In June, Fair Trade Vancouver’s Executive Director Jeff Geipel visited Fair Trade co-operatives in Mexicoand Guatemala. The goal was to learn more about Fair Trade and to see the benefits of it first-hand, talking to the very producers Fair Trade Vancouver is working to help. Here is his story
Since Vancouver became the first major city in Canada to achieve Fair Trade Town status, press coverage of Fair Trade has exploded in Metro Vancouver and across the country.
This past weekend at the EPIC Sustainability Consumer Show, Fair Trade Vancouver truly stole the show with our Fair Trade Pavilion. From open to close, we were jam packed with thousands of visitors learning about Fair Trade.
There were a total of 18 Fair Trade exhibitors showing off their Fair Trade products. There was Fair Trade coffee from Level Ground Trading and Cafe Etico, EcoFair and Ten Thousand Villages showed off their beautiful Fair Trade handicrafts, and there was even Fair Trade wine, provided by Winds of Change. For a full list of vendors see below.
If you weren't able to make it, you can still check out the Fair Trade Pavilion by taking our tour on YouTube! Our Special Events Coordinator Mark Abbott shows you all the excitement taking place at the Vancouver Convention Centre.
All weekend long, people had the chance to enter into exciting contests to win Fair Trade prizes. Thank you to Aeroplan, Doi Chaang, Cocoa Camino, Fibrethik and Vastu Chai for providing prizes!
Fair Trade Passport Contest
For our Fair Trade Passport contest, attendees filled out a passport with stamps from our Fair Trade mascots. To get the stamps, attendees learned about the Fair Trade product that each mascot represented.
And, the winner of 25,000 Aeroplan miles is... Crystal MacDougall!
A special thanks to Aeroplan for providing this amazing prize!
Fair Trade Colouring Contest
Here are the winners of our Fair Trade Colouring Contest! We will be putting up a slideshow shortly to showcase all the great work done by our young visitors to the Fair Trade Pavilion!
Boys 7 to 9 – Matthias
Boys 10-12 – Elias
Girls 4 to 6 – Maya
Girls 7 to 9 – Christina
Girls 10 to 12 – Emma
Fair Trade Soccer Ball Toss Contest
Here are the winners of our Fair Trade Soccer Ball Toss Contest! Kids scored points by throwing a Fair Trade soccer ball into different coloured bins.
Boys 4 to 6 –Alex
Boys 7 to 9 – Ben
Boys 10-12 – Kieran
Girls 4 to 6 – Sophie
Girls 7 to 9 – Ava
Girls 10 to 12 – Ashley
Fair Trade Lunch and Learn Business Card Draw
All weekend long people entered their business cards for the chance to win a Fair Trade Lunch and Learn Presentation with coffee for their office. The winner is Allison Bauman and her co-workers at the Tyee!
Soon Fair Trade Vancouver will present a presentation for Allison and her co-workers that will show how Fair Trade improves the lives of developing country producers.
Visible Commitment Photos
Thanks to Everyone Who Made This Happen
We would like to thank the organizers of EPIC for allowing us to put on this amazing Fair Trade Pavilion. EPIC is Western Canada's largest sustainable consumer tradeshow and eco-marketplace, and is the ideal place to tell the story of Fair Trade.
We would also like to thank all of the exhibitors who made this amazing event happen.
Finally, we would like to thank the amazing volunteers of Fair Trade Vancouver for making this dream a reality. We have heard nothing but rave reviews for all of your work!
Starting with Car-Free Day at Main Street on June 20th, Fair Trade Vancouver is going to be all over town introducing Fair Trade to Vancouverites this summer!
We'll be at music and cultural festivals, explaining why Fair Trade products are the right choice, and showing people how and where to find them. A full schedule will be posted in the coming weeks. Please do stop by and say hello!
On May 16th, Fair Trade Vancouver's executive director Jeff Geipel appeared on the Global BC Morning News. Geipel talked with Sophie Lui about Fair Trade, Vancouver's achievement of Fair Trade Town status, and the Fair Trade Pavilion about to take place at the EPIC Consumer Show, May 28th to 30th at the Vancouver Convention Centre.
May 8th Fair Trade Vancouver celebrated our Fair Trade Town award at the 10,000 Villages store on Granville Island. Raymond Louie, as well as several prominent Fair Trade activists spoke, and there was Fair Trade cake for all to enjoy. Thanks to Florimex for providing beautiful Fair Trade roses for Mother's Day, Ethical Bean for providing Fair Trade coffee, and Agro Cafe for vouchers for the only Fair Trade coffee on Granville Island!
On the morning of May 6th, Vancouver City Council voted unanimously to endorse our campaign and to commit to purchasing Fair Trade products in their offices!
This was the last step required by TransFair Canada in our Fair Trade Towns application. This award caps off over two decades of Fair Trade activism in the city. We thank the city and its citizens for their commitment to ethical and sustainable purchasing!
In the lead-up to the Fair Trade Pavilion at the EPIC Consumer Show at the end of May, Fair Trade Vancouver held regular educational Meetups on various Fair Trade products. On April 6th at SFU Harbour Centre, Randy Hooper of Discovery Organics discussed the benefits of Fair Trade fruit, and the harsh realities of the conventional produce trade. On April 16th, a crowd of 90 people attended our Fair Trade Wine Meetup at the Rhizome Cafe. Finally, on April 20th, the Fair Trade Chocolate Meetup at Radha Yoga was another huge success. In the coming months we will be putting on more educational Meetups featuring more of your favourite Fair Trade products.
Bridging the Gap, Western Canada's largest international development conference, was a huge success. Fair Trade Vancouver organized a Fair Trade Fair of local Fair Trade companies, and there was Fair Trade themed content throughout the day. Check out our Facebook Fan Page album.
Fair Trade Vancouver is working on a Workplace Guide to Fair Trade, which will explain how to convert your office to Fair Trade coffee, using local suppliers. Approximately one third of coffee is consumed at work, so this will help increase the sales of Fair Trade coffee in a substantial way. You can make a difference in this world even on your coffee break!
