Animals Australia: the voice for animals

Animals Australia: the voice for animals
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Friday, October 29, 2010

Fair Trade is getting fairer: Tim Tams are moving it ahead.

Arnott’s ensure Tim Tams are free from child labour October 29, 2010 
Josette Dunn 

World Vision Australia today welcomed Arnott’s announcement that it will source ethical cocoa that has not been made with the use of child labour for all of its chocolate-based products, including the iconic Tim Tam biscuit.

In response to a public campaign by World Vision earlier this year, Arnott’s said on 30 March that it was “committed to playing its part by sourcing sustainable cocoa that avoids the use of child trafficking and unacceptable forms of child labour” by the “end September 2010″.

World Vision’s CEO Tim Costello met with Arnott’s last night and said he was pleased to hear the company had now committed to ensure its cocoa supply chains were free from child labour.

Arnott’s sources 24 percent of its cocoa from Ghana in West Africa where there is widespread use of child labour in the cocoa industry. As CEO of World Vision I have visited the cocoa fields in West Africa where kids use dangerous machetes and pesticides, work long hours and often don’t go to school, he said. World Vision understands that Arnott’s has signed an agreement to source its West African cocoa until 2012 through Fairtrade’s independent certification scheme. We are very pleased with Arnott’s commitment to source ethical cocoa. The lack of a fair and stable price for cocoa farmers is a root cause of the exploitative labour problem. Farmers typically receive only a very small proportion of the final retail price for their cocoa, which means they are forced to produce it below the fair cost of production. It’s these conditions that often lead farmers to use child labour. By sourcing its cocoa through the Fairtrade certification system, Arnott’s is helping farmers get a fair price for their cocoa. It will also protect Arnott’s supply chain from exploitative labour practices.

The US Department of State’s June 2010 Trafficking in Persons report said a majority of modern slaves were in agriculture and mining and that forced labour was prevalent in many products including chocolate.

The report also said reputable companies could profit from abuse when they did not protect their supply chain from modern slavery. World Vision Australia’s Don’t Trade Lives campaign is calling on the global chocolate industry to guarantee farmers a fair price for their cocoa and to eliminate all exploited labour from cocoa production by 2018. “If you want to enjoy your chocolate guilt-free, join World Vision’s Don’t Trade Lives campaign or contact chocolate manufacturers and ask them to commit to buying cocoa that is independently and ethically certified,” Mr Costello said.

Cadbury and Green and Black’s recently agreed to clean up their cocoa supply chains. The Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate block is now Fairtrade certified and 90 percent of Green and Blacks product's will be Fairtrade certified by the end of 2010.


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Saturday, October 23, 2010

Alice Waters and Australian women foodies - ancient and modern


I have just come across here a marvellous article by Tom Philpott acknowledging women's role in the sustainable food movement.  He mentions Alice Waters, she of great fame and pictured above, along with other influential women.

This set me to thinking of great female Australian foodies and I offer up a small but not all selection.  Tucker Lovers may forward their own contributions and favourites. Perhaps not all are as politically astute and culturally sensitive as Alice and the younger ones are yet to fully develop for us to assess their mark on the nation's culinary tastes and knowledge.  But here goes....


The first is the woman to whom this blog is dedicated, Amy Schauer.  One can find references to and recipes from Miss Schauer in this blog here.  And then there is a wonderful mixture ...

From top left clockwise:

The one who is impacting me most at this point in time is Poh. Poh is a multi-talented bright spark.  What really endears her to me is her love (and that of her aunties) for Nonya food.  I have found Nonya food little known among Australians.  However, long ago in the last part of the 20th century, I was living in the Northern Territory.  A couple of times a year, I used to go to Darwin and the place I stayed at on Daly Street had a restaurant named Victoria's (is it still there??) which specialised in Nonya food.  I loved it. Clay pots, spicy, different.  The meals at Victoria's were the highlight of the trip and live long in the memory - and Poh helps me to relive the memory of that food.

 


The New Mrs. Lee's Cookbook: Nonya Cuisine

Nonya Favourites (Periplus Mini Cookbook)

The Schauer Australian Cookery Book

Stephanie Alexander's Kitchen Garden Companion
 
The Cook's Companion: The Complete Book of Ingredients and Recipes for the Australian Kitchen 
 
Kitchen Garden Cooking for Kids 
 
The Margaret Fulton Cookbook 
 
Margaret Fulton's Encyclopedia of Food & Cookery: The Complete Kitchen Companion from A to Z 
 
 
 
 Maggie's Harvest 
 
Maggie's Table 
 
Simple Chinese Cooking 
 
My China: A Feast for All the Senses 
 
Kylie Kwong: Recipes and Stories 



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