Be Fair

Winner of the Be Fair competition- its very cool, check it out

not fair??

So as I was never really serious about ditching coffee, I headed to Modaks today, another cafe from our Fairtrade list.  It is a nice, chilled out kind of place with lots of cool paintings for sale along the walls. Casually on my way out I ask the girl behind the counter which brand of Fairtrade coffee they use… “oh, we don’t use fairtrade.. we use coffee supreme but it’s the same thing.” YIKES! I feel like I’ve been punched. I am really, honestly surprised how ill this makes me feel, even though it’s entirely my own fault.. Have I  become a little possesive of the seven million farmers who subscribe to Fairtrade?

But to the real question, is Coffee Supreme similar to Fairtrade? Well, in a word, No. And their web site tells this pretty straight – I searched all over and there are a lot of statements about their search for quality coffee beans but none about quality of life for coffee producers.

For example: “We go to great lengths to obtain the highest quality green coffee samples, then roast and taste many options before purchase… About 80% of our coffee we import ourselves, from a handful of trusted US based brokers, and increasingly from growers or exporters at origin that we’ve developed relationships with.”

And yes, “trusted US brokers” sounds a bit evasive to me too. To be fair though, Coffee Supreme don’t make any claims that they are or attempt to be fair traders (but if you want to check them out yourselves at www.coffeesupreme.com) I’m interested to hear what you think! And I guess I’ve learned to check my facts beforehand next time..

Another tool to use to see what is fair trade coffee is http://www.thegreenguide.com/food/buying/coffee-label-decoder

a good night out

It was quality entertainment last night at the Academy Cinema. Greeted with yummy Fair trade chocolate and warming hot chocolates and coffees on arrival. All this and 2 films- for only $5. Bargain.

The Film ‘Cheat Neutral’ was entertaining and very clever, showing clever humour as effective tool to bring about change. Quirky, fun and lighthearted. For those of you who missed it can see it next Saturday @8pm (16th May).

‘What about me?’ A sequel to ’1 giant leap’.  A thought provoking film, using music to convey the complexities of human nature.  The music is from 50 different countries from KD Lang, to Chinese rappers, Gabonese Pygmies and Tuvan Throat singers.  I gained lots from watching it- it was empowering and encouraging humans to celebrate ourselves and our wild spirits, while being aware of marketing powers and pressures.

Credit to Trade Aid & Forest and Bird, for organising these events

4.5/5 for me. what did you think?
“a genuinely groundbreaking audio-visual project of global dimensions” – Daily Telegraph

up coming film fest..

As part of Dunedin’s Fair Trade Fortnight, Trade Aid and Forest & Bird are holding a film festival to showcase fair trade and environmental documentaries from NZ and around the world. Films will be shown at the Academy on Dundas St over seven nights, each night will have a theme (nature or resources for example) and lots have extras like live music, free fair trade coffee and chocolate and directorial intros. For more info and the movie timetable check out our events page..

And, just to whet your appetite, we have the trailer to FLOW: for the love of water, an award winning documentary from South America on the true cost of bottled water..

alright gov’ner?

For me Governor’s Cafe  is like comfort food or late nineties dance music – it makes me happy instantly. Opposite the big church on George St, this cafe still has the same crooked tables and slightly uncomfortable chairs as when I first came here 8 years ago; it still has cool music and attracts an eclectic bunch of people – academics in tweed coats, bearded hippies, students, families, anyone and everyone. It’s all cosy and comfy, somewhere you can settle into a corner table, people watch and read the paper, well, all day if you wanted. The walls are covered with sketches on napkins, with flyers for bands, exhibitions and film festivals, the coffee is really good (and fair trade) and comes in a big mug and there is a bathtub full of goldfish upstairs.. I like it!