Getting together over a cuppa is one of life's little pleasures. What makes it even better, is the knowledge that cup of tea, coffee or hot chocolate was grown and traded in a fair and sustainable way, one that ensured a fair deal for the people who grew and produced it. Luckily, choosing fair trade makes it easy to know just that.
It's also easy to host an Oxfam's Biggest Coffee Break, the biggest event of Fair Trade Fortnight (May 5-20). Sign up as a host at oxfamcoffeebreak.org.nz, and Oxfam will provide the Fairtrade Certified goods, including Caffe L'affare coffee, Kokako drinking chocolate, Scarborough Fair tea and Whittaker's chocolate, as well as a bunch of catchy materials including a DVD about the impact of fair trade. You provide the place to host your Coffee Break on any day during Fair Trade Fortnight - whether at home, work, school or in a community space - and enjoy the goods with your guests and fundraise to change lives.
Fair trade guarantees stable prices, sustainable farming methods, and empowered communities, as well as ensuring a portion of proceeds is invested back into the growers' communities in projects for education, health care and business improvements. Fair trade is just one aspect of a wider conversation Oxfam is engaged in around the value and meaning of fairness across different contexts. Fairness is a powerful Kiwi value and Coffee Breaks are an opportune time to take a breather, enjoy a cuppa and talk about what fairness means to you and your guests. These kinds of conversations can help us strengthen the connections between how we, as Kiwis, cherish fairness and have the opportunity to offer people in developing countries a fair go too.
Sign up now to take part in Oxfam's Biggest Coffee Break and join with tens of thousands of Kiwis celebrating fair choices that make a big difference.
For more inspiration, go to:
www.oxfamcoffeebreak.org.nz
or call 0800 400 666
