Intu Bananas campaign for Fairtrade Fortnight

Campaigners across Watford and Three Rivers joined forces with the rest of the country to remind everyone of the dramatic difference Fairtrade makes around the world and why it is urgently needed. Fairtrade Fortnight is the highlight of the year for Fairtrade campaigners up and down the country. From 23 February – 8 March, thousands of events were held to amplify the campaign in many of Fairtrade’s network of 600 Fairtrade Towns, 1350 Fairtrade Schools and 170 Fairtrade Universities, and 7,500 Fairtrade Faith Groups. Activities included producer events, film screenings, tastings, and a ‘Stock It’ Challenge.

Fairtrade ensures farmers across the developing world receive a fairer price for their work, as well as an additional Fairtrade Premium, used by farmers and workers to invest in their communities. The community then decides what the Premium is spent on, whether that’s building a new school or hospital, or investing in better environmental business practices.

Campaigners from Three Rivers and Watford held a Fairtrade stand at the Intu Centre in Watford on Saturday 28 February and Sunday 1 March. Informing people on what's going on locally and nationally, they also collected signatures for a petition to encourage supermarkets to increase the number of Fairtrade items they stock. The Fairtrade banana costumes raised smiles from children, whilst the nearby Lego shop supported the campaign by building a Lego banana to add to the fun.

Jane Brading from the Three Rivers group said ‘“It’s great that in the UK we have been buying a growing number of Fairtrade goods, as we recognise the importance of paying a fair price to the producers. But there are many farmers and workers who still do not get a fair deal, so it’s important to help them by adding more Fairtrade items to our shopping lists - there are lots to choose from, including Easter eggs.”

Adam Gardner, Fairtrade Foundation’s Communities Campaigns Manager, said: ‘In 2015, we want to see more individuals and businesses buying and selling Fairtrade products in the UK. The more that people choose Fairtrade, the more farmers and workers will be empowered to improve their lives through the better terms of trade it offers.’

You can view ‘Fairtrade Matters’ a thought-provoking short film by the Fairtrade Foundation and director Will Robson-Scott. With cinematic landscapes of rural southern Malawi never far away, the film features poignant portraits of tea producers Edson Maotchedwe, a 45-year old tea farmer and dedicated father of seven and Tsala Mwale, a 28-year-old single mother of one and a pioneer in her village where she was the first to bring solar power to her home, who works in a tea processing factory.  http://www.fairtrade.org.uk