Have a Fair Christmas

Several years ago I went shopping in Guildford with my mum. We were there very early as my dad had dropped us off on his way to work. Desperate for caffeine we popped into Starbucks as it appeared to be the only place open. I ordered a Fairtrade tea. I was pretty sure that I had bought one from a Starbucks before. Obviously I hadn't because the girl at the till looked thoroughly confused. She made my mum's coffee, looked through the various boxes of tea on the shelf, shrugged and finally went to ask her colleague at the other end of the counter. Her colleague looked up frowning and said, "No, we don't do Fairtrade tea. It's just a brand anyway." Then she looked at me as if to say, "If you don't like it then go somewhere else, you student hippy!" I opted for coffee, because bizarrely they were serving Fairtrade coffee at this time. Coffee makes me ill, but in a bid to be ethical (or more because at this point I was determined to have Fairtrade) I drank it anyway.

What made me most angry was the dismissal of 'Fairtrade' as a brand. The description given by the Fairtrade Foundation explains it very clearly:

Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world. By requiring companies to pay sustainable prices (which must never fall lower than the market price), Fairtrade addresses the injustices of conventional trade, which traditionally discriminates against the poorest, weakest producers. It enables them to improve their position and have more control over their lives. 
(What is Fairtrade? Response by the Fairtrade Foundation).

That, my friends, is more than a brand.

I don't remember exactly when I first heard about Fairtrade but it must have been towards the end of sixth-form college. There used to be a little stall once a month after church that sold Fairtrade products. The most I knew was that you could get chocolate, tea and coffee and some fruit from companies that paid a fair price to farmers, mainly in poorer parts of the world.

Once I started university I began to investigate more and was delighted to discover that there were more Fairtrade products available, notably pretty jewellery. I began to care a great deal about the issues surrounding Fairtrade, so in my third year I helped run a social justice pressure group, resourced by the organisation Speak. Sadly, not many people joined. I began to realise that Fairtrade was a huge passion of mine, but persuading others that it was important was actually very difficult. I remember having a debate with a couple of friends as we walked along London's South Bank. One of them said that Fairtrade didn't make that much difference anyway, and even if it did there weren't that many products available. Fairtrade could never truly pierce the mainstream market and break in. I said they were wrong. Starting small works.

I am pleased to say, and so are my friends, that I was right in the end! In the UK Fairtrade has really made its mark over the past few years. There really is a whole plethora of products available in many industries - food, clothing, toys, furniture, household goods, flowers. Some towns have become 'Fairtrade' towns due to the number of shops that sell Fairtrade products. In my final year of my BA my university had also been awarded Fairtrade status for serving FT drinks in all the cafes (and yes that included tea!), products in the college shop, and using FT cotton to make all the sports teams' kits, as well as using FT rugby and footballs!

It's great that in reality there is no shortage of Fairtrade products available now. However, there is still a long way to go. That's why Fairtrade is the Christmas Campaign for the Social Justice & Advocacy group that I am part of at church. The group launches a new campaign about three times a year on issues that require action. We encourage people to get interested in these worldwide concerns, to sign petitions, to write to their MPs, MEPs, or members of the Cabinet, to spread the word to others, to actively participate in the campaigns, and to pray.
My friend who leads the group has become an official seller for Created, run by the Christian charity Tearfund. This means that in the run-up to Christmas we are hosting a stall at the end of church services, selling their products and taking orders for more, as well as raising awareness of why Fairtrade is important, and particularly for us as Christians.

You people crush those in need and wipe out the poor.

You say to yourselves, “How much longer before the end of the New Moon Festival?

When will the Sabbath be over? Our wheat is ready, and we want to sell it now.

We can't wait to cheat and charge high prices for the grain we sell. We will use dishonest scales and mix dust in the grain.

Those who are needy and poor don't have any money. We will make them our slaves for the price of a pair of sandals.”

Amos 8:4-6 – the passage we are using to underpin our campaign.

It is really important to consider where what we buy comes from and how it is made and by whom. It is so easy to bury our heads in the sand. What we buy directly impacts on the lives of others. There are plenty of other things to consider when we purchase, like the effects on climate change, animal cruelty, supporting local traders etc. These are all important to me too, but my main passion remains Fairtrade.

We are fortunate to live in a town where Fairtrade is already well supported, and where members of our community are already well informed. Nevertheless we know there is more work to be done. It would be easy to become complacent now that there are a wider range of products available. It excited me that we could put so many Fairtrade items on our wedding list that a few years ago wouldn't have been possible. It excites me now that I can buy beautiful gifts that come at a fair price for my friends and family, and lovely clothes for myself. But I know that it is still not enough. Until all things available to us are purchased through a Fairtrade system, then the campaign must continue.

Fashion Is My Foe

Fashion has never been my friend, it has always been my foe. We are like chalk and cheese. Pressurised at school, and desperate to be cool, I pursued fashion for many years. It didn't always suit me, but it was fashionable right? I've only recently given up buying trashy magazines emblazoned with images telling me how this skirt will make me look great etc. Sorry, but tulip skirts are ridiculous...I think they are the ugliest fashion item to have ever been made. Well one of them. Jumpsuits and shoulder pads are infinitely worse.

As a teenager I used to enjoy shopping. However, in my old age I have developed a dislike of crowds and people who walk slowly - that is what shopping is all about. I can't stand it. And in the age of the internet I feel more comfortable buying clothes online now. That, and my ethics have changed. Where possible I want my clothes to be fairly traded, even better if they can be made with organic materials. I can't get everything appropriate from fair trade clothes websites however, often because I can't afford the price tag. I am doing a fairly good job at wearing out the clothes I currently own though. My wardrobe hasn't had that many new additions since I left university. I had to sew up a hole in a black linen skirt during my lunch break the other day, because a colleague had spotted my knickers through it...oops... Yep, a lot of my clothes are getting a little worn, but if I can make them survive then I can avoid shopping!

So, you get my drift - I hate fashion and I hate shopping. The two are usually synonomous with one another. On occasion, however, I have to brave the high street. Shoe shopping (which I loathe above all) is usually one reason why because I have awkward feet and I need to check any new shoes will fit me properly. My most recent "proper" shopping expedition was a few weeks ago, when my brother's girlfriend, who is also a good friend of mine, and I headed into our local city to hunt out belly dancing outfits. We take belly dancing classes once a week and our class is putting on an 'Arabian Nights' themed show in less than a month's time. We are performing a duet to a song by our favourite band, and therefore we needed quite specific costumes that match/complement each other's. The internet proved lacking in the colours we desired - purple and black - and so we braved sweltering temperatures and crowds on a Saturday afternoon to hunt out our dream outfits. We were lucky enough to stick to the city's back streets and buy the perfect purple tops with matching coin belts, as well as pretty shiny material to make our dance veils with, from a couple of specialist shops there. This meant we could avoid the horrible city centre complete with it's stuffy mall, badly stocked high street, and frightening fashionistas who watch you like a hawk just because your tie-dye dress is so 1969 man! So, a successful trip for us both, completed with a good guzzling of Guarana Antarctica (that stuff is amazing and deserves a future blog post for itself).

I didn't have to worry about tackling another carbon copy high street again until yesterday. And eww, was it nasty! My fiance needed a his hair cut before we head off on holiday this weekend so I stayed in the city where we both work, waiting for him, and decided to do some shopping, primarily for a road atlas for him. Secondarily I thought I would kill time by looking for the final addition to our 'Arabian Nights' outfits. We need black gypsy skirts. Long, flowing, pretty black skirts. And I couldn't find any anywhere. No, instead I came across, and I am really not joking, human-sized versions of the very clothing I used to dress my Barbie and Sindy dolls with back in the 80s. Horrific - that very same hot pink one shoulder dress (the shoulder bit has a flowing trumpet style addition to it...), the very same clashing floral boob tube with random frills that fluff out of nowhere. Please don't tell me people are buying this stuff... Neon stuff everywhere. Argh! Ok, so I hate fashion, and therefore I technically have no right to judge what the "fashionable" shops choose to stock, but I couldn't believe that the light, pretty hippy summer clothes that are available every year were no where to be seen. They had been replaced with monstrous over-sized outfits that had originally been designed for plastic dolls with weird proportions! Not one high street shop could offer me a simple long black skirt with a bit of flare. Oh, as it's a belly dance we could wear harem pants because they are apparently in fashion right now... No, no, no! We are representing spinning dancing black holes, it's all about seamless flow, only skirts will do!

Yep, that experience has reminded me why I will (almost) never shop on the high street again! The reason I chose to risk it on this occasion was because my internet favourites had let me down too. However, I have yet to try the more individual shops back in my local city (we didn't look for skirts that particular Saturday because we were under the illusion that they would be easy to find at a later date). And here's hoping that will be fruitful.

I hate fashion, fashion is my foe. When it reproduces my Barbie doll's clothes it takes it all too far.

Rant over...