Fairtrade: what does it mean?
Everday in the UK over nine million cups of fairtrade tea, six million cups of fairtrade coffee and 2 million fairtrade chocolate bars are sold.
Ethical snack breaks are clearly a popular treat.
The fairtrade foundation launched fairtrade fortnight 2011 by announcing that sales of fairtrade products had soared by 40 per cent in 2010 – to an estimated retail value of 1.17 billion pounds.
Fairtrade fortnight runs from the 28th feb to the 13th march. City University Environment Officer Dawn White told us a little more about what the College is doing during the two-week period.
Transcript
The fairtrade mark is recognised by 74 per cent of the public thanks to many community campaigns in over 500 fairtrade towns across the country including London.
Fairtrade coffee: does it cost more? Is it worth the extra money?
There has been no downturn on ethical values despite the recession. Fairtrade works for the millions of farmers, workers and their families who see fair trade as their lifeline in these tough times where the challenges of global poverty and inequality are more serious than ever.
The environmental benefits of fairtrade are well documented.
By being offered a better, fairer price for their produce farmers are under less pressure to produce high yields and are therefore less destructive with their farming methods.
By reducing the negative impact on the land, decreasing degradation and producing fairly priced crops the fairtrade industry becomes a sustainable one.
With many of us feeling the pinch of the economic dowturn, some may question the value of paying that little bit more for a banana.
The extra cost is a small price to pay to encourage better farming practice and enrich the lives of farmers across the globe. a cleaner conscience may also make this chocolate taste that much sweeter.
Images courtesy of: The Fairtrade Foundation and nyoin
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