Barrie Celebrates First Anniversary as a Fair Trade Town
On Tuesday, May 3 Barrie celebrates its first anniversary as a Fair Trade Town. From 9am to 3pm in the Barrie City Hall Rotunda the City of Barrie will host Fair Trade and ethical sourcing displays by Hamley’s Coffee and Tea, Nutrition Plus Natural Foods, Zehrs Markets, Mountain Equipment Co-op ®, and Natural Vines Fair Trade Organic Wines. Major Jeff Lehman will raise the Fair Trade Town flag and accept a plaque recognizing Barrie as a Fair Trade Town at 12:15pm.
Fair Trade Coffee will be served all day!!
In May 2010 Barrie joined more than 800 cities worldwide that have earned the international designation of Fair Trade Town becoming the largest Fair Trade City in Ontario. This achievement has sent a message to Canadians and the rest of the the world that Barrie is committed to the quality of life of millions of individuals in the developing world.
Increasingly shoppers are insisting on ethical treatment of those who produce the products that we consume. Consumers are voting with their dollars, and putting money where their values are by purchasing Fair Trade certified products.
The Fair Trade Town program was launched in the UK in 1999 to accelerate awareness of the growing consumer demand for Fair Trade products such as coffee, tea, chocolate, sugar, bananas, oranges, grapes, wine, spices as well as many others.
The purchase of Fair Trade products provides a minimum price to producers in developing countries, sufficient to allow for investment in their businesses, education and health services. Fair Trade products must be produced in a democratic environment, without forced child labour, and without pesticides and herbicides proven detrimental to the environment.
Qualification as a Fair Trade Town requires support from City Council and a broad range of community organizations, plus documentation of availability of Fair Trade products, and the presence of an active Fair Trade advocacy group.
In Barrie, diverse groups including schools, churches, the Barrie Public Library, the MacLaren Art Centre, Georgian College, the YMCA, the Huronia Symphony Rotary, Kiwanis, and Grandmother to Grandmothers have all participated in Fair Trade promotion events. Fair Trade Certified products are now available in over 50 Barrie locations.
