Hebweb news 2007: Fair Trade: not just a load of bananas!

Fair Trade: not just a load of bananas!

Friday, 2 March 2007

We are now in the middle of national Fairtrade Fortnight, which runs from 26th Feb to 11th March 2007. The theme this year is “Change Today, Choose Fairtrade”.

With over 2500 Fairtrade certified products now available, it’s easier than ever to change what you eat, drink and wear to a fairtrade option, and to make a positive change today for the lives of millions and farmers in developing countries.

Here in Hebden Bridge (one of the country’s first ‘Fairtrade Towns”), the local Fairtrade Forum have organised a Fairtrade Fortnight event this coming Saturday 3rd March, called “It’s Not Just a Load of Bananas!”

This will take place from 11.30 to 3.30 at “Spirals”, 11-13 Market Street, (partly in the shop and partly upstairs) and will feature displays and slideshows, samples and refreshments. If you don’t know where Spirals is, look out for the inflatable banana! And watch for posters and special fairtrade displays in other local shops.

Fairtrade is now big business, growing by 40% every year in the UK, giving hundreds of thousands of producers in developing countries the chance to build a better future and to compete in cut-throat global markets. The plan is to go further.

Forum chair Roger Munday said: “Fairtrade is now a credible ethical choice and has demonstrated its potential to help producers improve their livelihoods, strengthen their businesses and benefit their communities. But compared with what is needed in the poorer countries of the world, we’ve really only begun to make a dent in the struggle against poverty and unfair trade.

“And for the consumer, the huge growth brings its own problems of choice and identity. We hope that this event will help the people of this town to find out what is available, where to get it, and how to choose Fairtrade and change the world”