Fairtrade product search

From Fairtrade Australia New Zealand

Click on Find Fairtrade on the Fairtrade Australia New Zealand website to use a great new product search function. Type in a product type, location or simply browse the many brands of Fairtrade Certified products available. Generated by Fairly Local, you too can contribute to the database by submitting locations where you have seen Fairtrade Certified products - read more here on how to contribute.

Sustainable Food Fundraiser

Strictly Hypothetical: City Farm Sustainable Food Fundraiser

In the spirit of Geoffrey Robertson, Strictly Hypothetical is a truly different night out!

Help raise funds for City Farm's inaugural Food Film Festival in 2012, as we sink our teeth into some of today’s juiciest food issues!

Follow the adventures of an average Aussie family as they meet our live food panel. Help them decide what to do in the face of delicious dilemmas and percolated problems!


Eating for a Small Planet
Cows, Carbon, Culture and Climate Change

25 November


Darling, What’s for Dinner?
Sustainable, Seasonal, Secure and Shared

9 December


The panel will include:

• WA Young Chef of the Year, Matt Stone (Greenhouse Restaurant)

• Wholefoods trailblazer and author Jude Blereau

• Senator Rachel Siewert and Hon. Lynn MacLaren, MLC for South Metro

• Dr Felicity Newman: food culture lecturer and unashamed Jewish mother!

• Sustainability pioneers, horticulturalists and radio gardening experts Chris Ferreira and Steve Wood

• Vince Gareffa: celebrity butcher and organic meat specialist


Bookings Essential: www.strictlyhypothetical.com

Days of Change, Western Australia

Western Australia's Days of Change program was launched this month. The program works by "providing a forum in which people can make public commitments to reduce their footprint, and then supporting them in making the changes to fulfil their commitments."



This is a great way to make a first step in shifting towards a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle. However, I'd encourage you to also think beyond individual actions. As well as pledging to catch public transport or cycle more often, for example, you could also pledge to write a letter to your government representative asking for better cycle paths in your area. Individual action helps, but we also need to work to build better communities and put pressure on government.

Earth Day

Do you think of Earth Day as a time to reflect on personal choices, engage in community action and pressure world leaders to address climate change and environmental degradation? Or has Earth Day been co-opted by corporations wanting to attach their names to feel-good events without changing the status quo? Everywhere you look products are labeled as green and environmentally-friendly. Does this signify any real change or is it just a case of greenwashing, where companies use false claims about a product’s environmental impact in order to sell more stuff?

Greenpeace runs a website devoted to exposing greenwashing with the slogan ‘Clean up your act, not your image’. I share their skepticism of corporate slogans and their new-found interest in jumping on the green bandwagon. However, I also believe that consumers and activists can use corporate commitments and codes to draw attention to how products are made and the impact they have on the environment and the people who make, sell and consume them. So keep an eye out for greenwashers and in the meantime use Earth Day as a time to reflect on your personal choices, engage in community action and pressure world leaders to address climate change and environmental degradation. For more on the history of Earth Day and events, go to the Earth Day 2010 Action Center.

Image courtesy of epSos.de