What is the New Forest Food Challenge?

The New Forest Food Challenge is a community based project run by New Forest Transition that is getting people thinking about the food they eat and where it comes from. We want everyone to be more aware of the impact of what they eat, environmentally, economically and health-wise.

Mainly through our interactive web site we have helped develop a number of initiatives from local food markets to community garden schemes. We have organised and attended many events throughout the New Forest including Seed Swaps, a Local Food Summit, School projects, Food Demonstrations and Green Fairs.

We believe it is especially important to involve young people and to teach them about the creative solutions that exist to help us all out of the difficulties we are facing. By being positive we can change direction. The project has been successful in helping to develop networks and bringing communities across the Forest closer together but there is much to be done.

What are we trying to do?

We want to reach out to a wider audience through the medium of drama and challenge more people to think about, and act on, the vital issue of sustainable food production and consumption.

Dear All,

WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT! As part of the Big Design Challenge Cornwall, the Market House Challenge is through to the last stage. We have to submit our written report by 18th March but before then, there is a public vote on the last five proposals. Please use this link to register your vote for us. More details about the project are on this page.
 
Click on the “Support this” button to vote – Thank you. If you can forward this to friends and colleagues, please do.

http://www.bigdesignchallenge.co.uk/challenge/131-how-can-we-make-the-market-house-in-st-austell-into-a-vibrant-community-space-which-is-viable-for-the-long-term

Thank you, Charlie x

Leap-design for change is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

So it seemed like a good idea over a glass of wine. There we were, Paul Hayman (managing director of MA Assist) and me, having a glass of wine after a successful meeting with an MA Assist client. “I have always wanted to do something useful for a good cause” said Paul, “I want to make a difference, not just hand over cash”. “Why not go to Georgia and renovate the school in Tlugi” I said. “With your trades network and client base it should be easy to raise the money and organise it”. Sounded simple at the time!

How did I end up persuading the MD of a repairs network to do this? Well, it’s quite simple – I am his part-time “Finance Director”; I oversee the finances of his company MA Assist, an insurance repairs specialist with network of tradesmen all over the country and some very large insurance clients. Paul Hayman is an old friend and we worked together many years ago before I had children. Following his management buyout at the start of 2009 he called me asking for help with his finances, and in a weak moment I agreed. So now I have 2 small children, a part time finance job and I run my own business, Fairwind – who needs sleep anyway?

So when I started talking to Paul about the Fair Treesâ project Paul was very interested. He had been looking for something he could support through his business and this seemed perfect. And I have bored him so often about the issues surrounding the Christmas tree industry and my campaign to change things in the UK, that maybe he had a weak moment too and agreed to support it. Who knows! But here we are, planning and organising a DIY SOS style trip to Georgia where we will have a week to completely renovate a school for 600 children in a remote and deprived part of Georgia, called Ambrolauri.

It sounds simple, but it will be quite a challenge. Not only do we need to raise at least £10,000 to fund the project, but we need to get the right materials and labour to Tlugi, right up in the mountains of Ambrolauri. And we need to get it all there at the right time and get the job done before the return flights home. This is going to require some careful planning.

Paul is going to Tlugi towards the end of March to survey the job. He will be working with the school director to agree what works are to be done and then doing a lightening fast survey to work out what is needed. He will only be in the country for about 48 hours and it takes 5 hours to get to Tlugi from the airport in Tblisi. So no pressure then!

Once he gets back we will have a good idea of how many people we will need. We will then have to start persuading some tradesmen to give up a week of their time to come to Georgia in September. We will try to use local labour and materials wherever possible, to make sure that the improvements can be maintained in the future and to provide some income for locals. But the bulk of the labour and materials will need to come from the UK, and the shipping and flights will be the most expensive parts of the project.

MA Assist is donating £1 for every insurance claim with value received from its clients – a very generous donation indeed. But we will need donations from MA Assist’s clients and suppliers and some fundraising by staff to get all of the funds we need. So we are starting to appeal to MA Assist’s insurance clients and their corporate social responsibility departments, while fair trade is at the front of people’s minds during Fair Trade Fortnight.

And the final big challenge is to get some media coverage of this renovation to help raise the awareness amongst consumers and the Christmas tree industry about the issues in Georgia. Every September the locals in Ambrolauri climb 30 metre high trees to collect cones from which the seeds are extracted for growing Nordmann Fir Christmas trees in Europe. The Nordmann Fir is now the most popular Christmas tree in Europe, with 5 million sold in the UK alone. But every year cone pickers in Georgia get injured, or even die, collecting the cones. Until now they have had no safety equipment, no health insurance and have been paid a pittance. Fair Treesâ is changing all of that by paying its cone pickers fairly, giving them modern safety equipment and training and by providing health insurance. Fair Treesâ grows the only fair trade Christmas trees in the world, with accreditation from the World Fair Trade Organisation (WFTO).

Through the Bols Xmas Tree Fund, a Georgian based charity, Fair Treesâ is investing in the community in Ambrolauri using a percentage of the proceeds from the sale of Fair Treesâ and Fair Seedsâ. For more information about the Fund you can go to http://www.bolsxmastreefund.com/index-en.php

So this is Part 1 of the great Fair Treesâ school renovation story and I will keep you updated on developments as they take place. This is going to be mad, fun and hopefully incredibly rewarding.

If you would like to know more, or are interested in supporting Fair Treesâ or the school renovation, then please get in touch – info@fairwindonline.com.

Teresa Owen, Fairwind

Fairwind is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

A recent Today programme on Radio 4 (13th January) highlighted a piece of research promoted by Jonah Lehrer within Wired magazine that claimed that it is easier to remember information that is difficult to read than it is to remember information that is easy to read. In other words non fluid fonts such as Comic Sans were better in terms of information retention than the likes of Helvetica. The idea is that the brain works harder to decipher what’s going on and thus retains more of the content. Dr Lehrer claimed that the new research went against the history of typography which was to create clearer fonts.

There are three reasons why this information is interesting at a brand level

Read more here >

epitype is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

The almost deafening buzz around social media has become so inescapable it feels we’ll be left with a ringing in our ears well into the new decade. And it seems that many brands have enthusiastically discovered this low-cost way of gaining exposure and perpetuating their brand image. However, I’m left wondering how much thought is given to the tone of voice, before hitting return and sending another tweet or status into the ever-rising ocean of information.

Read more

epitype is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

As the first Christmas tree grower on a global scale, Bols Forstplanteskole has succeeded in achieving membership in the worldwide World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO).

Although most people have removed the Christmas tree decorations and scrapped the tree by now, Christmas is not over yet in Central Jutland. Bols Forstplanteskole has just achieved a much-coveted membership in the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO). The achieved membership is a result of the nursery’s long-term focus on improved working conditions and sustainable production of Christmas trees.

“Under the concept of Fair Trees®, we’ve worked hard for many years to improve working and security conditions among the poor Georgian cone pickers, who collect seeds for the European Christmas tree production under perilous conditions,” says Marianne Bols, proprietor of Bols Forstplanteskole.

So far, Fair Trees has been authorised through Fair Trade Denmark, of which Fair Trees is however still a member. Nevertheless, Marianne Bols makes it abundantly clear that the newly-achieved membership, which has been in the pipeline for two years, is a seal of approval that opens the way to future development. This membership is the fi rst of its kind in the Christmas tree business on a global scale.

“There is no doubt that it is of great importance to us to be endorsed by the world’s oldest Fair Trade organisation. It is a well-known logo around the world, and a logo that opens up new export opportunities,” says Marianne Bols, who adds:

“But first and foremost the membership emphasises the importance of the fact that we will continue our work in Georgia and intensify our demands in order to ensure ongoing sustainable Christmas tree production.”

FACTS: Christmas Tree Production and Fair Trees®
More than 80% of the Christmas trees sold in Europe are based on seeds from Ambrolauri-Tlugi provenance in Georgia. Today, Fair Trees has 25 percent of the harvest rights in Tlugi, corresponding to sixteen tons of seeds.

Fair Trees is a concept developed under Fair Trade Denmark, ensuring sustainable production and decent standards of wages and terms of employment. Fair Trees makes use of third-part auditing to inspect working conditions and the gathering and production of cones. Today, Fair Trees is a member of WFTO.

Fairwind is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

We are still in the midst of yet another harsh cold winter. This is now the third consecutive winter with large snowfall, plummeting temperatures and regular frost and ice.

Everyone was talking about the impact on bird numbers after last year’s hard winter, when a freezing spell of weather between January and February resulted in the fifth coldest winter in 100 years. The RSPB stated that the wren in particular struggled with breeding couples down 11 per cent. That’s a loss of 700,000 pairs! With snow covering the ground where the wren likes to forage, food was difficult to find for one of our smallest garden visitors.

Which brings us back to this winter, when snow started falling as early as November and with at least 2 ½ months of potential baltic weather to come, what will the records show once the snow has finally finished falling and spring eventually arrives? How many more birds will suffer a drop in numbers?

Unlike other animals, birds don’t hibernate. Some birds migrate away from the cold weather, whilst others from even colder climates migrate to the UK. Birds need to continue to feed to ensure that their energy levels remain strong. They will shortly need to re-double their efforts once they start to enter the breeding season where nests have to be built and young broods need to be looked after and fed.

Thankfully the awareness of the British public has been alerted to these issues and nowadays all sorts of bird feeders and seed mixes are available to buy at garden centres or online. People are also happy to encourage insects and other natural foods into their garden with plants and wild areas set aside to encourage wildlife. Birds are excellent pest controllers in the garden, devouring aphids, vine weevils, mosquitoes, midges and gnats. You don’t have to spend lots of money on bird food either. Birds will happily eat household scraps of food, you would normally re-cycle or throw away. Its great to encourage birds into your garden! You never know, if you put up a nest box in your garden, they may even nest and lay eggs to provide a great spring show for you.

With so many different subjects about caring for birds during winter, we have put together a few links that should be of interest below -

Bird Links

 RSPB Advice – Feeding Household Scraps
 RSPB Advice – Building a Bird Table
 Ten Simple Steps to Help Birds In Your Garden
 The Dangers of Fat Balls! 
 How To Build A Bird Table

RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch

 Take part in the RSPB’s annual birdwatch event and help them keep track of bird populations in the UK. Watch your local garden or local park for an hour and record the highest number of each species seen at one time. The RSPB are particularly keen to find out the impact of last year’s harsh winter on bird populations and whether there is a trend occuring year on year.

 Take part in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch
 Identify Birds in Your Garden

Buy Bird Feeders

 Buy a Birdie Bistro Bird Feeder

Animal Days Out is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

This Christmas the serious ethical issues surrounding the Christmas tree industry are being brought to the attention of the public in the UK. The UK campaign is being lead by Fairwind, a leading fair trade retailer and importer and there are BBC documentaries and news items being aired on TV and radio in early December 2010. MAAssist is proud to be the first UK business, outside of the fair trade community, to financially support this campaign.

Fair Trees® – fair trade real Nordmann Fir Christmas trees

About 5 million Nordmann Fir Christmas trees are sold in the UK each year. But until now, very few people in the UK have been aware of the serious ethical issues behind buying these trees at Christmas. Although they are farmed in the UK and Denmark the seeds for Nordmann Firs are sourced from natural forests, mainly in Georgia.

Harvesting of the seeds in Georgia is carried out by hand under remarkably primitive conditions. The Georgian cone pickers climb up 30 metre high fir trees in order to reach the seeds. Until now, they have worked entirely without safety equipment and in 2004 two workers fell to their death during the harvest. Several accidents happen each year, but despite working in such dangerous conditions the cone pickers are usually paid such low wages that it is difficult for them to support their families.

A Danish Christmas tree grower called Bols Forstplanteskole is changing all of that. Bols source their own seeds from Georgia using fair trade principles, and in 2007 was awarded fair trade accreditation by Fair Trade Danmark – Bols is the only Christmas tree grower in the world with fair trade accreditation. In 2011 Bols will have full accreditation by the World Fair Trade Organisation (WFTO). Not only does Bols pay a fair wage and provide health insurance to the cone pickers but proceeds from the sale of Fair Seeds and Fair Trees® are donated to the Bols Xmas Tree Fund, a charitable fund based in Georgia.

The Bols Xmas Tree Fund aims to create awareness about and improve the terrible conditions under which the Georgian cone pickers live and work. The Fund provides the cone pickers with Danish-made safety equipment and ensures that the workers are instructed on safety. In addition, the Fund works towards creating proper conditions for workers and their families through financial support for hospitals, schools, books and health care.

MAAssist fundraising

MAAssist will set aside £1 for every claim with value received from 1^st January 2011 for the Fair Trees® project.

MAAssist will also welcome support from any insurance clients who are willing to make a donation to the Fund. In return for such a donation, the insurance client will be able to use the Fair Trees® name in any corporate social responsibility and marketing promotional material.

MAAssist staff will also be carrying out various fund raising activities in 2011.

A team of tradesmen will go to Georgia in August/September 2011 to renovate the local school in the cone picking region of Ambrolauri.

Contacts – further information

If you would like to be involved in the Fair Trees® fundraising activities for 2011, or would like more information, please contact:

Teresa Owen, Fairwind

Email: t.owen@fairwindonline.com

Tel: 0845 196 0256

 or

 Paul Hayman, MAAssist

Email: Paul.Hayman@maassist.com

Tel: 01296 678100

Fairwind

This innovative company is owned and run by Teresa Owen. Fairwind is a thriving online business that is passionate about fair trade and providing affordable, quality fair trade gifts and accessories from around the world.

In 2007, Fairwind was shortlisted for an Observer Ethical Award and is a member of the British Association for Fair Trade Shops (BAFTS) – visit www.bafts.org.uk for more information.

Fairwind sells gifts, home accessories and textiles, jewellery, children’s toys, candles and garden accessories. To see Fairwind’s full range, or for further information, visit www.fairwindonline.com or phone 0845 196 0256.

High-resolution images of all products are available and in most cases also cut-out images – they can be downloaded from http://www.fairwindonline.com/resources.asp.

MAAssist

MAAssist Limited specialises in domestic building repairs on behalf of some of the UK’s largest insurers and property related markets, using its in-house construction company MABuild Limited, supported by a nationwide network of trade professional companies, creating an established Building Repair Network (BRN) and Control Centre function for its clients.

With its niche range of products and services MAAssist has consistently helped insurers and property portfolio managers to materially reduce their claims management, claims settlement and budgeted spend and expenditure, through correct building claims validation and delivery of quality building works.

And MAAssist’s ability to settle and fulfill buildings claims, and offer customers and clients a real choice in their preferred method of claims settlement, enables them to consistently deliver a positive claims experience. For more information please go to www.magroupltd.co.uk

Bols Forstplanteskole

Established in 1989 by Marianne and Lars H. Bols, Bols Forstplanteskole has always been an innovator in the Christmas tree industry. Although both Marianne and Lars were studying at the time, they were excited by the forestry industry and by the challenges of supplying top quality products with the right provenances.

Their first business trip was to Georgia, in 1989, to buy 8 tons of Nordmann Fir seeds. As Georgia was then still part of the USSR, it was a long, tough battle to get the seeds and have them shipped to Denmark. But it was the start of a minor revolution in raising the quality of the Christmas trees coming onto the market. Marianne and Lars were moved by the generosity and warmth shown to them by the Georgian farmers: “Even though they were poor, they invited us in and many of them remain close friends. They were also one of the main reasons why we continue to collect seeds from Georgia.” Another reason for continuing to do business in Georgia, despite the many obstacles, is that the Nordmann Fir seeds obtainable there are simply the best in the world.

Apart from providing a full-spectrum catalogue of plant and trees to a broad multinational market, Bols’ more recent initiatives include organic and fair trade products: www.fairtrees.co.uk

Fairwind is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

I believe reusable supermarket green bags are like mini billboards waiting for some marketing magic.  This is an advertising opportunity staring at us queuing shoppers.

• Why Advertise Someone Else’s Brand?

This is because YOU are the retailer’s brand ambassador, and a moving one at that, wandering around their target audience and giving brand endorsement to their shop – come and visit now as this person already does!!

Retailers don’t want to lose you. They know that you save them 100s of 1000s of pounds in marketing costs.

Supermarket marketers aren’t daft, and to do their bit to save the planet, many have begun producing reusable, eco-friendly shopping bags. BUT, rather than propping up a few this is an opportunity for all businesses, from SME’s, corporate to brand managers of FMCGs, to take a bite out of this rather, hitherto, exclusive pie and promote instead your own product or service

• Create Your Own Brand Ambassadors

Every household makes at least a weekly shop or a trip to the shops (even if they do their supermarket shop online!). How often have you looked in another customers basket or trolley in the queue to see what they are buying and struck up a conversation?
A well designed woven or laminated non-woven branded bag makes an interesting talking point.   It gives you the opportunity to display your goods or services to a wide audience and captures their attention at a time when they are looking for a distraction.

• Branded ‘Bags for Life’ are ideal for Marketing Campaigns

The high quality, shopping bags also make perfect customer gifts.  Make your eco-friendly bags feature high impact images ensuring that they are always the bag of choice to take shopping. They can be simple or colourful (with full colour printing).  You can totally customise a promotional bag to suit your exact needs and bring brand identify to life.

• Go Green

A beautifully branded stylish ecobag, with your company logo or picture, says a lot about you as an individual and your company.  It says you care and are concerned about the environment.
There has been a 48% reduction against a baseline of plastic bag usage in the four years since 2006 (source: wrap.org.uk.) This trend is set to continue.

As a savvy marketer this ‘green’ hot potato is an opportunity.  A branded retail environmentally friendly bag allows a company to position itself in a positive light, as well as taking advantage of this new branding potential.

• Change the Face of the High Street Forever!

The days of seeing a sea of plastic bags will hopefully soon be long gone. Be part of a new shopping army; do your bit for the environment; while your brand is promoted at the same time!

If you’d like to use a bag for life in your next marketing campaign, please visit www.smartbags.co.uk or contact leanne@smartbags.co.uk for more information

Smart Bags is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Sunday 10^th October, 10:10:10, is a global day of positive action on climate change. From sumo wrestlers cycling to training in Japan to 10,000 schools planting trees in Croatia and Russia; from a carbon-cutting telethon on national TV in the Netherlands, to hundreds of people in the UK sitting down to low-carbon Sunday lunches, it is going to be a really inspirational day.

Children’s lifestyle brand Tatty Bumpkin has always been at the forefront of ethically sourced clothing and this year saw them become the first children’s brand in the UK to launch an entirely carbon neutral collection. It has complimented their existing range of fairtrade, organic and sustainable clothing and accessories.

Government website Actonco2.direct.gov.uk recommends easy ways to cut your fashion carbon footprint: “Look out for labels such as Organic, Öeko-tex, Fair Trade, all of which show the garment has been made in a way that minimises its impact on the environment”. In addition to being carbon neutral, Tatty Bumpkin uses SKAL certified cotton and Öecotex certified bamboo; dyes are all enzyme free making them perfect for sensitive skin.

Through a company called Piqqo, the carbon footprint for the lifespan of each of the carbon neutral garments in the Tatty Bumpkin range has been calculated and offset through carbon credits. In this case, the offsets are all in support of the Kikonda Reforestation Project in Uganda. The Reserve employs and trains local people to restore and expand forest areas through tree planting initiatives. More than 200 people have found work through the reforestation activities and their families have settled in the surrounding neighbourhood making the Kikonda Forest Reserve one of the most peaceful areas of the district.

When a customer purchases one of Tatty Bumpkin’s carbon neutral garments they will receive a tag with a unique code which, when entered onto Piqqo’s website, details the project and how the carbon credits are being used.  

Another factor in reducing one’s fashion carbon footprint is the longevity of items.  Tatty Bumpkin road-test their clothes on their own children, so you can be guaranteed that they are going to last no matter how active your little one is. “To make a tonne of clothing uses more energy than to make a tonne of steel. Yet in the UK we buy 2 million tonnes of clothes every year, and chuck more than half of that into landfill sites. Buying to last means you can splash out every now and then on well-made designs that will last longer – and you’ll be tackling climate change in the process.”

For more information on Tatty Bumpkin or their ethical credentials please contact Amy. 01732 812212 amy@tattybumpkin.com

To view the full range of Tatty Bumpkin products please visit http://www.tattybumpkinshop.com

For more information on Piqqo and the Kikonda Forestation Project please visit http://www.piqqoprojects.com

For more information on 10:10:10 please visit http://www.1010global.org/uk

Tatty Bumpkin is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more