• Use Fairtrade tea and coffee after services and in all meetings we put on
• Move forward on using other Fairtrade products such as sugar, biscuits and fruit
• Promote Fairtrade during Fairtrade Fortnight and during the year through events, worship and other activities whenever possible.
Look for the FAIRTRADE Mark on products when you shop. www.fairtrade.org.uk
How do we meet these responsibilities?
We certainly use Fairtrade tea and coffee, the latter a very nice filter brand by the way. Admittedly we’re not so hot on the sugar & squash but we are pleased to use Fairtrade communion wine (suitable for vegetarians and vegans). Once a month we host a stall selling Fairtrade products, during refreshments after the 9.30 Sunday Sung Eucharist.
Why is Fairtrade important?
“In the Pentateuch and the prophets there are insistent demands that we do justice by our neighbour, especially in matters of trade. For Paul, Jesus was ‘the justice of God’, the one who demanded we serve God with our whole heart, and not mammon. Traditionally justice meant honesty in trade, and more radically giving priority to the poor. Today we realise more clearly than before that it involves our care for the planet, which in turn affects both future generations and the poor. Though all forms of trade have a carbon footprint, fair trade, unlike many other forms, helps the small farmers who still feed one third of the world’s population to farm sustainably and to adapt to climate change. It represents the mutual support which Paul called for from his wealthy Corinthians, and is a small, modest, but indispensable first step towards realising the justice demanded of us by both Scripture and Christian tradition.” Professor Tim Gorringe, Department of Theology, University of Exeter
For more information, we’d encourage you to reflect on a series of prayers and readings about Fairtrade based on the Lectionary.