Cooking with Fairtrade - Topic 9 Global Citizenship

I had great fun last year teaching children about Fair trade in a practical way.   I was given a large locally grown pumpkin which I took into a local school along with a selection of Fairtrade spices.  I talked to the children about The Fairtrade Foundation and showed them the different spices that I had brought with me.  As a class project we made spicy pumpkin soup and after enjoying the soup the children went back to class to write about Fairtrade and to search the world wide web to find out where the spices had come from.  They are now familiar with the Fairtrade logo and understand the importance of supporting people who are struggling to provide for their own families in other parts of the world.
I have also enjoyed running a summer of Strawberry Tea's and Fairtrade Coffee and Craft sessions.  We have made Elderflower cordial and Strawberry jam using Fairtrade sugar and participants were shown how easy it is to make butter which they then enjoyed on toast or crackers with the jam that they had just made.  Schools could earn a little extra income if they were to host Fairtrade Coffee mornings or Fairtrade Coffee and Craft sessions.  If you get in touch with your local WI you may find that some of the ladies have a skill that they are willing to share.  Why not use Fairtrade chocolate to make crispy cakes and talk to the children about the concept of Fairtrade. Better still why not host a Fairtrade Fundraiser in support of a school in Africa or India.  This of course would count as evidence in your Eco schools file.

Don't forget to keep the chocolate bar wrappers and foil to make beads.