Fairtrade Fortnight in Keighley

FairTrade fortnight is in full swing. Sarah and Matthew are out now as I speak with the Bradford FairTrade camper van, giving out quizzes and free samples. Matthew was having fun, but has only got the idea of handing out the teabags- not letting people take them!

They will be out again in the Keighley area on Tuesday, at Silsden co-op in the morning, and Sainsburys in the afternoon.

Fairtrade Fortnight

Just a quick nudge. Fairtrade fortnight starts today. As well as being able to buy from fairtrade shops both online and physical, you will be able to get some products alongside your regular groceries at your local supermarket.

Co-op fairtrade wine is particularly good, as is their policy of sourcing only Fairtrade coffee and chocolate for their own brand.

Keep a look out when you are shopping, because last year many supermarkets trialed several new fairtrade lines at discount prices. Not only are these new lines a fair deal for both producer and consumer, seeing these lines snapped up will encourage more responsible buying by those who have power to make as much of a difference as the great British buying public.

Acting responsibly

I received an email through one of the local Freecycle list

Yuu might be interested in this website, which is
offering to organise us all together in order to increase our power when
buying petrol!
_http://www.pipelinecard.org/_

I disagree fundamentally with the central premise of this site that all motorists need to use their cars. Some people because of where they live and the jobs they do need to yes. Most people do not. Most people could get by with a small amount of inconvenience without a car. The public transport system hasn’t completely fallen to pieces, and many journeys are of less than a mile which can be walked easily. With a little bit of planning most of us could get around “needing” a car. Just that most of us simply don’t want to. I don’t claim to be any kind of saint myself, I just accept that I use my car because I want to, not because I need to.

The problem with people complaining about high fuel prices is that we want a high quality and convenient lifestyle. Many people are, however, reluctant to accept the cost of that lifestyle and that much of the things we do are luxuries, not necessities.

We’re here again. The slightest inkling fuel prices have to rise and we get fuel protests. Except we don’t. Petrol prices have gone down in real terms so a rise of a penny for the first time in years is not that significant, hey even with the new rise prices are still going down in real terms.

Or maybe todays squib is because the protesters have fatally overestimated their poteential support: with no evidence of a hike at the pump the sort of people who join fuel protests won’t notice that there’s anything to protest about.

I’ve always been a Lib Dem deep down. But the fuel protests of 2000 were the catalyst for me finally getting off my bum and joining. Because they weren’t being opportunistic yobs, needlesly tough, but having somthing sensible to say. And I could see if sensible people like me didn’t make an effort to make the sensible view heard in politics, yobs like the fuel protesters would.