Jack MacRoary's Fairtrade Adventure
Episode Fourteen
Genre: Drama
Swearwords: None.
Description: March 13th – The Fairtrade Future.
Swearwords: None.
Description: March 13th – The Fairtrade Future.
Yesterday I told you it was only the beginning. But of course this is the end of my current Fairtrade Adventure before we move on to something new, something bigger for TattyBogle and DrumTumshie. And that’s our story. But what I want you to think about is what your Fairtrade Adventure might be. Every one of you who is reading this can help make the world a Fairer place. You might think that you can’t do anything much and maybe you can’t, but look what we did in just a few months. It’s not about a dream, it’s about committing to acting more responsibly in the world. To thinking more about what you eat and what you wear and to finding out more about a lot of things we take for granted. Everyone can do that. Even you.
Even if you just switch to buying Fairtrade bananas (if you like bananas) or tea and coffee and sugar. You don’t have to become a hardcore Fairtrade Warrior and only buy Fairtrade goods – not everyone can afford to do that – but there are some Fairtrade things at every price point, even in the supermarkets – and if you buy Fairtrade you are making a statement. It’s a statement that says – I believe that everyone has the right to a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. I believe that no one should be exploited so that other people can have cheap goods. That when free isn’t fair, it’s too high a price to pay.
There are loads of things you can do and loads of places you can go to find out more about Fairtrade. But you have to do it. Yourself. Everyone has to take individual responsibility for their choices and that comes to spending money as well. And even beyond the Fairtrade label you can think about what you buy and where it comes from. And ask questions. Why are dairy farmers and pig farmers having such a hard time? We all drink milk and love bacon (except vegetarians and even most of them love bacon, they just don’t like the thought of killing pigs to get it) and we grow this stuff right here in Scotland, so why are we buying it from abroad when we have plenty of it right on our doorstep? It’s because we don’t question these things that they keep happening. It’s because we can’t be bothered, or always take the easy option, or believe that cheap is good and free is really free that the world is the way it is.
It might seem daunting, but look what we achieved in TattyBogle and DrumTumshie. And we are just a bunch of schoolkids. You are adults probably reading this – so you should be able to do something even more incredible.
I hope that you will do something to support Fairtrade and to change the way you buy things and the way you see the world. The world should be Fair not Free. And here at DrumTumshie the future is looking a lot fairer than I ever imagined. The adults are getting together and really bringing back a community spirit of doing things for ourselves and a pride in our own place. They are talking about setting up a Fairtrade community café, run by Brian’s mum and selling organic, local produce along with Fairtrade sourced goods right here, for everyone. They say I’ve left a legacy, and I say that’s stupid because I’m still here and I’ve not even left school yet, so how can I be a legacy? Brian says I should stop being so stupid and realise that I’m a legend. But I think Brian is the real legend, because without his ideas it wouldn’t have been nearly so much fun. Brian makes sure we don’t just talk about things but that we do them. Which is important in life. If you believe in something you have to ‘walk the walk’ not just ‘talk the talk’. And you have to not give up too easily. Brian never gives up easily. Mum says it’s because his life is always difficult that he’s used to having to try hard. And that’s another lesson we could learn from Brian. Work hard. Keep trying. Don’t give up. It’s not about following your dream, it’s about changing reality.
There is one really good thing that has come out of this whole adventure, even more than the whole Fairtrade thing. Something closer to home. And that is that Brian is going to have a job when he leaves school next year.
Some people said Brian would never get a job. I was worried for him about that. Because Brian doesn’t want to just sit around at home. He likes to be doing something. And that means he needs a job when he leaves school.
I’m lucky. Because I’m the son of a farmer, my life is planned out (if I want, which I do). I can work on the farm and go to agricultural college to learn to do things better – even though my dad knows just about everything about farming. But he doesn’t know all about potatoes. So I can go to college and learn about potatoes. You can bet that when I get to college I’ll try and make them Fairtrade. That’s my future. When I leave school it’s college and potato farmer. But for Brian things were looking grim. Because of the autism. Mum told me that people don’t like to employ people on ‘the spectrum’. It’s not fair. And even if they get to work usually they have to do it for free. That’s called voluntary work. And there’s nothing wrong with voluntary work in principle, but why should Brian not be able to have a job and earn money like anyone else? He will work just as hard.
It was something that has been worrying me for a while now. But I haven’t told Brian. I was just hoping that I’d be able to come up with a good idea to help him when the time came. And it seems like he’s helped himself as much as I’ve helped him. Because now, with his mum setting up the Fairtrade Café, it’s been agreed that Brian can go and work with her. Mr Smith said he knew that Brian should have been in Home Economics all along when we told him about Brian’s career plans. But I explained that Brian isn’t going to be doing the cooking. He’s going to be in charge of the Fairtrade part of the café and he’ll probably be working in the shop and the café while his mum does the cooking. Brian’s mum does the Home Economics and Brian will do the Economics.
So even though you can think that school is a bit of a waste of time, you can see that if we hadn’t studied Geography and Modern Studies and Economics we might never have really understood about Fairtrade and how to make the world a better and fairer place. As dad says, nothing in life comes free, but we can at least try and make it fair. And that’s what I’m doing.
In case you don’t know where to start, here are a few places you can go to find out about Fairtrade.
http://www.scottishFairtradeforum.org.uk/
http://www.Fairtrade.org.uk/
http://www.Fairtrade.net/
http://www.traidcraftshop.co.uk/
http://www.peopletree.co.uk/
http://wfto.com/events/world-fair-trade-day
World Fairtrade Day is on May 14th. What will you have done to make the world a fairer place by then? Will you become an Agent for Change and have your own Fairtrade Adventure? I hope you do. Then you can even write a McSerial about it! The world won’t become fairer on its own. We have to do it. All of us. Yes. That means YOU.
Even if you just switch to buying Fairtrade bananas (if you like bananas) or tea and coffee and sugar. You don’t have to become a hardcore Fairtrade Warrior and only buy Fairtrade goods – not everyone can afford to do that – but there are some Fairtrade things at every price point, even in the supermarkets – and if you buy Fairtrade you are making a statement. It’s a statement that says – I believe that everyone has the right to a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. I believe that no one should be exploited so that other people can have cheap goods. That when free isn’t fair, it’s too high a price to pay.
There are loads of things you can do and loads of places you can go to find out more about Fairtrade. But you have to do it. Yourself. Everyone has to take individual responsibility for their choices and that comes to spending money as well. And even beyond the Fairtrade label you can think about what you buy and where it comes from. And ask questions. Why are dairy farmers and pig farmers having such a hard time? We all drink milk and love bacon (except vegetarians and even most of them love bacon, they just don’t like the thought of killing pigs to get it) and we grow this stuff right here in Scotland, so why are we buying it from abroad when we have plenty of it right on our doorstep? It’s because we don’t question these things that they keep happening. It’s because we can’t be bothered, or always take the easy option, or believe that cheap is good and free is really free that the world is the way it is.
It might seem daunting, but look what we achieved in TattyBogle and DrumTumshie. And we are just a bunch of schoolkids. You are adults probably reading this – so you should be able to do something even more incredible.
I hope that you will do something to support Fairtrade and to change the way you buy things and the way you see the world. The world should be Fair not Free. And here at DrumTumshie the future is looking a lot fairer than I ever imagined. The adults are getting together and really bringing back a community spirit of doing things for ourselves and a pride in our own place. They are talking about setting up a Fairtrade community café, run by Brian’s mum and selling organic, local produce along with Fairtrade sourced goods right here, for everyone. They say I’ve left a legacy, and I say that’s stupid because I’m still here and I’ve not even left school yet, so how can I be a legacy? Brian says I should stop being so stupid and realise that I’m a legend. But I think Brian is the real legend, because without his ideas it wouldn’t have been nearly so much fun. Brian makes sure we don’t just talk about things but that we do them. Which is important in life. If you believe in something you have to ‘walk the walk’ not just ‘talk the talk’. And you have to not give up too easily. Brian never gives up easily. Mum says it’s because his life is always difficult that he’s used to having to try hard. And that’s another lesson we could learn from Brian. Work hard. Keep trying. Don’t give up. It’s not about following your dream, it’s about changing reality.
There is one really good thing that has come out of this whole adventure, even more than the whole Fairtrade thing. Something closer to home. And that is that Brian is going to have a job when he leaves school next year.
Some people said Brian would never get a job. I was worried for him about that. Because Brian doesn’t want to just sit around at home. He likes to be doing something. And that means he needs a job when he leaves school.
I’m lucky. Because I’m the son of a farmer, my life is planned out (if I want, which I do). I can work on the farm and go to agricultural college to learn to do things better – even though my dad knows just about everything about farming. But he doesn’t know all about potatoes. So I can go to college and learn about potatoes. You can bet that when I get to college I’ll try and make them Fairtrade. That’s my future. When I leave school it’s college and potato farmer. But for Brian things were looking grim. Because of the autism. Mum told me that people don’t like to employ people on ‘the spectrum’. It’s not fair. And even if they get to work usually they have to do it for free. That’s called voluntary work. And there’s nothing wrong with voluntary work in principle, but why should Brian not be able to have a job and earn money like anyone else? He will work just as hard.
It was something that has been worrying me for a while now. But I haven’t told Brian. I was just hoping that I’d be able to come up with a good idea to help him when the time came. And it seems like he’s helped himself as much as I’ve helped him. Because now, with his mum setting up the Fairtrade Café, it’s been agreed that Brian can go and work with her. Mr Smith said he knew that Brian should have been in Home Economics all along when we told him about Brian’s career plans. But I explained that Brian isn’t going to be doing the cooking. He’s going to be in charge of the Fairtrade part of the café and he’ll probably be working in the shop and the café while his mum does the cooking. Brian’s mum does the Home Economics and Brian will do the Economics.
So even though you can think that school is a bit of a waste of time, you can see that if we hadn’t studied Geography and Modern Studies and Economics we might never have really understood about Fairtrade and how to make the world a better and fairer place. As dad says, nothing in life comes free, but we can at least try and make it fair. And that’s what I’m doing.
In case you don’t know where to start, here are a few places you can go to find out about Fairtrade.
http://www.scottishFairtradeforum.org.uk/
http://www.Fairtrade.org.uk/
http://www.Fairtrade.net/
http://www.traidcraftshop.co.uk/
http://www.peopletree.co.uk/
http://wfto.com/events/world-fair-trade-day
World Fairtrade Day is on May 14th. What will you have done to make the world a fairer place by then? Will you become an Agent for Change and have your own Fairtrade Adventure? I hope you do. Then you can even write a McSerial about it! The world won’t become fairer on its own. We have to do it. All of us. Yes. That means YOU.
About the Author
Jack MacRoary, also known locally as the Bard of DrumTumshie, comes from the small farming community of TattyBogle, which he has singlehandedly put on the map through his fame. After bursting onto the Scottish literary cultural scene in August 2012, when he appeared at the inaugural Edinburgh eBook Festival, Jack now attends DrumTumshie Academy.
During his brief but eventful literary career so far, Jack has been a blogger, providing an insightful commentary on rural life and Scots culture; a short story writer; and most recently a political commentator through his McSerial contributions to the McStorytellers website.
The Complete TattyBogle, Jack's first “real book” published by McStorytellers in 2015, brings together in a handy compendium all of his musings, commentaries and stories to date.
During his brief but eventful literary career so far, Jack has been a blogger, providing an insightful commentary on rural life and Scots culture; a short story writer; and most recently a political commentator through his McSerial contributions to the McStorytellers website.
The Complete TattyBogle, Jack's first “real book” published by McStorytellers in 2015, brings together in a handy compendium all of his musings, commentaries and stories to date.