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THANK YOU!!! A GREAT BIG THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR MANY VOLUNTEERS WHO HELPED MAKE THE 2020 NATIONAL FAIR TRADE CONFERENCE HERE IN CALGARY SUCH A GREAT SUCCESS!!! 
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STORYTELLING AUTHOR: Larissa Kanhai FEATURING: Cécile Rouzel de Université d’Ottawa When trying to change the habits of people, you need to deconstruct the social, economic, political, and spiritual institutional values that are attached to norms of organizational, cultural and practical behaviour. We need to be disciplined and intentional when telling our stories and have a specific purpose. Today we creatively practiced collectively storytelling using pictures for inspiration and taking turns to tell the story of why we are here at the 8th annual Canadian Fair Trade Conference in Calgary, Alberta. Stories such as this…  So, there was a big bad, unethical retailer that rode in selling products from multinationals and creating havoc in the fair trade world. That big bad really thought they were king and that they could control everything all with of their power. On the surface, much seemed good and calm. But there was a great deal under the surface that went deeper. Much like unfair treatment of producers, environmental impacts, and social inequity. All of this the big bad was unaware of…or maybe they were and didn’t want to see it?
We have to think of our roots and the way things had been created in the past. One grandmother’s coat came from the Ukraine where people there had connection to the land. They trapped the furs that created the coat, and that coat was passed on from generation to generation. Being treated fairly even in poverty is very important. This is what got people thinking deeply, to see what is the key that we can use to open the door to human dialogue. The key is not just going to the roots; and that’s our humanity. They all realized that the way back was fair trade. Carrots and other produce, coffee and chocolate were the way to be fair and to honour traditions to connect with each other and demonstrate respect. Even though those goals seem very large we keep each other buoyed together to take on the task to overthrow the multinationals and see the light and working together. Planting seeds is how we do this. We do this with trust knowing that some of the seeds will bear fruit and some sadly will not. But we also trust in a shared vision that our future will be a lovely field of flowers, made up of those seeds planted – the work we all do. Sometimes in a world that’s so constructed we feel like the future is constructed for us, but the truth is that the future is a blank slate and it is what we create. PLEASANTLY PERSISTENT AUTHOR: Larissa Kanhai  Today a friend asked with surprise if my conference wasn’t cancelled? To this I replied, “Are you kidding? We’re grassroots, we’re like weeds and we’re NOT going anywhere!” Turns out this pervasive and persistent approach is a legitimate marketing strategy for fair trade! At its very core, marketing is an inherent pillar to the work we do in the fair trade movement – only through increased demand will such an alternative system of trade be effective. But most of the time we feel like we’re preaching to the choir. John Marron of Fairtrade Canada, Ahmed Nassrat from JustUs, Giada Simone of Yupik, and Frank Sarro of Community Natural Foods addressed how to engage retailers to get products on the shelf. Here are some key messages and tips to offer to retailers:
SUMMARY OF SMALL STEP COMMITMENTS FROM CONFERENCE AUTHOR: Erin Bird  First Steps/ Premiers pas
Climate Round Table AUTHOR: Erin Bird FEATURING: Marianne Pemberton, Climate Smart and Monika Firl, Coop Coffees After hearing the keynote discussion on Climate Change, which brought forward a lot of the scientific evidence of what is happening in our warming world, coupled with strategies that are currently being applied on some small-scale fairtrade farms to focus on healthy soils that can be more resilient in this time of changing climate, it was nice to follow up the session with a roundtable discussion. Introductions were made around the room on what particular thoughts or challenges people are currently experiencing with climate change. From feeling guilty to taking a flight to attend conference, to wanting to implement waste free solutions when packaging goods for a business, the opinions and concerns were varied. For the most part, concerns fell largely into two categories: things that businesses could influence, and things that could be influenced at a general societal level. The second part of the workshop had Marianne asking us to divide into two groups representing the two categories of influence and perform two group brainstorm activities: 1) what is a small action that could be taken to improve the situation by 15%, and 2) if we had all the power and resources, what would be a big action we would take. While some of the responses from both groups on question 1 focused on actions we are each already taking, such as finding champions to help leverage our cause, implementing small changes, educating and advocating within our existing networks, the responses for question 2 were more aspirational around influencing decision making at an institutional or community-wide level. One example was implementing a water bottle rental program at a university campus. Other suggestions were even more omnipotent, by creating mandatory legislation and policy around banning single use plastics, mandating the purchase of only fair trade and sustainable goods, limiting packaging to what is only essential. The trick moving forward will be to create a line of sight between the small actions we identified and focus on how to empower each other to take bigger and bigger actions that may in the end influence the big policy changes and impact we wish to see.
The Global Picture of Fair Trade: Building the New Economy AUTHOR: Larissa Kanhai FEATURING: SARAH DE LANGE, WFTO AND CHRIS SOLT, FTF In 2016, the Canadian Fair Trade Network passed a motion at their AGM in regards to the recognition of membership organizations that were robust at putting fair trade and the treatment of small producers at the forefront of their mission. In this session, it was nice to get an overview of how the membership organizations of the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) and the Fair Trade Federation (FTF) differ from single commodity-type certifications such as the Small Producers Symbol (SPP) and Fairtrade International. Most of the goods these two membership organizations are promoting are made of composite materials that are mostly artisanal or handicraft in nature. The WFTO and FTF are now working more in tandem with their membership organizations so that they can provide the right support to producers within their respective sphere and point producers who wish to obtain certification to the right organization. While FTF’s membership is solely in North America (USA and Canada based businesses), the WFTO has a worldwide mandate. Some new developments include the newly released publication by WFTO titled “Creating the New Economy: Business models that put people and planet first”. The WFTO also has a membership for Northern Producers, something recently implemented that would acknowledge indigenous artisans living in the northern hemisphere, inclusive of refugees that may have been displaced from their home countries. Chris Solt from the Fair Trade Federation also elaborated on the benefits of being part of their business network, likening it to being part of a collaborative community rather than individual completing businesses. Members feel part of a family and therefore they do their part to promote all members of the organization. The closer relationship between the WFTO and the FTF has potential to build even greater capacity for small producers who may need to pivot into new arenas in order to keep their businesses viable and relevant in today’s “society of convenience”, competing against big companies such as Amazon, while staying true to the core values of why these membership organizations are needed in the first place: putting people and planet first.  Youth Activism Workshop: How to Engage, Mobilize & Lobby AUTHOR: Erin Bird FEATURING: Darren Lund, University of Calgary  When I walked into Darren Lund’s session, I expected to hear a professor who had all the answers. I expected someone who was going to outline, step by step, in logical fashion, the strategy and process he implemented in order to mobilize youth on campus towards social justice causes. What I got instead was a story.
It was the story of Darren as a young professor, just starting out, feeling a bit overwhelmed, having been given a challenging class of “problem kids” to teach in Red Deer. It felt like the opening scene to Lean on Me or Dangerous Minds. But what was refreshing was Darren’s frank honesty in telling the story. He downplays his role in the students’ deciding to take on social justice causes. He had merely allowed them to talk about issues that were current events at the time, without judgement, and supported individual students when they brought forth ideas about how to handle these injustices. When students decided to form their own coalition to try and combat hatred and prejudice, he merely supports them rather than directs. And I think this is the secret he is trying to get across. It’s not up to teachers or adults to try to motivate youth to act in a certain direction, it is rather our duty to empower them to go in whatever direction is passionate for them and support them through it. We talked a bit about different opinions. How a student who identifies as a neonazi skinhead is still a person who has parents and siblings and is loved. Having conversations with students who may exhibit extreme viewpoints can be done, if the true purpose of the conversation is to seek to understand, not shut them down, not impose a new viewpoint. Darren also talked about his own personal motives for calling out hate speech being published in a local newspaper. The repercussions that taking a stand can have, especially in a small rural community where people may be afraid to speak up and instead will look the other way. The very serious threats he has had on his life because he would not back down from a position he felt was true to his values. We don’t often get that type of pushback in advocating for fair trade, but we have to ask ourselves, how far are we willing to take a stand to stay true to our values? THE REAL COST OF CHOCOLATE AUTHOR: Larissa Kanhai FEATURING: Don Pilar Ramirez of REDDOM, Dominican Republic "Farmers only make 3¢ on the dollar on a #chocolate bar. I'd be happy if this just moved to 5¢," said #Fairtrade #cacao #farmer, Don Pilar Emilio Ramirez, today.
"So how can I support the farmers?" asked someone. "Buy fairtrade," replied Ramirez. He continued. "When I am with this brand, there are rules I must follow. An inspector regularly comes to my farm to make sure I am operating fairly. 'Do you have any child labourers?' There are children than come to help their parents working, but only when they have free time, and to make pocket money. They don't leave school to work. 'Do you pay your staff well?' I must show payroll to prove I provide fair wages to my employees. 'What about the birds that fly into your farm?' I could answer, 'why does that matter? The cacao is growing just fine.' But no, I must also protect the natural wildlife that come to my farm. I have trees that serve no purpose other than to provide nesting for these migrating birds. 'Do you take care of the water that runs through your land?' Yes, and I must show him how too. So what can you do? Buy fairtrade, support it, and be part of the movement.” THE REAL COST OF CHOCOLATE AUTHOR: Larissa Kanhai FEATURING: Don Pilar Ramirez, Fundacion REDDOM “8 out of 10 people worldwide are lovers of chocolate…. the other 2 are liars!  We just had a dynamic presentation from Pilar who taught us here at the 8th annual Canadian Fair Trade Conference more about “Comercio Justo” in Dominican Republic. Pilar laid the foundation on the context of the DR, the story of chocolate, the day in a life of a DR farmer, and concluded with discussion of the real cost of chocolate. Many of us may be familiar, even a little, with the journey of the cacao seed to the delicious chocolate that us North Americans enjoy, for some of us on a daily basis! But the personal story of an enigmatic producer like Pilar painted us a vivid picture (with the help of actual pictures) of what Comercio Justo/Fair Trade really looks like – this realistic picture is vital for those of us talking the talk of fair trade in our advocacy, businesses, and non-profits. One significant query that fair trade supporters get is around, how do we really know that this product is actually fair? Well, Pilar admits to us that it is not easy to follow all of the fair trade rules, but he understands the impact of what he’s a part of. Auditors come and ask him about, for example, the health of the birds, whether their workers in the fields are being paid, and asks with scrutiny about child labour. Very transparently, Pilar told us about children’s’ interest and engagement in cacao production. They do not work in the fields, and while they may bring food to a parent in the field on occasion, they ONLY do so after school and soccer and activities, these activities would never be cut short. He convivially told us about how sometimes kids like to collect leftover seeds in the field after harvesting to try and find a missed seed here and there. He tells us about someone who would collect this in a box, take these extra seeds to the market to sell, and then using the money to buy his girlfriend a coca cola (aww). Pilar conveys that this is a far cry from the real and actual risk of kids being kidnapped from schools to work on cacao plantations to make that same chocolate we may be eating. But insights also go both ways! In the fair trade movement in Canada, we can feel isolation and feel like our efforts aren’t having the impact we intend. But for other allies in fair trade here at the conference, all you are doing is inspiring one another. Pilar told us, “they have all kinds of fair trade products here in Canada – coffee, chocolate…beer! They’ll never believe me in Dominican Republic that I had fair trade beer!” He concluded with the real cost of chocolate and stated plainly, just 2% more for the farmer will make him happy, make his wife happy, and will even impact the land around him. Just 2%.  But for other allies in fair trade here at the conference, all you are doing is inspiring one another. Pilar told us, “they have all kinds of fair trade products here in Canada – coffee, chocolate…beer! They’ll never believe me in Dominican Republic that I had fair trade beer!”
He concluded with the real cost of chocolate and stated plainly, just 2% more for the farmer will make him happy, make his wife happy, and will even impact the land around him. Just 2%. |
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