6 November, St. James Cavalier, Valletta

Spices from around the world

Ariadne Massa (November 7, 2004)

A smell of incense and spices wafted through the air at St James Cavalier, Valletta, yesterday, drawing people to the third annual Fair Trade festival, Taste the World.

Called "Spice Up Your Life", the festival was organised by the non-profit Fair Trade Co-operative to create an awareness on the global movement of fair trade.

"Our aim is to sensitise the public towards fair trade. This year we picked on spices. Many small producers of spices across the world are being exploited by multi-national companies," co-operative president Nathalie Grima said.

Today over a million small-scale producers and workers are organised in as many as 3,000 grassroots organisations and their umbrella structures in over 50 countries in the south.

Their products are sold in thousands of fair trade and supermarkets, among others.

The movement is engaged in debates with political decision-makers in European institutions and international fora. Fair Trade has also made mainstream business more aware of its social and environmental responsibility.

Many people, young and old yesterday thronged through the stalls of Fair Trade foodstuffs, handicrafts, clothes, costume jewellery, CDs of world music, and a host of other ethnic products from communities in Africa, Asia and Latin and Central America.

This year the co-operative invited Italian fair trade expert Valeria Calamaro, who has just published a book on recipes with fair-traded spices, to give two seminars on spices and the way they were traded.

"Spices are small, but moving big things. Fair Trade helps countries, such as Sri Lanka, to be strong enough to face other markets and make business fair," Ms Calamaro said.

A wide selection of spices was available to the public together with recipes from a variety of cultures.

An ethnic music concert yesterday evening featured the sitar, didgeridoo and drums of Andrew Christie, Wailin Grech and Peppi Gauci from Malta, as well as the Congolese and Nigerian musicians, singers and dancers of Kilimanjaro, who spiced up the evening.

Kilimanjaro played Afro-Cuban music, Afro-Raga, Soukous, Rumba, Zouk, and Salsa.

The ethnic music concert at 8.00pm will feature the sitar and didgeridoo music of Andrew Christie and Wailin Grech from Malta, and the Congolese, Nigerian and Maltese musicians, singers and dancers of the band Kilimanjaro (in picture), who will spice up the evening with a concert in which they will invite all those present to dance to their music. The Afro-Maltese band Kilimanjaro plays Afro-Cuban Music, Afro-Raga, Soukous, Rumba, Zouk, and Salsa. Those present can then taste specially made mulled wine for free in the Main Hall where the stalls will be open until 11.00pm.

This year's special guest is Valeria Calamaro who has just published a book on recipes with fair-traded spices. She will be the guest speaker at two fair trade seminars starting at 10.30am and at 4.00pm in the Music Room at St. James Cavalier. Valeria Calamaro is the marketing manager for Fair Trade food products of CTM-Altromercato, the Italian partners of the Maltese fair trade cooperative and the second largest fair trade organization in Europe. 

The first seminar at 10.30am  in the Music Room will concentrate on spices. It is open to the general public, but it is meant mainly for students. The seminar will deal with the origins of spices, those who produce them and the process by which they are prepared to be traded. Valeria will analyse what difference fair trade has made in the trading of spices.

In the second seminar for the general public at 4.00pm in the Music Room, Valeria Calamaro will not only deal with the latest issues in the fair trade world but she will also draw on her vast experience with spice producers in various countries to explain the difference Fair trade is making in this area of trade. She will also present some of the special spice recipes she has learnt from her friends in the South and which are included in the book she has just written.

"Those of us engaged in Fair Trade know that there is an alternative and better way to trade and do business, that puts people first and ensures that their work is properly recognised and rewarded,” tgħid Carol Wills, Direttriċi Eżekuttiva tal-federazzjoni internazzjonali tal-kummerċ alternattiv, l-IFAT. Hi kienet waħda mill-mistednin fit-Taste the World li saret fil-Kavallier ta’ San Ġakbu fl-2002. “Fair Trade puts human values, dignity, dialogue and respect at the heart of its work. We want to see an end to the greed and exploitation that results in impoverished lives and a spoilt environment."

Koperattiva Kummerċ Ġust hija membru attiva taċ-CTM-Altromercato, waħda mill-akbar organizzazzjonijiet tal-kummerċ ġust fl-Ewropa. Hija wkoll membru ta’ IFAT.