For our fourth and final episode, we are in the heart of Brussels, in the institution that represents all European citizens. We had the opportunity to interview two Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in their offices in the Parliament. We met Ms Saskia Bricmont from the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance and Marc Tarabella from the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. First, listen to Mr Tarabella explain the aim of the Deforestation-Free Products Regulation and why such legislative intervention is necessary from the European consumers' side. Then it is up to Ms Bricmont to clarify how the human and social rights of producers on the other side of the world will be preserved and hopefully improved. A wonderful call to action for all young activists around the world will conclude our podcast adventure!

CREDITS:

Special thanks to Ms Bricmont, Mr Tarabella and their staff for their availability, interest in our project and willingness to answer our questions. Mr Tarabella was interviewed on the 30th of May 2022 by Eva and Erica. Ms Bricmont was interviewed on the 20th of June 2022 by Carlos.

Podcast realised within the framework of the Young Fair Trade Advocates, organised by the Fair Trade Advocacy Office with the support of the EU-WISE Young Citizens Project (ERASMUS+). Special thanks to Didier Reynaud, Charlotte Vernier and Paola Plaku who helped and supported us along the way.

Mastering: Both Nomads

Here are where to find them on social networks:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/storiesglobal

Instagram: https://instagram.com/both_nomads?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Sounds:

In the Jingle: Amazonia Jungle Ambience - Birds and other Animal Sound effects by Ambient Sound Library

In the episode:

In the forest - Ambient Acoustic Guitar Instrumental Background Music For Videos: Music by Oleksii Kaplunsky from Pixabay.

Office Ambience, Footsteps Hallway: Sound Effects from Pixabay.

Picture: European Parliament (Brussels), Image by Fabian Holtappels from Pixabay.

The third episode takes us to cocoa, cafe and honey producers in Africa and Latin America. It gives us the opportunity to talk to one of the representatives of a network of producers' and workers' organisations promoting the values of Fair Trade in Latin America and the Caribbean. For us, it was important to give a voice to those who are at the beginning of the production chain and therefore best placed to describe their working conditions, but also the visible and invisible impacts of climate change and deforestation. We understand the importance of setting a remunerative price for producers so that they can continue to live from their activity and work in good conditions. They also agreed to give us their views on the Commission's proposed regulation on deforestation. Thus, we see how this proposal is perceived and what are the expectations of producers.

CREDITS:

Special thanks to Ms Ana Sayago, Mr Javier Aliaga Lordemann and Mr Yeo Moussa for their availability, interest in our project and willingness to answer our questions. Yeo was interviewed on the 29th of March 2022 by Pierre. Javier was interviewed on the 30th of March 2022 by Carole and Maud. Ana was interviewed on the 5th of May 2022 by Carlos and Eva.

Special thanks to José Luis and Patrick Veillard for sharing with us their contacts of inspiring experiences in Latin America and their advice for the production of this episode.

Podcast realised within the framework of the Young Fair Trade Advocates, organised by the Fair Trade Advocacy Office with the support of the EU-WISE Young Citizens Project (ERASMUS+). Special thanks to Didier Reynaud, Charlotte Vernier and Paola Plaku who helped and supported us along the way.

Mastering: Both Nomads

Here are where to find them on social networks:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/storiesglobal

Instagram: https://instagram.com/both_nomads?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Sounds:

In the Jingle: Amazonia Jungle Ambience - Birds and other Animal Sound effects by Ambient Sound Library

In the episode: In the forest - Ambient Acoustic Guitar Instrumental Background Music For Videos: Music by Oleksii Kaplunsky from Pixabay.

Picture: Cacao, Image by Jeser Andrade Arango from Pixabay.

Our second episode is set in Liège, a city in Belgium. Here, every year in May, the festival Nourrir Liège is organised. The aim is to raise awareness on food transition, inform citizens and encourage them to consume food with a low environmental impact. This year, for the first time, the festival organised a special week dedicated entirely to students and we were there to interview them. We explored their awareness of the issue of deforestation, their habits as consumers and how they perceive the EU's actions on the issue. They were well prepared on the issues but admitted that it is difficult to choose consciously in everyday life. Here you will hear their thoughts and ideas, their concerns, hopes and some very profound messages!

About Fair Trade pricing:

Are Fairtrade products really more expensive?

The Economics of Fair Trade

La perception des consommateurs

Les mythes Fairtrade

CREDITS:

Special thanks to the organisation of Nourrir Liège for hosting our stand on the 26th of March 2022 during the first edition of Nourrir Liège campus.

The interviewers Eva, Carolina, Pierre, Erica and Marine want to say a particular big thank you to all the people we interviewed.

Special thanks to Fairtrade Belgium and Ozfair for the goodies and support for the participation in Nourrir Liège.

Podcast realised within the framework of the Young Fair Trade Advocates, organised by the Fair Trade Advocacy Office with the support of the EU-WISE Young Citizens Project (ERASMUS+). Special thanks to Didier Reynaud, Charlotte Vernier and Paola Plaku who helped and supported us along the way.

Mastering: Both Nomads

Here are where to find them on social networks:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/storiesglobal

Instagram: https://instagram.com/both_nomads?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Sounds:

In the Jingle: Amazonia Jungle Ambience - Birds and other Animal Sound effects by Ambient Sound Library

In the episode: In the forest - Ambient Acoustic Guitar Instrumental Background Music For Videos: Music by Oleksii Kaplunsky from Pixabay.

Picture: Young Fair Trade Advocates, all rights reserved.

We begin our journey where we are based, that is, in Belgium. Having learned about the proposal for a regulation to prevent products that cause deforestation from entering the EU market, we decided to inform ourselves starting from the basics. What is deforestation? What causes it and what are the consequences? Is it a current phenomenon related to rainforests as we mostly hear about, or not? Most of us are students or recent graduates, so we decided to look for answers at university. We asked these and other questions to Jean Louis Doucet, professor of tropical forestry at Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech (University of Liège). Then, some of us decided to inform on official websites of the EU and discussed the main points with other members of the team. How does the EU intend to prevent deforestation products from entering the European market?

European Commission official web pages:

EC Press corner

EC Environment

CREDITS:

Special thanks to Professor Jean Louis Doucet for his time and inspirational speech on how to understand and tackle the deforestation phenomenon.

The interview was held on the 10th of March 2022 by Pierre.

Podcast realised within the framework of the Young Fair Trade Advocates, organised by the Fair Trade Advocacy Office with the support of the EU-WISE Young Citizens Project (ERASMUS+). Special thanks to Didier Reynaud, Charlotte Vernier and Paola Plaku who helped and supported us along the way.

Mastering: Both Nomads

Here are where to find them on social networks:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/storiesglobal

Instagram: https://instagram.com/both_nomads?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Sounds:

In the Jingle: Amazonia Jungle Ambience - Birds and other Animal Sound effects by Ambient Sound Library

In the episode: In the forest - Ambient Acoustic Guitar Instrumental Background Music For Videos: Music by Oleksii Kaplunsky from Pixabay

Picture: Jungle, Image by Stokpic fromPixabay.

As part of the Young Fair Trade Academy in Belgium for 2021/2022, we wanted to develop a project on food and its impact on the environment. In the meantime, the European Commission was in the process of drafting a regulation on deforestation-free products. Good timing! This was the perfect opportunity for us to reflect, at our scale, on a global phenomenon, namely deforestation, which is mostly linked to food production and consumption. Here we are: we created a podcast to address this issue, to understand what is at stake and share what we discovered with others. We are not professionals in podcast making, nevertheless, we tried our best to make this series of episodes entertaining and to bring passionate and engaged guests to our table to talk about their work and involvement in food production, the fight against deforestation and policy making. We hope you will enjoy the trip, and perhaps think for yourselves about how to limit the impact of deforestation at your level.

CREDITS:

Podcast realized within the framework of the Young Fair Trade Advocates, organised by the Fair Trade Advocacy Office with the support of the EU-WISE Young Citizens Project (ERASMUS+). Special thanks to Didier Reynaud, Charlotte Vernier and Paola Plaku who helped and supported us along the way.

Mastering: Both Nomads

Here are where to find them on social networks:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/storiesglobal

Instagram: https://instagram.com/both_nomads?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Sounds:

In the Jingle: Amazonia Jungle Ambience - Birds and other Animal Sound effects by Ambient Sound Library.

In the episode: In the forest - Ambient Acoustic Guitar Instrumental Background Music For Videos: Music by Oleksii Kaplunsky from Pixabay.

Picture: Chiapas rainforest, Image by bere69 from Pixabay.