November 2014 web

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2nd Annual

Over 20 local and global organizations and businesses selling fair trade products. Unique quality crafts, books, cards, calendars, posters, games, toys,clothing, jewellery and food! Tasty ethnic lunch, mouth-watering desserts.

Sunday, November 16 10:00 am to 4:00 pm Eagles Hall, Duncan

On Boys Rd just south of the Silver Bridge

Fair Trade Reflective Sweaters made from 100% New Zealand wool and fully lined with polar fleece, but what makes these different is the retro-reflective thread added in. Not only will you be warm, you’ll be visible too! Available in a variety of styles for men & women!

Next To Nature Trading Puzzles • Mohair Socks • Sheepskin Slippers • Sweaters • Cards • Pottery • Salt Lamps • Mittens • Hats • Crystals • Handmade Soaps • FRESH HOMEMADE FUDGE and more!

250 748 6647 www.beaverhousefudge.com

Whippletree Junction

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Who Knows What Direct Equitable Fair Trade Is?

t’s about making principles of fairness and decency mean something in the marketplace. It seeks to change the terms of trade for the products we buy - to ensure the farmers and artisans behind those products get a better deal. Most often this is understood to mean better prices for producers, but it often means longer-term and more meaningful trading relationships as well. For consumers and businesses, it’s also about information. It is a way for all of us to identify products that meet our values so we can make choices that have a positive impact on the world. Direct Equitable Fair Trade (DEFT) is a practice where suppliers and producers of products, components, or ingredients, are paid fairly for their efforts and goods. DEFT enables these producers in other countries to move out of poverty and improve their lives, and those of their families and children, and countrymen. It is, as it says, being fair to the people who supply the materials and ingredients we use here in our manufacturing, food service, and daily lives. DEFT is really about making changes to conventional trade, which frequently fails to deliver on promises of sustainable livelihoods and opportunities for people in the poorest countries in the world. Poverty and hardship limit people’s choices while market forces tend to further marginalise and exclude them.

This makes them vulnerable to exploitation, whether as farmers and artisans, or as hired workers within larger businesses. That two billion of our fellow citizens survive on less than $2 per day, despite working extremely hard, suggests that there is indeed a problem. Long-Term Trade Relationships - fosters longterm trade partnerships at all levels within the production, processing and marketing chain that provide producers with stability and opportunities to develop marketing, production and quality skills, as well as access to new markets for their products. Direct Trade - attempts to reduce the intermediaries between the primary producer and the consumer. This delivers more of the benefits of such trade to the producer and connects consumers more directly with the source of their food and other products, and with the people who produced them. Come see what it is all about at the 2nd Annual FIESTA World Craft Bazaar, Sunday, November 16 10 am - 4pm Eagles Hall, on Boys Rd just south of the Silver Bridge.

Submitted by Sue Darlington

Valley Voice Magazine - Your Monthly Guide to Living in the Cowichan Valley

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