Category: Products

Universal Children's Rights Day

In the Universal Children's Rights Day we would like to recall that the Fair Trade establishes, as a fundamental principle, the absence of forced labour and exploitation of child labour. This ensures that no child performs work that affects his or her physical, mental, social or spiritual development. Nor that may interfere with their educationor which are carried out under abusive, dangerous and harmful conditions endangering their health or safety, or which are carried out under abusive, dangerous and harmful conditions endangering their health o integrity.

The 20 November is an important day for children:

• Since 1954 it has been the Universal Children's Day.
• Since 1959 we have been celebrating the anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of the Rights of the Child.
• In 1989 the Convention of the Rights of the Childthe most universal of the international treaties.

Support Child Rights

When you choose Fair Trade products you are preventing many of the world's children from working in unsafe conditions. slavery. This happens on many conventional cocoa plantations. Believe it or not, there are shattering realities of child exploitation. They are experienced daily by millions of children in the world's cocoa African cocoa plantations. Child labour and the most savage forms of exploitation and slavery suffered by minors on these plantations are not an isolated or inevitable event, but the consequence of a unfair trading system. Based solely on the economic benefit of a few.

#EnseñaFairtrade - Fairtrade Month

On Universal Children's Rights Day, as part of the celebration of the Universal Day of Children's Rights, the Fairtrade MonthWe have joined the Fairtrade Ibérica campaign. #EnTeachFairtrade. From AlterNativa3, with our project Fairtrade School Networkwe work for teach children the transformative power of Fair Trade, as well as the importance of an everyday act such as buy has to improve the reality for many children in the producing countries of the South.

This #MisFairtrade #EnTeachFairtrade!

If you want to know more about the Fair Trade and the power of it to fight for children's rights, click here. here.

Fair Trade Month

November is this year's Fair Trade month. This is a very special occasion for AlterNativa3, where we will continue our commitment to our formula, carrying out Fair Trade activities for teach y raise awareness in society. In addition to collaborate with other organisations in the conducting workshops and others events related to the Fair Trade and its goal for this year: Teaching Fair Trade. #EnseñaFairTrade.

Fair Trade Month Agenda

• Workshops-Breakfast in Schools: Talleres didácticos Fair Trade en colegios con objetivo de crear concienciación entre los más pequeños, incentivar un consumo responsable y reflexivo. Se realizará un «Desayuno Fair Trade» con productos de Comercio Justo y certificación Fair Trade con los alumnos de primaria.
  
  
• Terrassa Cooperativa: offers more than 30 activities with the aim of informing, promoting and showing the advantages of the social economy, as well as sharing with those attending the economic and social value it brings to the city. From 5 to 30 November. You can consult the programme here.
• 3rd FIRA of Social and Solidarity Economy. Come and taste our organic Fairtrade products on Saturday. 24 November from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Plaça Vella and carrer Major in Terrassa.

Open Doors AlterNativa 3

• Open doors AlterNativa3: During the month of Fair Trade within the framework of Terrassa Cooperativa we open our doors with Fiare. Come and get to know our cooperative, our projects and our collaboration with ethical banking. It will take place on Saturday 24 November at 17h - 18:30h at AlterNativa3. Ctra. Castellar, 526. Come and visit the cooperative!

• 17.00h Welcome
  By: Antonio Baile, President of the AlterNativa3 cooperative.
• 17.10h Presentation of the Conference
  By: Josep Vidal Fàbrega, Director General of Social Economy, Third Sector and Cooperatives
  and Self-Enterprise

• 17.20h Presentation of AlterNativa3
  Since 1992, we have been committed to the creation of environmentally friendly and responsible alternatives to the
  products commonly consumed.
  By: Rosa Guinot, Director of AlterNativa3
• 17.30h Visit to the roastery
  From green coffee to coffee for consumption, learn about the production process of a Fairtrade coffee roaster 100%.
  By: Martín Sánchez, Barista and Roaster of AlterNativa3
• 18.00h "De la terra a la tassa".
  Coffee: producer cooperatives, varieties, benefits of Fair Trade for the producer, for the processor and for the environment.
  Coffee tasting: 100% Arabica, 100% Organic, 100% Fairtrade
  Led by: María Fernández, AlterNativa3 project manager.
• 18.30h. Fiare Vallès Assembly.
  It will be held at AlterNativa3's headquarters in the  Ctra. De Castellar 526 of Terrassa on Saturday 24 November from 18.30h to 20.30h
• Exhibition "Fair Trade Coffee"will be located in the hotel and catering school - Restaurant Torre Mossen Homs from the 12 November to 15 December. For a fairer, more caring and responsible future.
  

Workshop on Inequality at Xarxa Escoles pel Comerç Just (Schools for Fair Trade Network)

Another way in which we at AlterNativa3 can do our bit is through the project Fair Trade Schools Network.

During the first week, we have carried out one of the activities programmed for the new school year. Specifically, we have travelled to the Pont Trencat School of Santa Maria de Palautordera, where the whole teaching staff participated in the Desigualtats Nord-Sud" workshop"given by SETEM Catalonia.

In the workshop, the teachers carry out a reflectionThe dynamic of the project focuses on the unjust relations and exchanges between the countries of the North and the South, which generate inequalities global, poverty e insecurity food to many populations in the South. They have also been able to see how Fair Trade is a fair and transformative alternative to this reality.

The aim of the teacher training is to provide teachers with basic tools on the causes of inequality between the North and the South, the principles of Fair Trade and responsible consumption, so that they can work on these issues in their subjects and thus transfer the knowledge and skills of the teachers to the students. knowledge to the students. In addition, in the website In the project, they can find different resources, dynamics and activities to be carried out in the classroom.

And you... How are you going to participate in the month of Fair Trade? Share it with us on Instagram, Facebook y Twitter.

At AlterNativa3 we fight for a better world and collaborate with causes that help to raise awareness and disseminate the Fair Trade, Social Economy and Cooperativism movement. Terrassa Cooperativa 2018 celebrates its fourth edition and from AlterNativa3 we have joined this year's programme with the collaboration of the Terrassa City Council, the Federation of Worker Cooperatives of Catalonia, the Solidarity Economy Network of Catalonia, other cooperatives, associations and foundations. We will take part in this magnificent event, and we will carry out different activities on social economy and cooperativism.

When and where will it take place?

Exposición «10 anys del projecte Café Terrassa» will take place from 5 to 30 November.

• 5 - 15 November will be located at the Central Library.
• 19 - 24 November at the Library District 2.
• 26 - 30 November at the Library District 3.

3rd Edition Social and Solidarity Economy FAIR. Come and learn more about the social and solidarity economy (SSE).

• 24 November from 10h-14h
• Plaça Vella and Calle Major

Talk/Visit  «Banca ética: conoce una de nuestras socias y los proyectos financiados»
Come and visit the Fairtrade co-operative

• 24 November 17h - 18:30h
• AlterNativa3. Ctra. Castellar, 526

What activities will I find? 

At Terrassa Cooperativa you can find more than 30 activities with the aim of report, promote y show advantages about the social economy as well as sharing with attendees the economic and social value it brings to the city. Some of the activities that will take place include workshops, talks, tastings, concerts, activities for children, etc.
You can consult the programme for more information.

The slogan of the event with which the City Council will call for change is  «Cooperative and solidarity, the people's economy". The aim is to show support for the social and collective aims of the social economy and the positive impact that cooperatives have on the world.

We look forward to seeing you in Terrassa Cooperativa. We would love to know your experience and opinion about our exhibition and all the activities organised. Please share with us via Twitter, Facebook e Instagram. If you want to know more about the Fair Trade and the social economy visit our blog.

There are many of us who can't start the morning without a coffee. Whether it's black, with milk or mocha... Drinking coffee in the morning is a ritual! It helps us to get active, wake up and start the day on the right foot. In addition to these, it brings us many other benefits. Today we tell you about some of them.

Coffee properties:

• It reduces the risk of developing diabetes: studies have shown that coffee consumption has been shown to reduce the risk by between one and two percent. 23% and a 50% of developing diabetes. Caffeine has this effect on our bodies, although it is not yet known why, but it has been shown to help prevent the development of this disease.

• Contains essential nutrients: in a single cup we will find riboflavin (vitamin B2), pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), manganese, potassium, magnesium y niacinAll this with coffee alone! Add the nutrients from the milk and you have a perfect combination.

• Contains substances with antioxidant propertiesIt is ranked 6th in the list of the 50 most antioxidant foods. List generated by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Some of the antioxidants it contains are polyphenolsThese are bioactive compounds that bring us many benefits for our health. They help us to fight against free radicals, increase the activity of our immune system and vitamin Cdelay the development of cataracts...

• Coffee aids digestion thanks to its ability to generate gastric juices and saliva, essential elements for good digestion. So, if you feel like having a cup of coffee after lunchour digestive system will thank us for it.

• It helps to preventing Alzheimer's diseaseHow can this be? Caffeine, when it enters our body, becomes a soldier that fights the cognitive impairment and oxidation of our cells. In addition, if we consume coffee regularly, it can help us to have a healthier body. better linkage between neurons of our hippocampus. One of the structures of our brain, which is mainly responsible for memory. This discovery comes from a study carried out at John Hopkins University in Baltimore (USA).

• It helps to keeping the body activeAnother effect that coffee has on our brain is the activation of various aspects of its functions, which is due to caffeine. At the same time, it blocks the adenosinea neurotransmitter that increases our sleep. This action triggers a series of effects that result in us finding ourselves in a state of more alertmore awake and with a lot of more energy.

These are some of the properties that coffee gives us, we can continue to enjoy it in our morning coffee, or we can dare to try it in a recipe. Have you seen how to make tiramisu Fair Trade? We also offer you our new coffees of origin, Guatemala cocoa and caramel aromas, with hints of red fruits, and Peru with cocoa and fresh grass aromas and a subtle floral hint, two different and irresistible coffees.

Share with us your coffee moment in our networks: Twitter, Instagram y Facebook with the #AlterNativa3

"Fair Trade is a trading system based on dialogue, transparency and respect, which seeks greater equity in international trade with special attention to social and environmental criteria. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions and securing the rights of disadvantaged producers and workers, especially in the South".

- (World Fair Trade Organization, WFTO)

The 10 principles of Fair Trade:

1. Democratic decisions: Producers organised in cooperatives or other participatory forms, where they make decisions democratically.

   AlterNativa3 has been able to see during its visits to the producers' cooperatives the great value for small producers, and especially for women farmers, of their participation in decision-making in their organisations. Normally, they do not even have the opportunity to have their opinions taken into account.

   
2. Rejection of child exploitation: Education is a fundamental right for children, and in order to receive it, children need to have time to go to school and to play. Extreme poverty forces many children to work, in many cases in slave-like conditions, as is the case in many cocoa plantations in Africa. Fair Trade rejects the exploitation of children on the understanding that the work of adults should be sufficient to support the family. For AlterNativa3 this principle is fundamental, which is why it supports producer cooperatives in educational projects, such as the creation of the computer classroom or the Reading Corner with the Augusto Cesar Sandino cooperative in Nicaragua.
   
3. Gender equality: For Fairtrade this is a fundamental principle, when women earn their own income their lives change in many ways, not only for them but also for their families and the community. AlterNativa3 supports women's empowerment projects in the producer cooperatives it works with because it believes that true development is only possible when women can move beyond the domestic sphere and become empowered for working life and participate in decision-making in their community.
4. Respect for the environment: Respect for the Environment, no GMOs, no synthetic chemicals, no other chemicals harmful to people and natureOne of the fundamental principles of Fair Trade is Respect for the Environment, Fair Trade products always come from small producer organisations that cultivate their land following traditional methods respectful of Nature, without using fertilisers or pesticides.The products are harmful to health and the environment, and are GMO-free.AlterNativa3 makes its products from coffee, cocoa and sugar from Fair Trade cooperatives, always seeking maximum sustainability throughout the production process, from the raw material to the ready-to-eat product.
5. Quality products: Quality is a fundamental principle of Fair Trade. At AlterNativa3 we take the utmost care of the quality of our products, as we are producers we can control the entire production process from raw materials to the final product, this allows us to continually improve and innovate. We buy our coffee, cocoa, cane sugar and the rest of our products from small Fair Trade producer associations in southern countries, which guarantees the maximum quality in their products, as they have been cultivated with respect for the people and the environment.
6. Decent working conditions: Fair Trade guarantees decent working conditions for producers, avoiding any kind of slavery and conditions that threaten the health of workers. AlterNativa3 works with small producer cooperatives in Southern countries, supporting them in their projects to improve their working, social and environmental conditions, always putting respect for people above economic profit. Fair Trade is a real alternative to conventional international trade that creates opportunities for the most disadvantaged groups and reduces inequalities and poverty.
7. Fair prices and wages: Fair prices and wages that value the quality of the product. In Fair Trade quality is fundamental, quality is not only of the final product but also environmental and social. The first link of a product is the producer at origin and improving the quality of the product is the first step.The Fairtrade Fairtrade is a key objective of Fairtrade. Small producers who sell their harvest through Fair Trade channels are assured that the price they receive for their work gives them new opportunities to play a leading role in building a more sustainable future. That is why when we consume a Fairtrade product we have the satisfaction of contributing to creating a better society where people are more important than the economic profit of a few.
8. Pre-financing of purchases: A Fair Trade solution to improve the lives of peasant farmers.Small producer organisations in the South find it very difficult to access credit to invest in production and social improvements, or even to survive between harvests. Often their only option is to turn to moneylenders who subject them to usurious conditions that only increase their poverty.eza. Although some things are changing recently with the emergence of ethical banking and microcredit, not all organisations are able to access these solutions. As an alternative to this reality, Fairtrade Standards require buying organizations to provide a financial advance on contracts, called pre-finance, if producers request it. This is to help producers gain access to capital and overcome what can be one of the biggest obstacles to their development. It also seeks to promote entrepreneurship and can help the economic development of entire rural communities.
9. Payment of a social premium: The Fairtrade Premium is an extra support for producer organisations. In addition to receiving payment for their products, they benefit from an additional amount to invest in the economic, social or environmental development of the organisations themselves and the community. They decide on the purpose of the premium, without intermediaries. The amount of theis paid is fixed as a percentage, per unit sold, and comes out of the pocket of the purchaser.The Fairtrade Premium is additional money for producers to invest in improving their living conditions. The destination of the Fairtrade Premium is decided at the discretion of the producer organizations. No one imposes on them how to use or invest it, and project selection and money management is done through transparent, participatory and democratic processes. The projects can promote community development or their own businesses. The Premium money is intended to improve the situation of local communities in terms of health, education, environment, economy, etc. The Fairtrade Premium is intended to be a tool for socio-economic development and empowerment.

   

10. Reduction of intermediaries: A fundamental principle of Fair Trade is to facilitate long-term trading relationships and to enable producer associations to take greater control over the process of marketing their products. Organisations maintain long-term relationships based on solidarity, solidarity with the producers and their associations.trust and mutual respect that contribute to the promotion and growth of Fairtrade. The parties involved in the trading relationship seek to increase the volume of trade between them and the value and diversity of their product offer as a means of growing Fairtrade for producers to increase their income. Dialogue and transparency are essential to strengthen these trading relationships, as well as collaboration on projects with producer communities.