Fair City - Book Review
| Published: 31st May 2008 15:15 |
FAIR CITY rose out of the conviction that Lichfield's campaign to become a Fairtrade City was a story worth telling. At the heart of the book is an account of the way in which the campaign was born, how it developed and how it came to a climax with the visit of George Alagiah in March this year.
Local author Warren Bardsley One of the striking aspects of Fairtrade Lichfield is the way in which it has touched people from all walks of life, and a number of them appear in the pages of the book, telling their own stories about the way Fairtrade has changed the way they see the world. But because Fairtrade Towns is one of the fastest growing movements in the country today, Lichfield's achievement is seen against the background of the campaign for justice in trade which had its origins in the 1960's, with its emphasis on the imperative need for growers and producers to receive a fair, guaranteed price for the goods they sell. The book also sees parallels with Fairtrade and the movement to abolish slavery in the 18th and 19th centuries, highlighting the contribution made by Lichfield men like Johnson and Erasmus Darwin to the abolitionist cause.
A major conviction which runs through the book is that everyone can contribute to Fairtrade and make a difference to millions of people by buying fairly traded items when we do our shopping. The front cover of the book was designed by Jane Summerfield, a student at the School of Art, Tamworth and Lichfield College, and the two young people featured on the cover are Laura Milner, a trainee youth worker and Tizita Getachew, community development worker from Addis Ababa who shared together in a recent Youth Exchange experience between Lichfield and Ethiopia.
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