a fairly traded sermon

Date: 27 February 2012 03:14:04

Forty blogs of Lent

5

Fairtrade fortnight starts today. To emphasise this we did not have a sermon in church yesterday. Instead we had a talk on Fairtrade which included a tasting test (for some) of Fairtrade bananas, chocolate and orange juice. In a blind tasting the Fairtrade products won in each category. There was also a stall at the back of the church where Fairtade goods The Bible shows a God who cares deeply for the poor, the alien, the widdowed and the orphaned. One way we can help some of the poorest people in the world is to buy Fairtrade and to encourage the places where we do our shopping to stock fairly. It isn't going to solve the problems of poverty in the world, but it will help some, so it is a step in the right direction. My own personal misgiving is that we are only plugging products which have been certified by the Fairtrade association. There are other marks. One of them, the Soil Association mark equals that of the Fairtrade foundation in many respects, and in some areas is the higher standard. But whatever standard we choose, let us support the poor by buying fairly traded goods.