A fair day for fair trade

BY ELYSE AMEND

elyse.amend@transcontinental.ca

You may have noticed it while standing in line for your morning coffee or passing that special section at the grocery store: more and more, fair trade products are popping up on store shelves. With World Fair Trade Day taking place this Saturday, Dix Mille Villages in the Pointe Claire Village is holding a special fair to raise awareness about this social movement.

“We decided to go for the whole shebang this year,” said Steven Roy Cullen, Dix Mille Villages weekend manager and event organizer. A number of organizations, like Santropol, Cocoa Camino, Equicosta, Equita, Maison Co-op Verte, and others, will set up kiosks in Edouard-Paiement Park (across the street from Dix Mille Villages, 290 Lakeshore Rd.), There will also be a cooking competition, sculptures, live music, and a magic show at 12:30 p.m.

“The point is to teach people about fair trade, because no matter how much you talk about it, there will always be someone who doesn’t know about it,” Roy Cullen said, adding there will be a focus on the environmental benefits of fair trade. The movement promotes the payment of fair prices to producers and high social and environmental standards. Fair trade’s goal is to help marginalized producers and workers throughout the world empower themselves and become economically self-sufficient and become stakeholders in their own organizations. The Dix Mille Villages store in Pointe Claire carries fair trade products from more than 30 countries around the world.

Kirkland resident Katia De Marco started volunteering with the store about two years ago and said she is really looking forward to this Saturday’s event.

“In the store, you can talk to customers about what’s going on, but this event is really about raising awareness in the community,” she said.

Roy Cullen pointed out fair-goers will be able to learn while having fun, and maybe even picking up a few fair trade products.

“It’s really about raising awareness,” Roy Cullen said. “The more people know about it, the more it will be available.”

PULLQUOTE: The point is to teach people about fair trade, because no matter how much you talk about it, there will always be someone who doesn’t know about it. - Steven Roy Cullen