Springtime in the Small World

We've had a lovely Fairtrade Fortnight!  

 

The first ever World Book Night was lots of fun - hopefully it will be an annual event.  

We were delighted to meet Ken Mkangala from Malawi on his Producer Tour of Scotland.

Our Open Day on Saturday 12th gave us a chance to talk to Fiona O'Donnell MP about Fairtrade and we look forward to welcoming her back to she shop soon.

Of course, we met lots of customers, old and new, gave out information, free samples, supplied coffee mornings, tuck shops and fayres, and our volunteers gave talks at schools throughout the county.

In the gardens of Orchard Crescent, the crocuses and daffodils are appearing.

The shop itself has had a bit of a spring makeover with a new kitchen for those all important cups of Fairtrade tea and coffee that keep the volunteers happy while pricing stock.

There has been a lot of new stock arriving from India recently. Our gift range is proving very popular so if something takes your fancy, don't leave it too long before you pop in - these papier mache cat boxes are going fast!

Nuts about Fairtrade

Volunteers joined members of the public in Prestonpans library today to hear a talk by Ken Mkangala, the Manager of the Ntchisi Macadamia Co-operative Union office in Malawi.

The Ntchisi Co-operative has been working with Edinburgh-based Equal Exchange, assisted by a Scottish Government grant, using the Fair Trade model as a way to enable farmers in Malawi to better understand markets and to empower smallholders to become more than just producers of a commodity. You can see the film here:


We will shortly be stocking Macadamia nuts in the Small World.

World Book Night

On Saturday, 5 March 2011, two days after World Book Day, the Small World shop was proud to take part in the first ever World Book Night when one million books were given away by an army of passionate readers to members of the public across the UK and Ireland.

 

The book give-away will comprise 40,000 copies of each of the 25 carefully selected titles, were given away by 20,000 ‘givers’, who each distributed 48 copies of their chosen title on World Book Night. The remaining books were distributed by World Book Night itself in places that might otherwise be difficult to reach, such as prisons and hospitals.

At our base in 9A Orchard Crescent, we gave away copies of David Mitchell's masterpiece "Cloud Atlas", had a glass or two of Fairtrade wine and listened to author Annemarie Allan read from her latest work in progress.

Thank you to everyone who joined us on World Book Night!

Meet the Producer Tour - Prestonpans Library

Ken Mkangala, the Manager of the Ntchisi Macadamia Co-operative Union office in Malawi, will be talking about using the Fair Trade model:

What: Producer Talk & Launch of Honesty Box Scheme
Where: Prestonpans Library, Ayres Wynd, Prestonpans
When: 4p.m. Tuesday 8th March 2011

The Ntchisi Co-operative has been working with Edinburgh-based Equal Exchange, assisted by a Scottish Government grant, using the Fair Trade model as a way to enable farmers in Malawi to better understand markets and to empower smallholders to become more than just producers of a commodity. 


Macadamias grow at altitude (500m – 1500m) and assist soil and water conservation. They require only low inputs, just a top dressing of organic matter is sufficient to support the trees. With the changing patterns of rainfall that Malawi is experiencing, macadamias drought resistance makes it an ideal crop for farmers who wish to diversify.

20% off day

Remember, this Saturday, 26th February we are having a one day only sale when  there will be a whopping 20% of all crafts.  

We will be open from 10-1 that day.

Pop along to 9A Orchard Crescent and pick up an ethical bargain or two!

Lots of news!

It's all happening in the Small World!

Following a meeting early in the new year with staff from North Berwick based Earth Matters, we now showcase each other's stock.  This means that visitors to Orchard Crescent can peruse a wonderful range of children's clothing including Little Green Radicals t-shirts with their funky slogans "I Recycle My Tantrums" and "I only eat organic chips".

Another reason to pop into the shop is to see Douglas Findlay's watercolours.  Douglas, a regular customer and member of Musselburgh Art Club, kindly donated five paintings to the Small World and prices are in the region of £10-£20.

Earlier this week, we were delighted to learn that we had been successful in receiving a grant of £150 from Fairtrade East Lothian.  We will be using this award to trial a new honesty box scheme (more about which later) and to cover the cost of attending events, hold sampling days and other outreach throughout the county.

It's a busy time in the shop with many of our regular customers starting to hold church fairs again after the winter break.  Happily, we are receiving lots of enquiries from new customers planning events for Fairtrade Fortnight.  We are also preparing for the new Spring/Summer season and on Saturday 26th February are having a one day only sale when  there will be a whopping 20% of all crafts.  We will be open from 10-1 that day.

During Fairtrade Fortnight we will be hosting several events. 

We are very excited to be part of the first ever  World Book Night on Saturday 5th March when one million books are being distributed free in the world's largest ever book giveaway.  We will be giving away 48 copies of David Mitchell's 'Cloud Atlas'.  Come and join us from 7p.m. for a glass of wine.

On Tuesday 8th March, Ken Mkangala, a macadamia nut producer from Malawi, is going to launch our new service - the Fairtrade Honesty Box Scheme - in Prestonpans Library.  

Honesty Boxes have been popular in large workplaces for a long time.  Mostly they consist of rather unhealthy snacks and decidedly non-fairly traded chocolate.  We know that loads of people love our Fairtrade stock but can't always get to the shop in our opening hours.   We have decided to trial a Fairtrade honesty box scheme in Prestonpans.  The boxes with contain approximately £25-worth of stock and customers can leave money for their purchases in the box. The host organisation (usually within a public building) can choose from "Best Sellers", "Sweet Treats" or "Gift" ranges.

Our final FTF event is our Open Day on Saturday 12th March from 10-1.  There will be a chance to sample some free Fairtrade food and take a look at crafts from the new range.

Finally, would you like to see "Welcome to Prestonpans - Fairtrade Town" signs? It really could happen!  Please get in touch if you would like to join a steering group aimed at securing Fairtrade Town status for Prestonpans.

Fairtrade Events throughout East Lothian

26 Feb

10-1 - 20% off all craft, Small World Shop

Sat 5 Mar

7 p.m.-World Book Night event, Small World Shop

Tue 8 Mar

time to be confirmed- Launch of honesty box scheme, Prestonpans Library.

Wed 9 Mar

Fair Trade Conference, QMU. To register a free place please contact Nicola at the Scottish Fairtrade Forum (nicola.jamieson@sftf.org.uk)

Fri 11 Mar

10-12 Fairtrade Coffee Morning, ReMade, 147 North High Street Musselburgh in collaboration with the Green Gift Company

Sat 12 Mar

10-1 Open Day, Small World Shop, Prestonpans; 

10-5 Supplier Day, Earth Matters, North Berwick

Unilever response on Sourcing of Cocoa from Cote D'Ivoire

(I guess that means we won't be stocking Magnums until 2020 at the earliest.....)

Hello from Unilever,

Thank you for contacting us to request that Unilever cease purchasing cocoa from the Ivory Coast.

While we fully understand your concern the situation is a complicated one. Taking this kind of action is not as straightforward as it may seem and may have a number of unintended consequences.

Unilever does not source cocoa beans directly from Ivory Coast. Indeed, we buy less than 1% of the global production of cocoa beans and are therefore a relatively small player in purchasing terms.

We do, however, buy some cocoa-based ingredients (e.g. cocoa powder, chocolate, etc) from large, third-party suppliers and it is impossible today to determine the origin of all the beans used in the ingredients we buy. This is because our suppliers source from many different countries and supply us based on how we want the ingredients to taste rather than where the beans come from.

In addition, a boycott of cocoa from Cote d'Ivoire would potentially have serious ramifications for large numbers of smallholder farmers who are dependent on it for their primary income for themselves and their families.

Cocoa production involves around 4 million small farmers globally, with a further 45 million people dependent on cocoa for their livelihoods. It is these farmers whom we are intent on helping. Under our Sustainable Living Plan (which we launched in November 2010), we are committed to sourcing 100% certified sustainable cocoa by 2020 to ensure that in the future our supply chains will be fully traceable.

This means we will be working with our suppliers and other partners to identify ways of engaging with smallholders to make sure that they can increase their output in an economic, socially and environmentally sustainable way.

Finally it is worth emphasising that Unilever does not support or endorse individual political parties. Our mission is to improve the lives of billions of people everywhere with products that address their needs for basic hygiene and good nutrition.

Yours sincerely,

External Affairs Department

Unilever PLC
Registered in London number 41424
www.unilever.com

Remember folks, the only way to be sure no-one has been exploited is to buy products with the Fairtrade logo.