News Update

Manitoba Youth Speak Out: Spoken Word Project Focuses on Fair Trade

Posted February 25th 2016

MCIC recently produced three videos about fair trade. Watch the videos, including the Spoken Word piece, which was performed at live at the 4th National Fair Trade Conference.

The Spoken Word Project is an annual program that brings together a small group of students from across the province to learn about a specific global issue from a professional in the field. The students then participate in a workshop with a professional poet to compose a piece about the topic.

This year, three students from Morden Collegiate Institute, River East Collegiate, and Vincent Massey Collegiate learned about fair trade from members of Fair Trade Manitoba and took a tour of Ten Thousand Villages to gain insight into the lives of producers. Nationally recognized writer and poet Steve Locke led them in writing, recording and rehearsing their poem which received a standing ovation when it was performed before a live audience at **The National Fair Trade Conference on February 19. The Spoken Word piece highlights the often unsafe working conditions in the Global South. The poem explores how consumerism in the North puts unfair pressure on producers and creates opportunities for exploitation of children and underpaid workers. It highlights the ways fair trade and ethical consumer practices can help protect the rights of workers and allow communities to flourish.