To celebrate One World Week children and students from 10 Primary Schools across Kirklees came together at The fairandfunky One World Week Conference: Food for Thought to discover how we are all connected by the food we eat. Each student took part in four workshops to discover where their food comes from and explore local and global food sustainability issues.
With fairandfunky students took part in two different workshops; with Sophie, partipants went on a journey of chocolate – from bean to bar! Discovering the roles and responsibilities of all the people along the supply chain, and learning how Fairtrade can make a real difference to the lives of cocoa farmers at the beginning of the journey. Children also got to taste delicious Divine Chocolate – for some, the highlight of the day!
With Helen, participants went on a different journey – to the local co-operative supermarket! Here the students became ethical investigators, checking food labels to find out how far food had travelled and learning about lots of different logos – including the Fairtrade mark. Thank you to Central England Coop for the excellent ethical challenge sheets.
The brilliant Cliffe House stepped in at the last minute to run a ‘Seed Bomb’ workshop. Students first learnt about the importance of bees in the production of food, some students even found time to make a bee in the Autumn sunshine! Every child made their very own ‘Seed Bomb’ filled with wildflower seeds to take home and encourage bees to visit their gardens.
In the Liberation Nuts workshops students were taken on another journey of discovery, this time to Bolivia to find out about Brazil nuts! With beautiful photographs and real life stories from the farmers, children went nuts for Fairtrade.
Many of the children were fascinated to hold the Brazil nut casing and discover just how tall (and wide!) a Brazil nut tree is.
Over lunch delegates were able to sample delicious cakes and fruit kebabs from Kirklees Catering Services and the Food for Life team who are all about reconnecting people with where their food comes from.
All fairandfunky workshops empower people to take their own little steps to change the world. At the conference children learnt about their sense of place, and the impact they can have on the world around them – both in their school environment and globally. When we choose to buy and eat foods that are grown in fair and sustainable conditions, either locally or from Fairtrade farms across the world, we are choosing products that change lives.
A presentation from Conference Champions Suma Wholefoods shared this message. An award winning workers co-operative Suma work closely with small producers in the UK and overseas, promoting the Fairtrade message every step of the way.
The conference ended with each school being presented with a certificate from The Mayor of Kirklees which read: ‘Congratulations for taking your own little steps to change the world at the fairandfunky One World Week Conference: Food for Thought.’
Huge thank you to the One World Week Conference Champions Suma Wholefoods, and to Conference Partners Social Progress, Stafflex and Traidcraft.
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