St Thomas More's Primary School Campbell
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24 White Crescent
Campbell ACT 2612
Subscribe: https://www.stmore.act.edu.au/subscribe

Email: office.stmore@cg.catholic.edu.au
Phone: 02 6249 8869

School Chaplain

School Chaplain/Mini Vinnies

 

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Mini Vinnies

During our first Mini Vinnies meeting on Friday 26 February, it was unanimously decided that we would run our Fairtrade Easter Egg Raffle again this term. Over the next several weeks we will work on making posters and promoting our Easter Raffle.

On Friday the 12th of March we have invited Matthew Wilson, a Youth Liaison Officer from St Vincent de Paul, to our school for the students Commitment Ceremony  Mini Vinnies 2021.

Fairtrade Easter Egg Raffle

The aim of our Mini Vinnies Fairtrade Easter Egg Raffle is to raise awareness of the global social justice issue of child labour and slavery in the chocolate industry, particularly in West Africa where the majority of the world’s cocoa production occurs. It is very sad to think that child exploitation has occurred in the production of the Easter Eggs we are enjoying.

Baptist World Aid Australia and World Vision Australia produced a report in 2016 titled ‘A Matter of Taste’ on the topic of child labour and slavery in the chocolate industry. In this report it was estimated that 2.26 million children and young people (under 18 years of age), worked as labourers in the cocoa harvesting industry in West Africa where the majority of the world’s cocoa production occurs. They generally work under hazardous conditions for little or no pay. It is thought that 10% and upwards of these are trafficked children. There is a global movement to try and change this situation. When purchasing chocolate please look for the Fairtrade, UTZ Certified or Rainforest Alliance labels which shows the cocoa has been sourced ethically from farmers who engage in good labour practices.

There is a push for change for the better. Fairtrade, UTZ Certified and Rainforest Alliance are three certification bodies in Australia who identify companies using ethically sourced cocoa beans from farmers engaging in good labour practices and sustainable farming methods.

Also a number of organisations are doing great work in advocating for better practices in the chocolate industry:

Stop the Traffik Australia and Baptist World Aid Australia have produced an excellent report on this topic titled ‘A Matter of Taste’ which can be viewed at

http://acrath.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/A-Matter-of-Taste-2017-Full-version.pdf

ACRATH (Australian Catholic Religious against Trafficking in Humans) advocate strongly and have great resources:

https://acrath.org.au/take-action/slavery-free-easter-chocolate/

A guide listing Easter Eggs that are free from trafficked labour is at https://baptistworldaid.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/goodeggguide2016.pdf . It includes:

  • Aldi's UTZ Certified Dairy Fine, Choceur, Moser Roth and Specially Selected Easter chocolate ranges.
  • Chocolatier Australia's Fairtrade milk and dark chocolate 100g eggs, available through Coles, Woolworths, David Jones and other chocolate suppliers.
  • Coles also has a range of branded UTZ, Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance-certified Easter chocolates.
  • The Haigh's Chocolate-made Easter egg range is UTZ Certified.
  • Divine chocolate eggs and bunnies are Fairtrade certified and are available through IGA, other selected stores and online. 

What can we do?

  • Choose chocolate with Fairtrade, UTZ or Rainforest Alliance certification.
  • Advocate by writing letters to:
    - chocolate producers requesting they work towards 100% ethically sourced cocoa. (Worthy of mention is Nestle, the first company in Australia to achieve 100% ethically sourced cocoa for their chocolate bar range).
    - retailers requesting they stock 100% certified chocolate. (Aldi and Haighs entire Easter Egg range are certified against human trafficking).

A note will be sent home this week to families requesting donations of Fairtrade Easter Eggs, with donations being accepted until Wednesday 24th of March. Raffle Tickets will be sold before and after school on the playground in Week 8 (1 ticket for 50cents or 3 tickets for a dollar). The raffle will be drawn on Monday  29 March.

Feel welcome to visit or contact me on 6249 8869 or send an email to brenda.galvin@cg.catholic.edu.au

Brenda Galvin
School Chaplain