Scotland’s goal: world’s first Fair Trade nation
October 27th, 2007
Scotland has launched joint plans with Wales to become the first Fair Trade nation.
A Fair Trade Forum is meeting today, 27 October, to discuss how to make this possible.
The plan is to work with local authorities and universities as well as businesses to get a lot more fair trade products. A basic website, Scottish Fair Trade Forum, has been set up to tell people more about events and news.
Fair Trade means giving producers around the world, particularly developing nations, a guaranteed minimum wage for their goods. Things like tea, coffee and chocolate are probably some of the best known examples.
For me, Fair Trade is just one part of helping to make sure we all as humans have the opportunity to lead fulfilling lives. It ties in nicely with buying local, avoiding supermarkets and huge chain stores where possible.
I definitely look forward to seeing where this goes. I’ve contacted Betsy Reed, the woman heading up the Forum, to see if I can volunteer in any way to help because I’d like to help this succeed.
I’ll keep you posted on developments and encourage anyone who supports this idea to go to the website, or contact their MSP, or encourage their local business to supply more Fair Trade products.
