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Thread: Being a Fairtrade British vegan

  1. #1

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    Unhappy Being a Fairtrade British vegan

    Hi guys, I don't know how much this concerns other countries, but I believe it is quite relevant to us.

    I'm at university and I am a member of P&P, which is a student organisation set up to tackle important issues. One issue which I was not aware of until recently was the lack of fairtrade vegan produce, according to this article;

    http://blog.peopleandplanet.org/?p=46

    Fairtrade produce is coming our way, but it still will not be mainstream for a good while yet.

    Call me stupid, but I did'nt realise until now that a lot of beans, chickpeas etc. cannot be grown in this country.

    It seems like we just cannot win. Beans and pulses are essential for our diet and we can only get them by exploiting other people.

    Any thoughts?

  2. #2
    baffled harpy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Being a Fairtrade British vegan

    Glad to hear they are introducing fair trade labelling for pulses etc. I agree it's a shame that we don't have them already but fair trade is a relatively new concept

    http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/what_is_...e/history.aspx

    To look on the bright side, at least fair trade tea, coffee, chocolate and (some) fruits are relatively easy to get now. Clothes too, to a more limited extent.

  3. #3
    fortified twinkle's Avatar
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    Default Re: Being a Fairtrade British vegan

    Quote Rebbecca View Post
    .... Beans and pulses are essential for our diet and we can only get them by exploiting other people.
    ...
    1) Some beans can be grown in this climate (and indeed, grow pretty well).

    2) I'm not sure which organic standards this applies to, but I know the Soil Association have guidelines on non-exploitation so if you buy organic foods with their stamp on, they will have met a certain level of human and animal welfare standards. Whether they are up to your standards is up to you to determine - link

    (ETA - although having read this more closely, it seems the Soil Association have a seperate part of the label for if the labour has been checked as well, so unless it says "ethical" or some such underneath it's just the lack of pesticides, animal abuse, etc. that the label ensures. How odd! Worth checking other organic standards though, maybe?)

    3) There are other sources of protein, fiber and anything else you can get from beans and pulses.
    "If you don't have a song to sing you're okay, you know how to get along humming" Waltz (better than fine) - Fiona Apple

  4. #4
    baffled harpy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Being a Fairtrade British vegan

    Good points, twinkle. Soil Association certified lentils etc are often fairly easy to find now, too.

  5. #5
    told me to Mr Flibble's Avatar
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    Default Re: Being a Fairtrade British vegan

    You can grow soya in europe - for instance half of the soya in taifun products are grown in germany. The rest they buy directly from individual farms that they visit in Brazil once a year.

    Windmill Organics (Biona, Amisa + several other brands) claim 100% traceability of all ingredients from 'ethical' sources.

    Quote twinkle
    2) I'm not sure which organic standards this applies to, but I know the Soil Association have guidelines on non-exploitation so if you buy organic foods with their stamp on, they will have met a certain level of human and animal welfare standards. Whether they are up to your standards is up to you to determine - link
    That links says:

    Quote twinkle
    When a product, including its production and processing chain, becomes certified to our ethical trade standards, in addition to the normal organic standards, it can carry our ethical trade organic symbol.
    which I don't remember seeing on any packaging.
    "Mr Flibble - forum corruptor of innocents!!" - Hemlock

  6. #6
    fortified twinkle's Avatar
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    Default Re: Being a Fairtrade British vegan

    Quote Mr Flibble View Post


    That links says:

    [Soil Association Ethical Trade]

    which I don't remember seeing on any packaging.
    You're right Very peculiar. I've edited my first post.

    I definitely remember reading something about an organic certification board having labour standards so either it was a different one, or the SA have changed their policy. (or I was reading what I wanted to see )
    "If you don't have a song to sing you're okay, you know how to get along humming" Waltz (better than fine) - Fiona Apple

  7. #7
    cxmnz
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    Default Re: Being a Fairtrade British vegan

    The way I see it, buying fair trade is down to more than just the product itself, and the direct route from the suppliers. I would consider anything from a supermarket such as Tesco or Asda and the like is not fairly traded, even if the product itself is certified as such.

  8. #8

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    Default Re: Being a Fairtrade British vegan

    I would like to think that being a supermarket doesn't NECESSARILY mean you don't trade fairly, however, I also have my reservations. I have been reading more and more about the legitimacy of Fairtrade labelling, or lack of rather.

    Unfortunately I do not have the time to research the subject and travel to Peru to see the conditions on the coffee plantations so have to put faith in my local wholefood shop and the fact that they might!!

    Bummer.

  9. #9

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    Default Re: Being a Fairtrade British vegan

    I hope that gradually fairtrade items will become more and more available. Sometimes I worry if the items are actually traded fairly, but at the end of the day you just have to do what you can. As choptveg says, we cannot actually check the conditions for ourselves, so we just have to trust in the labelling.
    Mother to five vegan children
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  10. #10

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    Default Re: Being a Fairtrade British vegan

    I try to buy fairtrade whenever i can but sometimes i find things aren't always available, then i have a dilemma. for example i eat rice at least five days a week. if sainsbury's don't have fairtrade rice what do i do? buy rice grown in spain... go without... come back another day... eat a potato?? i can't cope!

    and sometimes there's a bit of a conflict. i like chocolate. oh i do. i especially like vegan chocolate. but when its not labelled fairtrade and its sat on the shelf next to something labelled fairtrade but has milk in - what to do?? i normally go for the vegan but i have the nagging suspician that means i'm putting animal welfare above human welfare...

    i could go waffling on

    but really you just can't do right for doing wrong

  11. #11
    fortified twinkle's Avatar
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    Default Re: Being a Fairtrade British vegan

    Quote Agatha View Post
    ... i like chocolate. oh i do. i especially like vegan chocolate. but when its not labelled fairtrade and its sat on the shelf next to something labelled fairtrade but has milk in - what to do?? ...
    Can't you just go to a different shop that has chocolate that is vegan and fairtrade? It's not *that* difficult to find, and it's not like it's a life-saving necessity (usually )
    "If you don't have a song to sing you're okay, you know how to get along humming" Waltz (better than fine) - Fiona Apple

  12. #12

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    Default Re: Being a Fairtrade British vegan

    I know where you're coming from Agatha but I think Twinkle has a point, there is vegan fairtrade chocolate available fairly readily. If you don't have it stocked locally perhaps mailorder it online. Concsious Chocolate's good as is The Raw Chocolate Company.

    However, exactly how fairly traded is it? I guess we just have to faith

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