In it, Griff Rhys Jones took a journey through Gujarat, exploring the rich culture of textiles and embroidery that exist in this region of India.

I was particularly pleased when he went to Kutch, an area not frequented by many tourist. It is also the area from which we source the majority of products for Saathay from.

During the programme, Griff interviewed a very skilled weaver named Shamji Vankar. He is from the Meghwar tribe and they have been weaving cloth for the Rabari tribes for centuries.

More recently Shamji Vankar  produced these very lovely items for Saathay.

It was great to see a documentary highlighting the skills and talent of the Artisans of Kutch, hopefully it will help to bring awareness of the arts that are still alive in these very remote and rural area’s to a wider audience. 

Griff also visited a Rabari tribe. Textiles and especially embroidery has always been a huge part of their identity. Rabari’s are well known for their colourful clothes adorned with embroidery and mirror work known as Sheesha work.

The question was raised as to whether such traditions and skills can survive in modern times and this is one of the things that we at Saathay are very passionate about. By bringing the pieces of art produced by these amazingly skilled and talented people to a wider market, we hope to help keep these ancient skills and traditions of craft and embroidery alive.

If the Artisans can earn a good living from their skills they are more likely to continue to teach future generations. By making sure they get a fair price for the goods they produce and promoting Fair Trade, we are further making it viable for the Artisans of Kutch to run their enterprises and encourage their children to continue the trade.

If they can’t make a living from these skills, the art will die out and we will no longer see these stunning embroideries and textiles and that I believe, will be a real shame!

There may still be time to see the programme that Griff Rhys Jones presented on BBC iPlayer if you are quick http://bbc.in/fhXH7Y

Click here to see more products produced by the talented Artisans of Kutch www.saathay.com

Well the snow is on the ground and we could be heading for a magical white Christmas. The tree decorations are going up and the shops are buzzing with people out buying gifts for their loved ones. So this year,  when you are thinking about what you could buy for family and friends to put a smile on their faces on Christmas day, why not buy gifts that are Fair Trade and ethical! Not only will people love to receive them but you will feel great knowing you are giving more than just a present, you are giving the person who made it a fair price for their workmanship so that they can have a great Christmas too. And there are so many Fair Trade products to choose from these days, you’re sure to find something for everyone.
For those chocoholics, count down to Christmas Day with a chocolate advent calendar £3.75 from Divine.
Also available from Divine, the perfect gift for someone that enjoys an indulgent evening in with a warm mug of delicious Divine Hot Chocolate in a beautiful Divine Mug. It’s also great value at £10.00 and both of these chocolaty goodies are available at www.divinechocolateshop.com
Other Fairtrade foods include nuts, fruit, biscuits, honey, wine and much more are widely available at major supermarkets with the Co-Op being the biggest supporter of Fairtrade, followed by Tesco who currently stocks around 130 Fairtrade lines. But it’s not just food that’s Fair Trade. There are lots of other Fair Trade and ethical products available that would make wonderful gifts this Christmas. Colourful toys and clothes for children can be found at www.babipur.co.uk     Or how about these delightful fairies available at www.saathay.com

Not only would they be the perfect gift for little girls but they’d also look very cute on your Christmas tree.

You’ll also find some stunning hand embroidered scarves, shawls, bags and other accessories at www.saathay.com

Saathay are currently offering a 10% discount on all purchases made before Midnight on Sunday 19th December. Simply type in discount code XMAS2010 at the checkout.

We are all people on this planet, it’s just the hand that fate has dealt us that dictated if we were fortunate enough to be born in the developed world and have the things that so often we take for granted like clean running water. 

But what about the people who aren’t so fortunate? Do we ignore them? Do we do nothing because we think what difference could I make?
 
We must remember that we can make a difference by just making a conscious decision to by Fair Trade products where ever possible. Most people don’t want hand outs, they just want to be paid a fair price for their produce or skills. Together, we can make a difference in the lives of small producers, artisans and formers around the world. Fair Trade is a concrete and efficient way to participate in the construction of a better world for several million small producers in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

This is why World Fair Trade Day is being celebrated through hundreds of events in more than 70 countries around the world.
     
As Gandhi said ‘be the change you wish to see in the world’, contribute to fight climate change, transform the status of women, and empower small producers by giving them a voice and by supporting Fair Trade. Fair Trade ensures that small producers get a fair deal, with good working conditions and fair prices under safe conditions, and allows for sustainable development and a promising future for millions of farmers and artisan communities around the world.
     
World Fair Trade Day 2010 is about Fair Trade, about people, organisations, producers, consumers, supporters and all those who share its goals. But more importantly, it is about you. It is your day to draw attention to your power to change your community and your world for the better through Fair Trade.
 
WHO ORGANIZES World Fair Trade Day?
 
World Fair Trade Day (WFTDay) is an initiative of the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO, www.wfto.com) and is being supported by thousands of citizens, Fair Trade Organisations, social and environmental movements, producers and consumers all around the world. 

This years theme is ‘Fair Trade my home’ and at Saathay we bring you stunning products to make your home beautiful and fair.

Visit www.worldfairtradeday10.org to find an event near you and see how you can be the change.

I’m sure everyone is looking forward to the Easter break and many kids (and big kids) are looking forward to breaking open those chocolate eggs this weekend.

Here are some interesting chocolate facts,

The largest chocolate sculpture ever made was a 10 foot high Easter egg constructed in Melbourne, Australia

Sales of dark chocolate have almost doubled in two years, growing 96 per cent to £85 million.

On average, each person in Britain eats approx. 10.2kg of chocolate per year.

Mintel figures presented on shoppingbag.com say that the UK chocolate market was worth £2.36 billion in 2009 that’s an increase of 5.9% over the 2008 figures.

The Ivory Coast in West Africa is the world’s leading producer of cocoa – supplying 43%.

One Cocoa pod can produce as much as 7 chocolate bars.

Thousands of children are being forced to work as slave labour on cocoa farms in West Africa. According to International labour Organisation figures, 12.000 children have been trafficked from countries like Mali and Burkino Faso to the Ivory Coast.

Easter Egg Facts

Eggs were traditionally used in pre-Christian festivals as the symbol of new life, purity or fertility. Later customs concerning eggs were linked with Easter because the egg provided a fresh and powerful symbol of the Resurrection and the transformation of death into life.

The first chocolate Easter egg was produced in 1873 by Fry’s.

The auctioneers Christie’s sold a diamond encrusted Faberge egg in November 2007 for £9m.

Approximately 80 million chocolate eggs are sold annually in the UK.

Easter chocolate sales make up 10% of Britain’s annual spending on chocolate.

£280million was spent on Easter eggs in the 4 days leading up to Easter 2008.

£32.7million was spent on Fairtrade Easter chocolate products in 2008.

Dieticians are warning that eating five Easter eggs (the average given to most children) plus the bars included with them, could see youngsters doubling their recommended calorie intake for a week, risking becoming hooked on chocolate, plus seeing their weight increase by several pounds within days. The recommended daily amounts are around 2,000 calories a day for an average 11-year-old boy and 1,500 for a girl, but many could be eating up to 10,000 calories over the Easter period.

Easter eggs for 2010 went on sale in Tescos on New Years day 2010

While we indulge in our chocolate frenzy this Easter please remember that there is a human cost involved.

The chocolate industry is worth $80 billion yet the workforce that generates this massive revenue have no running water, sanitation or electricity. They come from some of the most poverty stricken countries in the world and child trafficking is rife.

Are we in the west prepared to pay a little bit more for our chocolate so that cocoa farmers can have a decent quality of life and aren’t forced to use child labour?

As consumers we must vote with our wallets – boycott non-Fairtrade chocolate!

Well before you go rushing off to buy her a gift, please have a think about where the gift you are buying came from and who made it.  With an array of companies out there that offer Fairtrade products is now easier than ever to find gifts that are not only beautiful and unique but are ethically made too!

Here at Saathay you can find beautiful, luxurious gifts that Mum’s of all ages will adore. If she loves beautiful quality around the home, choose a piece from our stunning range of cushions and throws.   

 Perhaps she likes to accesorise in which case she will be charmed by the intricately hand embroidered scarves, wraps and bags.

You can still get the gifts you choose to your Mum in time, if you place your order by 2pm Thursday and add Express Shipping to your shopping cart that will ensure that your order is shipped via Royal Mail Special Delivery.

We are also offering readers of our Blog a special Mothers Day discount of 20% just enter MUM2010 in the coupon box at the checkout.

Visit www.saathay.com to get your Mum her special gift to show her your appreciation.

Staying on the subject of Fairtrade Fortnight, I popped in to Tesco’s this afternoon to pick a few bits and went to get my Fairtrade Bananas and the shelves were empty. I think maybe they didn’t anticipate that so many people would be going bananas for Fairtrade.

On a more serious note, as the sales figures were released at the start of Fairtrade Fortnight, the Fairtrade Foundation warned that the global recession had been “incredibly tough” for producers in the developing world, where an estimated 50-90 million more people were pushed into extreme poverty in 2009.

“Last year was a tough year for everyone, but a desperate year for many poor communities and small farmers in developing countries,” said Harriet Lamb, chief executive of the Fairtrade Foundation.

A YouGov survey found 71% of people said they were willing to swap one or more products to Fairtrade during the two week campaign.

Question is are you one of the 71% and why only swap for the duration of Fairtrade Fortnight, why not make it permanent?

For this year’s event the Fairtrade Foundation are asking the nation to join them in The Big Swap. For two whole weeks they are asking you to swap your usual stuff for Fairtrade stuff. There are lots of items that you’d put in your weekly shopping basket that you can swap from regular one’s to the ones carrying the FAIRTRADE mark such as Bananas, coffee, tea, sugar, wine even your cotton socks! Fairtrade products are more available now than ever, very supermarket carries FAIRTRADE products so whenever you pop to the shops, you can use your wallet to make a stand.    

Swapping your usual stuff for Fairtrade stuff is a small step to making the world a fairer place. It means that you get to show your support for developing world producers through what you buy. Two billion people – a third of humanity – survive on less than $2 a day. Unfair trade rules keep them in poverty and on top of that they also face the global challenges of food shortages and climate change.

If consumers in the developed world swap their normal purchases for Fairtrade items it puts producers in the developing world back in control of their own lives, by getting a better deal for the work that they do. This is a different way of doing business! It’s the fair way of doing business!

The Fairtrade Foundation are aiming to get one million and one swaps, so go on, give them a helping hand.