Castle Douglas High School hosted the first ever regional Fairtrade event, today Friday 11 March 2016. The event was part of the S1-S3 school assembly and had over 200 pupils, local councillors and representatives of local Fairtrade Groups also in attendance.
Councillor Colin Smyth, Chair of the Council’s Economy, Environment and Infrastructure Committee and the Council’s Fairtrade Champion explained to the pupils and other guests why the Council is committed to Fairtrade: ‘The principle of getting a fair price for the food that farmers produce is important to Dumfries and Galloway, and so it’s only right that we extend that to other parts of the world. Our Council has been working with a wide range of businesses, schools and other organisations over the last three years to promote Fairtrade across the region, and we’re delighted to say that we’ll shortly be applying for Fairtrade Zone status. I was impressed when talking to the pupils after the forma event about how much they already know about Fairtrade and their commitment to it’.
Nicaraguan coffee producer Fatima Ismael showed a short film about how coffee is made and traded in her plantation, and then told the audience through an interpreter about the benefits that Fairtrade brings to the individual farmers in her co-operative and the community generally. ‘Without Fairtrade, we don’t know how much we will get paid for our coffee and we are very reliant on getting a good harvest every year. The guaranteed price arrangement and the small premium that is paid by being a Fairtrade organisation means that we can plan better, we can farm sustainably and we have been able to support our schools and health centres. I was so delighted to share the message about Fairtrade with young people today because we need them to change their shopping habits to make this last’.
Headteacher Gerald Donnelly commented: ‘The Fairtrade message about equality, respect and fairness is very appropriate for our school as these values are fundamental. The pupils were really attentive, interested in the presentation and were enthusiastic about helping out with the event. We plan to do some more work around this in the future as it makes a strong contribution to a range of curriculum subjects.’
Fairtrade Fortnight 2016 is running from 29 February to 13 March. There are a number of events and special promotions taking place across our region, all supporting this year’s focus ‘Sit down for breakfast, Stand up for farmers’.
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