6. Workshop5: Distributing local produce

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7. Workshop6 : Dedicated milk supply chains

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8. Workshop 7: Public Procurement

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9. Conference Delegate List

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Cumbria Fair Trade Network

We are an alliance of like-minded groups, all of which are promoting Fairtrade and Trade Justice around the county. We were formed in January 2004 at a meeting of campaigners in Ambleside. We have meetings twice a year, open to all campaigners in the county, for learning and for sharing news, plans and good practice.

Our aims are:

  • To promote the concept and to increase the awareness of Fairtrade in Cumbria
  • To promote the buying, selling, serving and use of Fairtrade products within the county
  • To alleviate poverty by campaigning for a fair system of international trade

We know the Network has been very important in helping new groups to grow, older groups to be invigorated, and wheels not to be re-invented. We also believe that the Network has been a key factor in getting Fairtrade County Status for Cumbria. The award of Fairtrade County status was made by BBC News Presenter, George Alagiah, at Keswick School on 11th March, 2006.

There are currently 21 Fairtrade cities, towns, villages or zones in Cumbria (more than in any other county) with more on the way.

The Network is led by a Steering Group which is elected at the AGM in January and which meets bi-monthly. At our AGM in January this year our guest speakers were Harriett Lamb, Executive Director of the Fairtrade Foundation and Bruce Crowther founder of the first Fairtrade Town at Garstang.

Thanks to MeirHosting.Net for hosting the website.