Fair trade in UCD

panda100

Hey-this is just a reminder for ucd boardies of how to make a real difference in developing counties when you go back to college on the 16th!As some of you may know we are trying to give UCD a fair trade campus status.So much coffee and tea gets consumed on campus each day that it is only right that it should be fair trade that should be seved.By choosing fair trade products you are quite literally choosing to save lives and make a real differnce to families in the developing world.
So here's how you boardies can help:)

All teas and coffees in Hilpers and mick donalds are fair trade.
The main restaurant has a fair trade option so PLEASE use the fair trade option instead of the normal non fair trade coffee.
Insomnia in the quinn school also has a fair trade option-this is the first place in Ireland which Insomnia is trying out their fair trade coffee.If it goes down well they will probabaly change all their coffe to fair trade. So Please ask for the fair trade option in Insomnia in the quinn school.

Scraggs

ok this is maybe a really dense question... but can i order the same thing i usually get and ask for it fair trade.. or is there a special menu?? [talking about insomnia btw]

Red Alert

AFAIK it's actually different stuff, 'cos you can get fairtrade stuff on sale in the supermarkets etc. but that said, a latte and fairtrade-latte are going to be the same to make.

humbert

speaking as the least observant person in the world, where is the fair trade option in the restaurant, every day I automatically got to the obvious coffee machines and have never noticed anything about fair trade?

panda100

Scraggs wrote:

ok this is maybe a really dense question... but can i order the same thing i usually get and ask for it fair trade.. or is there a special menu?? [talking about insomnia btw]

yep i think so-all the insomnia coffe is made from the same bean.But during the summer insomnia when on an exbidition to find a top quality bean from a fair trade area and so you're frappucino,mocha will taste exactly the same but you'll be doing a bit of good for the world when you pay!

Scraggs

panda100 wrote:

yep i think so-all the insomnia coffe is made from the same bean.But during the summer insomnia when on an exbidition to find a top quality bean from a fair trade area and so you're frappucino,mocha will taste exactly the same but you'll be doing a bit of good for the world when you pay!

thats grand i'll be changing to fairtrade so

i'll have grande fairtrade white mocha to go please........

Sangre

Mmmm oppressivalicious...

Wez

I know it shouldn't be a problem, but is it the same price?

Sangre

Wez wrote:

I know it shouldn't be a problem, but is it the same price?

You disgust me. It shouldn't matter if its three/four times more expensive.
THIS IS PEOPLES LIVES WE'RE TALKING ABOUUUUTW!!!111!1!!!

panda100

Wez wrote:

I know it shouldn't be a problem, but is it the same price?

yep wez it is exactly the same price!

blondie83

Sangre wrote:

You disgust me. It shouldn't matter if its three/four times more expensive.
THIS IS PEOPLES LIVES WE'RE TALKING ABOUUUUTW!!!111!1!!!

Panda I think you have a campaign manager here!

panda100

Sangre wrote:

You disgust me. It shouldn't matter if its three/four times more expensive.
THIS IS PEOPLES LIVES WE'RE TALKING ABOUUUUTW!!!111!1!!!

yes watch out bono and sir bob,sangre is sfter your nobel peace prize this year......

tonymontana

panda100 wrote:

By choosing fair trade products you are quite literally choosing to save lives and make a real differnce to families in the developing world.

So by drinking nescafe, I'm doing the opposite! I am sure by buying fair trade, one might make a bit of a difference in someones life, but I don't think anyone's dying! I would never buy fair trade because I tend to be very sceptical of these organisations, but that is just my own personal opinion. I think it's up to the individual what coffee or tea they'll drink but all I hope is that the su don't jump on the fair trade wagon, and start making the decision for us, like the way they make us drink pepsi over coke now, surely I'm old enough to make the decision myself?

Mr.Nice Guy

panda100 wrote:

Hey-this is just a reminder for ucd boardies of how to make a real difference in developing counties when you go back to college on the 16th!

F*ck those developing counties. Why should I give a damn about what happens in Roscommon?

panda100

Mr.Nice Guy wrote:

F*ck those developing counties. Why should I give a damn about what happens in Roscommon?

But the tea growers in Longford need you help mng?:D

Mr.Nice Guy

panda100 wrote:

But the tea growers in Longford need you help mng?:D

They need help alright but not from me.

LovelyHurling

Is it just me or does anybody else find all of this africa stuff really frustrating. Youve got Live Aid, G8, Make Poverty History, Drop The Debt, Black Cotton Harvesters on Trocaire Boxes, Concern, Oxfam Shops, all get together and send a Goat to Africa, Fair Trade, Bill and Melinda - and nothing. Pockets of success here and there, but then another problem. The African Problem is like an endless sum. Multiplication, subtraction, multiplication, subtraction, the odd long division every time theres a natural disaster.

Are people actually getting anywhere with this? By the way I may be leaning on the agri - economy by the time I leave UCD but Ag subsidies in Ireland are a bloody disgrace. Do you know this year and last farmers have been getting a "single farm payment" just so they keep their farms in good order and record their use of veterinary medicines... and many of them arent even doing it. They run around like headless chickens for a week before the inspectors arrive, and then its all over. Inspectors and vets tend to know this and are turning a blind eye... Money in the bank. How can African famers compete with this ridiculous carry on?

End of Rant. Phew.

Economaniac!

hey panda100,
is there anything being done about the prices of the tea and coffee? i think it was 1.30 for tea last time i checked in the arts cafe (compared to about 1.50 for a pot in bewleys, which gets you 3 mugs!), i mean selling the fair trade at 1.00 or 1.20 u wud probably take all of the business from the non-fair trade ppl. "Choose fair-trade, pay less" makes alot more sense, if morally and ethically wrong, than "Choose fair-trade, save ppls lives, give farmers in the 3rd world a fair deal etc etc". This type of action in aiding developing country farmers really should concentrate on a goal, you either get the fair money to the people who deserve it, or you change people's mindsets, its very hard to do both and maybe focusing on one aspect might yield better results, which is what your after, i`m presuming.

LovelyHurling wrote:

Ag subsidies in Ireland are a bloody disgrace.

I'd like to second that. Alot more good would come from campaigners changing government policies which PAY farmers in Ireland NOT to produce! I mean, come on ppl, we all know this is happening. If you cant make money in the business you are in, you get another job. Ireland is in the midst of a Labour supply shortage, no excuses! The average irish farmer reported an income of €13,000 in 2004, in case you think that is a mistake i'll re-write it, €13,000. So these leeches are not only dodging taxes on income and fuel, but they receive perverse subsidies to keep african farmers poor.

Queue Cork Accent
THAT is the issue people, i'm Eddie Hobbs, and that was Dumbass Republic.

PS: BUY FAIR TRADE - ANY WAY YOU LOOK AT IT, WE ALL WIN (apart from mr. nestle, and the man that lives in the maxwell house, what a legend!)

panda100

LovelyHurling wrote:

Is it just me or does anybody else find all of this africa stuff really frustrating. Youve got Live Aid, G8, Make Poverty History, Drop The Debt, Black Cotton Harvesters on Trocaire Boxes, Concern, Oxfam Shops, all get together and send a Goat to Africa, Fair Trade, Bill and Melinda - and nothing. Pockets of success here and there, but then another problem. The African Problem is like an endless sum. Multiplication, subtraction, multiplication, subtraction, the odd long division every time theres a natural disaster.

Are people actually getting anywhere with this? By the way I may be leaning on the agri - economy by the time I leave UCD but Ag subsidies in Ireland are a bloody disgrace. Do you know this year and last farmers have been getting a "single farm payment" just so they keep their farms in good order and record their use of veterinary medicines... and many of them arent even doing it. They run around like headless chickens for a week before the inspectors arrive, and then its all over. Inspectors and vets tend to know this and are turning a blind eye... Money in the bank. How can African famers compete with this ridiculous carry on?

End of Rant. Phew.

To call it 'african stuff' lovely hurling is not correct at all!Fair trading helps people in India,south america,wherever.Also you talk about africa as an endless sum of subtraction when there is a natural disaster.Africa is not poor because of natural disasters-if you've ever saw hector in ethiopia you will see that it is an extremely lush country full of rivers,forests etc not like the dessert like conditions we see on the news everyday.Thus the only 'natural disaster' that africa and other developing countries face is the fact that they have to contend with fluctuating prices that may not even cover to grow their crop.Something in ireland a farmer would never have to face. Therefore by us buying direct from the farmer at better prices,we help to give them a fair chance on the world market instead if just dishing out handouts from charities every now and again.

To be honest,i totally agree with you lovely hurling about the afican problem.It is extremely tiresome hearing bono,john O'Shea and the likes asking for aid every 2seconds and to me they seem to be a hinderance to world development other than a help.Ultimatly,i would like to see a dramatic decrease in the number of ngo's out there as it really is only our goverments that can make a difference to overseas aid and not a 24-hour concern fast. Anywho ive gone off the point but by buying fair trade you are not giving a poor charity handout but are directly helping farmers to be able to cultivate their crops annually and build a stable income for their families-something everyone in this world deserves,whether your a farmer in calcutta or carlow.

In reply to economaniac,there is a working group for end the rip off in campus-they should definatly try and get eddie hobbs to come in and talk next year.Ha wouldnt you love to see him in hilpers tring to haggle with that little chinese girl!

Mr_Roger_Bongos

Hurling is right though! The 'bits and pieces' charity effort towards Africa is a waste of time, progess is being made at snail's pace. They should adopt my communist (slightly democratic) solution:

One HUGE!!! fund for africa, where all donations go into 1 account, and Africa is then blitzed, 1 country at a time with roadbuilding, service improvement, aided government establishment (not in an american way1), u do it 1 country at a time, and in about 30 years, problem solved, Broadband in the sahara, while sprinkling their crops with purified water!

Sorted.

LovelyHurling

Also you talk about africa as an endless sum of subtraction when there is a natural disaster.

yeah no i meant famine, which on second thoughts isnt a natural disaster at all, its about as unnatural as you can get. And Ihave a bad habit of referring to all those poor places as Africa (I was bad at geography) with homeless people, its like referring to Australia and Poland as being equally "in the west". By the way I'd deffo support fair trade its a good idea, but Im loving Mr Roger Bangos' idea of one big account. Wouldnt it be so much better if there was ONE international organization like the UN, well no maybe the Red Cross... answerable for ALL of Africa's development schemes. All charities, organizations and governments could pour their funds into the (Red Cross, whatever) and they could delegate managers or ambassadors or whatever to each area - education, agriculture, health, etc. The current system is anarchic, everyone (opinion) seems to be running around blindly throwing money into the first thing they see that needs fixing...

But again, fair trade good idea

elmyra

being weird like i am i don't actually drink tea or coffee, but i do spend a lot of time mindlessly handing over my pennies to the lovely ppl in hilpers(too lazy to walk to anywhere else, a problem which could probably be solved if i started drinking coffee..oh the irony) anyway, is there anything else that's a fair trade product that i should be looking out for? *imagines this is probably a stupid question*

LovelyHurling

elmyra wrote:

being weird like i am i don't actually drink tea or coffee, but i do spend a lot of time mindlessly handing over my pennies to the lovely ppl in hilpers(too lazy to walk to anywhere else, a problem which could probably be solved if i started drinking coffee..oh the irony) anyway, is there anything else that's a fair trade product that i should be looking out for? *imagines this is probably a stupid question*

Out by the No. 10 bus stop on the dual carriageway there used to be a poster on the side of the shelter that showed heaps of feir trade stuff. Theres rice and all that kind of stuff afair... are you on campus at the minute? Run out and take a look! You can get it all in tescos i think

elmyra

oh, thanks a mil, i'm not on campus as it happens but i'll check when i get back...always try and get behind a good thing and all that. i live beside the coolest 24hour tesco in the world out in dundrum so it shouldn't be a problem switching from other brands if it's already there! cheers.

arbeitsscheuer

Spotting liberal soft touches from a distance of 100 miles, supermarkets mark up the price of fairtrade goods to make them more profitable than non-fairtrade items.

So the small coffee producer is getting slightly more for his goods.

The conscience-driven consumer, on the other hand, is getting fleeced to fcukery.

This is 'ethical', apparently.

elmyra

Of course it's not ethical, but it would be worse to let fair trade suffer because we're thinking of our wallets. Conscience-driven consumer might be easy pickings, but at least we have a conscience. Oh the whole though, system sounds a bit ****!

humbert

perhaps there are just better places to buy fair trade products than tescos, like the SU shops and college cafes, if they are the same price you can't really be going wrong.

arbeitsscheuer

Look, clearly a few small producers getting more for their coffee beans is a good thing, but Fairtrade accounts for only 0.001% of world trade.

Even in areas where Fairtrade is strongest, their market share is puny: 3% of the UK coffee market and 4% of the banana market.

Meaning that, as a strategy for changing the world, and challenging the structures of global power, 'buying coffee' is possibly not the most effective.

Oh... And thank fcuk we've got those wristbands as well.:rolleyes:

LovelyHurling

SebtheBum wrote:

as a strategy for changing the world

I dont think anybody expects it to change the world i think its intended as just one step to help sustain agriculture in underdeveloped countries...

Oh... And thank fcuk we've got those wristbands as well.

at £1 per wristband yeah its not a bad idea. Its a psychological thing as well it kind of kept people conscious and served as a public advertisement for the mph campaign

TBH these anti poverty movements are often full of imperfections but at least they and the people who support them are being constructive

humbert

I think I smells the blood of a cynical man! I've no aspirations to change the world but if buying one type of coffee instead of another helps then I will, particularly if they're the same price...

I've no particular opinion on the wristbands, if they bring some plight to peoples attention fair enough but I don't see myself buying one!

Jonny Arson

I do have a wristband but don't wear it. The wristbands are a good idea but pity that they have to look so ugly, tacky and cheap. DESIGN DECENT ONES PLZ!!1!1

Anyway I'm sticking to my boycott of all non-Coca-Cola, Nestle products on campus.