Lorna Young | |
|---|---|
 Lorna Young | |
| Born | 15 June 1952 Dumfries, Scotland |
| Died | 5 July 1996 (aged 44) Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Occupation | businesswoman |
| Known for | Pioneer of Free Trade in the UK |
| Partner | Iain Black |
| Website | https://www.lyf.org.uk/ |
Lorna Young (15 June 1952 - 5 July 1996) leading contributor to bringing Fair Trade produce from third world countries to mainstream supermarkets in the UK. [1] [2]
Young was born in Dumfries and studied as a youth and community worker at Moray House. In 1975 she left the course to pursue a career in bookselling, working for the next 15 years at the medical publishers Churchill-Livingstone and later at Chambers. [1] [2] She then became the Sales Director for Campaign Coffee. [3]
Young joined Equal Exchange, initially setup as Campaign Coffee Scotland, in the 1980s. Young introduced a commercial aspect to the charity leading to the sale of fair trade coffee in mainstream UK supermarkets for the first time. [1] [3]
As the first UK Sales Director of Cafedirect Young increased the market share for Fair Trade coffee across the UK. [2] Working in partnership with Oxfam, Traidcraft and Twin Trading, Young secured the first commercial contract for Cafedirect in Co-op and Safeway's Scottish stores in 1992. [4] Eventually leading to stock of Cafedirect in all major UK supermarket chains.
Setup in 2010 and named for Young, the Lorna Young Foundation raises money for sustainable farming in Africa, primarily through open source Farmer Radio programmes. The radio programmes are designed to include education on successful farming and access to information such as crop prices. [5] [6] [7]
Young died suddenly in 1996, she had previously undergone three heart valve transplant operations having been born with a heart condition. [1]
Fair trade is a term for an arrangement designed to help producers in developing countries achieve sustainable and equitable trade relationships. The fair trade movement combines the payment of higher prices to exporters with improved social and environmental standards. The movement focuses in particular on commodities, or products that are typically exported from developing countries to developed countries but is also used in domestic markets, most notably for handicrafts, coffee, cocoa, wine, sugar, fruit, flowers and gold.
An alternative trading organization (ATO) is usually a non-governmental organization (NGO) or mission-driven business aligned with the Fair trade movement, aiming "to contribute to the alleviation of poverty in developing regions of the world by establishing a system of trade that allows marginalized producers in developing regions to gain access to developed markets".
The Fairtrade Foundation is a charity based in the United Kingdom that aims to help disadvantaged producers in developing countries by tackling injustice in conventional trade, in particular by promoting and licensing the Fairtrade Mark, a guarantee that products retailed in the UK have been produced in accordance with internationally agreed Fairtrade standards. The foundation is the British member of FLO International, which unites FLO-CERT, 25 National Fairtrade Organisations and 3 Producer Networks across Europe, Asia, Latin America, North America, Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
Cafédirect is a UK-based alternative trading organization.
Traidcraft was a UK-based Fairtrade organisation, established in 1979. Its trading arm, Traidcraft plc, which sold fairly traded products, went into administration in January 2023.
Twin Trading was an alternative trading company in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1985 and was based in London.
Tearfund is an international Christian relief and development agency based in Teddington, UK. It currently works in around 50 countries, with a primary focus on supporting those in poverty and providing disaster relief for disadvantaged communities.
The Forest, also referred to as Forest Café, was an independent social centre and arts centre located in central Edinburgh, Scotland. It was notable for being run by volunteers as a charitable, self-sustaining not-for-profit. The Forest was initially housed at a West Port venue from 2000 to 2003, then housed at 3 Bristo Place in the former Edinburgh Seventh Day Adventist Church, a building owned by the Edinburgh University Settlement until August 2011. It featured a two room café with performance space, a single room art gallery named Total Kunst, a radical library named Old Hat Books housed in the café front room, an Action Room for consensus process based organisational working group meetings and internet access, artist gallery spaces, a meeting cum screen printing and crafting room, a rehearsal/music studio, a walk-in freezer, a woodworking and machining room, a darkroom specialising in alternative photographic process, and unisex toilets. In August 2012 The Forest reopened at 141 Lauriston Place, Tollcross where it continued its activity as a volunteer-run vegetarian cafe with regular free events and workshops, assuming a pivotal role in the revival of the independent community development in central Edinburgh. In 2022 the physical space closed citing difficulties arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, despite arts activities continuing decentrally.
Fairtrade Fortnight is an annual promotional campaign which happens once every year, organized and funded by the Fairtrade Foundation to increase awareness of Fairtrade products. It makes use of volunteers who support the goals of Fairtrade but who may also be committed to the more general concepts of fair trade, ethical trading or concerned by development issues. The concept was pioneered by the Fairtrade Foundation in the United Kingdom, initially held in 1997 in Scotland and directed by Barnaby Miln.
Fairtrade Canada, formerly TransFair Canada, is a national non-profit certification and public education organization promoting Fairtrade certified products in Canada to improve the livelihood of developing world farmers and workers. It is the Canadian member of FLO International, which unites 24 fair trade producer and certification initiatives across Europe, Asia, Latin America, North America, Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
The fair trade movement has undergone several important changes like the operation for ten thousand villages to open their businesses since early days following World War II. Fair trade, first seen as a form of charity advocated by religious organizations, has radically changed in structure, philosophy and approach. The past fifty years have witnessed massive changes in the diversity of fair trade proponents, the products traded and their distribution networks.
Shared Interest Society Limited is a fair trade financial co-operative based in the United Kingdom formed in 1990. Today it provides credit and financial services to fair trade producers, retailers, importers and exporters throughout the world. Shared Interest works with both Fairtrade International and the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO). In 2004, the Shared Interest Foundation was formed as a charitable subsidiary, providing training and support services to producers, complementing the financial services offered by the Society. Shared Interest received the Queen's Award for Enterprise in 2008.
Paul Rice is the Founder & CEO of Fair Trade USA, the leading third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in North America. Since launching Fair Trade USA in 1998, Rice has brought Fair Trade into the mainstream and built a movement to expand its impact. He has challenged and collaborated with hundreds of companies to rework their global supply chains to obtain high-quality products that support community development and environmental protection.
Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent non-governmental organizations NGOs, focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. It began as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief in Oxford, UK, in 1942, to alleviate World War Two related hunger and continued in the aftermath of the war. By 1970, Oxfam had established an international presence, in India, Australia, Denmark, and North America.
Equal Exchange Trading is a UK-based alternative trading organization. Equal Exchange is a worker's cooperative distributing food and beverage products in the independent natural food sector. The organization's origins stretch back to 1979 "when three voluntary workers returned to Edinburgh after working on aid projects in various parts of Africa."
Fair trade coffee is coffee that is certified as having been produced to fair trade standards by fair trade organizations, which create trading partnerships that are based on dialogue, transparency and respect, with the goal of achieving greater equity in international trade. These partnerships contribute to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to coffee bean farmers. Fair trade organizations support producers and sustainable environmental farming practices and prohibit child labor or forced labor.
The Carnegie United Kingdom Trust is an independent, endowed charitable trust based in Scotland that operates throughout Great Britain and Ireland. Originally established with an endowment from Andrew Carnegie in his birthplace of Dunfermline, it is incorporated by a royal charter and shares purpose-built premises with the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust, and the Carnegie Hero Fund Trust.
Lorna Slater is a Scottish-Canadian politician, who served as Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity in the Scottish Government from 2021 to 2024. She has served as co-leader of the Scottish Greens alongside Patrick Harvie since 2019, and who were the first Green politicians in the UK to serve as government ministers. Slater has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Lothian region since 2021.
The Queen's Award for Enterprise: Sustainable Development is awarded each year on 21 April by Queen Elizabeth II, along with the other two Queen's Awards for Enterprise categories.
Ann Wigglesworth fair trade pioneer, educator and Aberdeen Woman of the Year 1985.