Image: Lisa Butcher by Trevor Leighton for Fairtrade Foundation
my memories are of the freshest onuts to bananas, picked fresh on ce trickling through your fingers is Sales of Fairtrade products across the UK hit £1.32 billion in 2011. That figure has grown from £30 million sales in 2001. The number of products carrying the FAIRTRADE Mark has also grown from 80 to more than 4,500 licensed products. This enables some 7.5 million farmers and workers and their families across the world to participate in Fairtrade. To give you just one example: the Sri Lankan Small and Organic Farmers’ Association had 300 members ten years ago selling tiny amounts of tea. Today it has 2,300 farmers who sell all their tea as Fairtrade and have diversified into spices. The income they receive from the Fairtrade Premium - money paid on top of the Fairtrade minimum price that’s invested in the local community - has meant they’ve had agricultural training, taken leadership and computer courses, invested in water supply for their farms and drinking water, given books to the school children, set-up self-employment schemes for women... The list goes on. A flourishing grassroots social movement has also grown across the UK. There are now 500 Fairtrade Towns – towns where a commitment to Fairtrade has been made by the council, shops and businesses. If you’re coming to London for the Olympics, nearly all the tea, coffee, chocolate, sugar, bananas, wine and oranges across all Olympic locations will be Fairtrade – a great way to show off Fairtrade Britain!
arents are from Ghana and one of our means “Welcome” in Twi (the main ou picked up any phrases from your
, - which means “travel well”; and, terally means “I bow to you” – ed.].
www.fairtrade.org.uk.
uk Cocoa Tour: www.fairtrade.org.uk/producers
Coffee Tour: www.fairtradeafrica.net/producers-products/best-practices/