Dunedin & Wellington Become New Zealand’s First Fair Trade Cities!

Dunedin and Wellington are bringing North and South together in more ways than one as they are announced as New Zealand’s first Fair Trade Cities by the Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand (FTAANZ).

The two cities are the first in the country to join the global consumer revolution campaigning for a better deal for farmers and workers in the developing world by promoting and supporting fair trade.

The applications were awarded simultaneously by FTAANZ after both cities made a substantial commitment to the promotion of fair trade and the use of Fairtrade Certified products, both at a local council level and in shops, businesses and in the community. Read the FTAANZ media release 

Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast greeted the news by saying  it is something Wellington should be very proud of with the community pulling together to achieve the required goals.

“There has been great enthusiasm and commitment by Wellingtonians to get to this point and it will further enhance the city’s international reputation. We were the first council in New Zealand to publicly declare support for the principle of fair trade and we are now the first Capital City in the Southern Hemisphere with Fair Trade City status.”  Read the Wellington City Council media release

 The Make Wellington Fair Trade initiative says:

“We congratulate the Wellington City Council for responding to the call from Wellington people to make Wellington Fair Trade,” says Marion Wood from the Make Wellington Fair Trade initiative. “As more and more Wellington businesses and cafes have been taking up the Fair Trade approach to buying their products for sale, so Wellingtonians have been eager to support them.” Read our more in our media statement

Victoria Student Union goes fair trade!

Victoria University students association is supporting campus group Just Action, who are pushing to have Vic Uni declared a Fair Trade University. Students might not have much spare cash to spend but they are still prepared to pay a few cents more for a cup of coffee if it means a fairer deal for the coffee farmers.

Now it’s up to the University Council to join in the move to Make Wellington Fair Trade!

Wellington City Council votes to become Fair Trade City!

Last evening Wellington City Council voted unanimously to commit the Council to achieving the required goals for becoming a Fair Trade City!

This is great news and means that the all the criteria for becoming a Fair Trade City are fulfilled. A big thank you to all Wellington people who have supported us in getting this far – those who signed our e-petition, those who have signed up their workplaces, schools and faith communities, the retailers and wholesalers who are stocking fair trade products and for the steering group members and supporters of the initiative who have worked hard on this.

There is still more work to do – Wellington has many more opportunities to get into fair trade and we still have to ensure that Wellington actually does meet all the goals, but the full support of Mayor Kerry Prendergast and the whole Council will make this easier.

Thank you Kerry! Thanks also to Councillor Celia Wade Brown who has helped keep this on the Council agenda. 

Wellington is going Fair Trade – read the WCC media release here

Petition presented!

A dynamic group of Wellington Fairtrade businesses joined in supporting the presentation of our Make Wellington Fair Trade e-petition to Wellington City Council at its Strategy and Policy Committee meeting last week. Gosia Piatek from Kowtow, Laurie Foon from Starfish, Stephanie Fry of Celcuis Coffee and Marion Wood of Commonsense Organics joined Paul Barber from Trade Aid Wellington in presenting the 1185 signatures in support of our initiative. Councillor Ian McKinnon received the petition and the motion to receive the petition was passed unanimously!

More work needs to be done!

Receiving the e-petition does not mean that Wellington City Council has agreed  to become a Fair Trade City but it means that they are aware of the level of support and we took the opportunity to brief the Council on close we are to fulfilling the requirements to be fairtrade. This is part of what we told them… 

There are five steps to becoming a Fair Trade City:

 1. Council passes a resolution that states the council’s support for fair trade and commits the council to serve fair trade tea and coffee at meetings, offices and canteens

? Not yet achieved – but we are getting closer to this goal.

2. Fair Trade products are widely available in the region

      √    Achieved:  Fair Trade Products are already widely available in the region. There are over one hundred retail outlets (shops, cafes, restaurants, supermarkets) in the region. We are working hard to compile a complete and up to date list.

3. Fair Trade products are used widely in workplaces, schools, and community groups.

     √     Achieved:        Fair Trade products are already widely used and Make Wellington Fair Trade initiative is working with those groups to sign them up as fair trade communities. More than 50 workplaces and faith communities have signed up as fair trade, committing to using and promoting fair trade products. We know of more businesses, faith communities and schools that use fair trade products and we are working to sign them up.

 4. Media coverage of the city’s decision to support fair trade and to raise awareness.

    √  Achieved:        Wellington media are very interested in supporting the fair trade campaign and see this as a great “good news” story for the city.

5. Local steering group set up to monitor and support progress towards the goals

          √  Achieved:     There is already a small steering group of representatives from the business and the community that is working voluntarily to support and monitor progress towards becoming a fair trade city.

1185 Thank you’s!!

Thanks to all the 1185 people who signed our e-petition in support of our call for Wellington to be declared NZ’s first fair trade city. The petition is now closed but you can continue to support our campaign to Make Wellington Fair Trade.

What next? Well, watch this space as we prepare to present the petition and continue to work to see more and more Wellington people going fair trade.

Nearly there: nearly FAIR!

Wellington’s quest to become a Fair Trade City and join other cities around the world like London, Rome and San Francisco is gathering momentum. Now with over 1000 signatures on the e-petition, hundreds of cars sporting Make Wellington Fair bumper stickers and growing business commitment we need your help.

Before August 7th Wellingtonians need to make time to demonstrate what it is that sets them apart from the rest of the country: that they are leading the way in New Zealand  in a global movement that guarantees a fair price for farmers in the developing world who produce some of our favourite products. 

We need Wellingtonians to show their support by signing the e-petition, going in to any café serving Fairtrade Certified coffee or the Trade Aid shop to grab a bumper sticker to slap on their car, use Fairtrade Certified products at their workplace, school, church, club or community group and register this with the Fair Trade Association (www.fairtrade.org.nz).  Read More

Stevie Starr Video Release Party

Stevie Starr has kindly invited the Fair Trade Wellington group to his release party.

We’ll have a stall and we’ll be ready to talk about the campaign, so see you there.

Tuesday 28th of July

18:30 to 21:00

At Rex Royale on Cuba St (Stockists of Kowtow Fair Trade Organic clothing

You can RSVP on facebook and also find out more about Stevie Starr.

We’ll post some photos on Flickr for you to check out after the event too

Have you seen this flyer?

Have you seen our shop window stickers, bumper stickers or flyers?

If so, tell us, and we’ll spread the word that businesses in Wellington support our campaign!

Do you want some flyers or stickers? Then get in contact or visit the Trade Aid Wellington shop.

Check out the Flickr stream (on the left) as we post photos of the awesome shops who display our stickers.

1000 signatures!

Good work Wellington! Not that we’re going to stop with 1000 though..

Tell your friends and family to Sign the petition

More than coffee…

We all know that you can find a pretty decent cup of Fair Trade Coffee in Wellington. Fair Trade, however, covers many more commodities and products than coffee. We want to know what other Fair Trade products you like to buy.

Perhaps  you have a Fair Trade and Organic T-shirt from Kowtow, or covet Veja Fair Trade sneakers from Starfish, purchased a beautiful pair of earings from Trade Aid , or like to cook with something delicious from Commonsense Organics who stock the largest range of Fair Trade food products in New Zealand.

Please, leave a comment and inspire others to check out Fair Trade.