Fairtrade Fortnight

[chav1]

i love nescafe and if them paying peanuts to farmers keeps the price down then so be it

yes what nescafe do is wrong and i have seen a program not too long ago showing how it effects the farmers etc but the onus on doing somthing about it is not my resposability it is the powers that be that should be sorting out these issues

if i remember correctly nescafe are on the board of free trade ( or whatever its called ) so it is a mokery from the outstart a bit like putting sadam insane or libiya in charge of human rights at the UN

i do think that nesacfe should be cheaper considering how little they pay for the beans and that nescafe should pay the farmers more and make less proffit

i think free trade items is a start but realy the root of teh problem is our own government and other governments who allow the problem to exist in the first place and the only thing we can do to help it seems is to bouycot companies like nescafe or pay even more money for fair trade items which i can not afford to do

ive only seen a few tv shows about this problem and all of them seem to point to the government when it comes to whos fault it is that these farmers get ripped off in the first place

[Tealeaf]

Originally Posted by garinda

There isn't any harm, I've bought Freetrade products. I just don't want my local council suggesting how I spend my money.

There is already enough information out there if people are interested, without HBC trying to obtain the status of a Freetrade borough by actively encoraging the relevant number of shops or cafes to qualify as such.

Exactly. I would assume that the role of the Council, when it comes to retailing, is to ensure the food shops are clean, there is no counterfeit gear on sale,the Calder sells a full pint and the kids don't buy fags & booze while underage.

So what the hell are they doing mucking around with global trade policy? They cannot even get the bins emptied efficiently.

I think it's time to hit the top shelf.

[Gayle]

Originally Posted by Tealeaf

Exactly. I would assume that the role of the Council, when it comes to retailing, is to ensure the food shops are clean, there is no counterfeit gear on sale,the Calder sells a full pint and the kids don't buy fags & booze while underage.

So what the hell are they doing mucking around with global trade policy? They cannot even get the bins emptied efficiently.

I think it's time to hit the top shelf.

So, I've told you a few times that it's not Hyndburn Borough Council that's suggesting you buy Fairtrade stuff all they are doing is buying the stuff themselves and leading by example. Are you all so down on the Council that they can't even show a little bit of support to a worthwhile charity without you blaming them for everything. If they turned around and refused to buy Fairtrade stuff can you imagine how everyone could have a field day with it? I'm not suggesting they would but the headlines would be 'hard hearted Councillors refuse to support charity cause'.

[Less]

Originally Posted by Gayle

As far as I am aware there are no coffee plantations over in England - please put me right if I am wrong about that. So, could you please explain what the harm is in buying Fairtrade coffee rather than coffee produced by a large multinational organisation that squeazes every last penny out of the suppliers.

Gosh Gayle you've had such a busy afternoon & I haven't said anything yet!

Here's an explanation for the above:-
There are no coffee plantations in England, Ireland, Wales or EVEN Scotland, in fact the whole of the United Kingdom is barren of such things, Why? Because you can't brew decent beer from that stuff!
The Romans and the Anglo-Saxons knew what they were doing, none of yer nanny state lets look after the under dog for them it was all brew it alchoholic then when we're p*ssed let's get the rape and piledge session on the road, none of yer actual 'lets get close to our namby pamby inner-selves'! The women were too busy stopping the real men from doing that for them!

[Doug]

Cocked it up..... .

[Tealeaf]

Originally Posted by Gayle

So, I've told you a few times that it's not Hyndburn Borough Council that's suggesting you buy Fairtrade stuff all they are doing is buying the stuff themselves and leading by example.

This is outrageous. The council have a statutory duty to obtain the best value for ratepayers money. So what the hell are they doing paying over the odds for dodgy Bolivian coffee beans or whatever ? The role of the council is to provide local services - not to indulge in some high moral crusade based upon quack economics. I do hope the National Audit Office will be informed of this; heads must roll.

[garinda]

Originally Posted by Gayle

THEY'RE NOT! Are you in some way objecting to me posting the thread in the first place because I thought I was just putting some information up - I'm NOT part of the Council!

No of course not, but you have also said that with the council's help Hyndburn is trying to achieve Freetrade status as a borough.

As for the thread, l hope it may draw people's attention to it. I for one saw enough about it in the newspapers and on the radio this weekend to already feel able to make an informed decision about my purchases.

That still doesn't take away my unease about HBC getting involved, to whatever extent, in something that really is a moral and not a local issue.

As for not being part of the council [yet,] I applaud you taking on another issue that seems fairly unpopular as a local issue.

[garinda]

Originally Posted by Gayle

If they turned around and refused to buy Fairtrade stuff can you imagine how everyone could have a field day with it? I'm not suggesting they would but the headlines would be 'hard hearted Councillors refuse to support charity cause'.

I honestly think more people will be shocked that on our behalf they are taking the charitable high ground, and not drinking the most reasonably priced coffee available at our expense.

[Less]

Those members of the British society that wish to help the es well off, should start by throwing out their mobile phones, computers, T.V.'s etc.
They should then be in a better position to cope with the plight of the less fortunate nations and live with a clear consience because they would not be contributing to the green house effect and without the aid of modern day communication they wouldn't need to worry about the shortfall in other countries because they wouldn't hear about it.
This may then clear their minds to doing something for the needy in this country whether they are black brown green or grey, before dashing off to save the rest of the world.
As Rindy has already said,

Perhaps if we'd have had Freetrade in the past to protect our mills here, we would still have a cotton industry in Lancashire, instead of being undercut by the workers in India.

You can bet your last dollar that if the boot was on the other foot they wouldn't give a toss about helping you, they would jump in and do exactly what we are doing but they would look after their own long before they ever gave us a thought.
However, if you were poor or female even though a native to their country you would be the first left on the streets to starve before they gave you anything!

[chav1]

Originally Posted by garinda

I honestly think more people will be shocked that on our behalf they are taking the charitable high ground, and not drinking the most reasonably priced coffee available at our expense.

lol if i had my way they would be drinking Al Cafe that damn awfull stuff sold at aldi

[Gayle]

Originally Posted by Less

However, if you were poor or female even though a native to their country you would be the first left on the streets to starve before they gave you anything!

Goodness me, shouldn't it be me who's banging on about female rights - have you actually been listening to me?

[Gayle]

Originally Posted by garinda

I honestly think more people will be shocked that on our behalf they are taking the charitable high ground, and not drinking the most reasonably priced coffee available at our expense.

I'll tell you what, if I get elected I'll look at ways of saving money on coffees. Although I don't think we'll make up the millions of pounds that the Conservatives have got us into debt by saving a few quid with just a few jars of coffee from Aldi.

[BillGreene]

Fairtrade is not about keeping specific jobs in a specific location it is about stopping multi-national companies using their enormous power to make people work, for what is basically slave wages.

Jobs will always go to where employers will get the best return on their investment. To keep jobs in this area, or even to bring new ones in, we need to show that the 'value added' is worth the investment.

This does not mean that we work cheaper, it means that we must work smarter.

Yes, it is true that manufacturing jobs have gone and probably more will go in the future. The reason is that we cannot change the fact that labour costs in this country are greater than in places like China. There is a view that it is only by jobs moving around the world that all the people in the workld will get a chagne at a better life.

A lot of these jobs will end up in China, but China does not, yet, have the designers, original thinkers, etc that GB has. One of the reasons that they bought Rover was to get the intellectual wealth of the company.

I work in IT and programming jobs are disappearing to India, Egypt and in time they will go to China. It is impossible to stop this.
But IT is not just about programming, it is also the thought processes that think of ways that we can use IT and then implement it (using Indian workers to produce the programming code).

If this area and East Lancashire in general is to have a real future, we have got to invest now in our young people (i.e. educate them better) so that they are able to think 'outside of the box' and have the big ideas that will be the wealth for their's and our children.

[BillGreene]

Originally Posted by garinda

It might encourage free trade for local shops if HBC don't grant planning permission to greatly expand the retail park at Whitebirk.

All shops no matter what they sell are dependant on just one thing - the number of people walking past the front door. If there are sufficient numbers then no matter what the shop sells there will be enough people to enable the shop to make a profit. If there are only a few people walking past a shop it will not make a profit.

By encouraging Whitebirk you could cause (create) a situation where a significant number (which could be very small) of shoppers will not go into Accrington centre. They will therefore not be walking past the various shops in the centre, those shops will not make a profit, the shops will close and gradually the centre of Accrington will die.

[Uncle Mick]

It`s a bit rich Asda promoting Fair Trade products presumably to be seen as a caring sharing retailer, while squeezing the profit margins of British producers. Mind you no sympathy there for rich farmers swanning round in their expensive Land Rovers and having all that land.....