OUSU gives out Fairtrade BJs

By Abbas Panjwani

By Ian Cheong

Karamel Sutra was on the tongues of several Oxford students on Monday as they thronged a Ben & Jerry’s van for a pint of free ice cream.

The event, organised by OUSU’s Environment and Ethics (E&E) Committee, was part of their effort to raise the awareness of Fairtrade in Oxford.

Daniel Tarry, E&E chair and event organiser, said: “Today saw the culmination of our Fairtrade Campaign for this year.

“So, what better way to celebrate this than to team up with Ben & Jerry’s to bring free Fairtrade ice cream to Oxford, to promote Fairtrade. It has been a real success with a great turnout and a good atmosphere.”

The campaign was launched by OUSU this year and aims to promote the use of Fairtrade products within colleges and around Oxford.

Bethea Hanson-Jones, a member of the E&E committee, said: “This event gave us a platform to spread the word to students whilst working with a company who uses Fairtrade products in all of their ice creams.

“The event was very successful, giving us the opportunity to reach many students, whilst providing them with some tasty Fairtrade food!”

Carys Lawrie, a second-year English student from Univ, said: “It’s really good that OUSU is trying to raise awareness of Fairtrade prod- ucts, and it was great advertising for the Environment and Ethics campaign too. Plus, getting a free tub of Ben & Jerry’s significantly improved my busy Monday!”

Thea Tan, a second-year PPEist from Somerville, said that the giveaway was a “good respite” from work. She added: “I was working in the Rad Cam and saw quite a queue forming outside – I was curious and quite naturally went out to have a look. Then I saw the van and quite frankly, who can say no to free ice cream?”

University students were not the only ones who lined up for the ice cream. Michelle Dixon, a tourist from Chicago, said: “I was just visit- ing my friend at Teddy Hall and he told me about this free Ben & Jerry’s day, and we thought, why not?

“We needed some dessert after lunch and Ben & Jerry’s is a more than adequate one. What’s more, we lined up for a good cause and got a free tub of premium ice cream to boot.Not a bad deal,if Isays o myself!”