This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Reality check for coffee drinkers
04/10/2002
Scotland's coffee drinkers were today encouraged to consider their cuppa and think of fair trade.
At the Kelvingrove Art Gallery in Glasgow, Tourism and Culture Minister Mike Watson launched an exhibition of photographs illustrating the plight of coffee growers in Haiti and Mexico.
The exhibition, part of Oxfam's, 'What's That in Your Coffee?' campaign, presents the work of internationally recognised photographers Zed Nelson and Janet Jarman.
The Minister said:
"This exhibition is something of a reality check, forcing us to come face to face with the consequences of skewed commercial trading practices that involve all of us here today.
"The images on display are not only beautifully crafted studies but are powerful tools for social change. They demonstrate the diversity of artistic media and graphically illustrate that art can and does matter in many ways -economic, social, cultural and political - to all.
"These photographs are representative of art can make a real difference in narrowing the gap between the advantaged and the disadvantaged."