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 Change Today. Choose Fairtrade, is an urgent call to people in
the UK to engage with the Fairtrade Foundation?s vision of
an even bigger movement for positive change on unfair trade, including
making the switch to buying Fairtrade. This is the theme of Fairtrade
Fortnight 2007 (26 February ? 11 March), the annual promotional
campaign of the Fairtrade Foundation which encourages people to
buy products carrying the FAIRTRADE Mark.
Fairtrade sales increase by around 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.
But Fairtrade Foundation Executive Director Harriet Lamb wants the
movement to go further: ?Fairtrade 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.?
?With more local campaigns, products, shops and companies
in Britain and Ireland involved in Fairtrade, we all now have the
chance to play an even bigger part in helping bring about much more
significant change,? she adds. ?Communities in Africa,
Asia and Latin America have done so much with the leverage of Fairtrade,
and there is so much more they want to do, so many more changes
they want to make in their lives too. But to achieve that, we need
even more buy-in from businesses and consumers at home.?
The FAIRTRADE Mark is the only consumer label that focuses on ensuring
farmers in developing countries receive an agreed and stable price
for the crops they grow, as well as additional income to invest
for the future. With polls showing that more than one in two people
in the UK recognise the FAIRTRADE Mark, the Fairtrade Foundation
is using this year?s Fairtrade Fortnight to communicate how
informed consumer decisions can help tackle poverty in the developing
world. Stories of farmers like Gerardo Arias Camacho of Coocafe
coffee cooperative in Costa Rica will help build understanding of
how consumer purchasing of Fairtrade products is supporting them
in bringing about change in local communities. Camacho tells how
Coocafe has used the added premium which comes with Fairtrade sales
to replace old coffee trees, install a water treatment system reducing
the use of water, repair roads and bridges and pay for student scholarships.
?We want people to understand that by changing to the huge
range of Fairtrade products now available they are empowering others
to work for a better life,? says Harriet Lamb. ?A small
change in our shopping habits can mean a community in Africa, Asia,
or Latin America can build classrooms, employ a nurse or invest
in processing machinery,? says Harriet Lamb. ?Fairtrade
has been embraced enthusiastically by people in the UK but we still
need more and more people to choose Fairtrade so that more farmers
can sell more of their produce under Fairtrade terms.?
In September, Harriet Lamb attended the first General Assembly
of the Network of Asian Producers in Fairtrade held in Thailand.
There she went on a field visit to rice farmers with the Sarapi
Chokchai Co-operative, four hours? drive from Bangkok. As
with many crops, disastrous falling prices of rice (from over US
$600/tonne to just $150/tonne in the 30 years to 2002) have left
farmers struggling to earn a decent livelihood. In 2005, global
sales of Fairtrade certified rice grew 23% to reach 1,700 tonnes.
However, Sarapi Chokchai co-operative alone has a capacity of 11,000
tonners of rice, highlighting the scale of the challenge facing
the Fairtrade movement. As Thai rice grower Korawan Yormkratok,
told Harriet: ?For the rice shoots, we?re waiting for
the rain. For our living, we?re waiting for Fairtrade.?
To take up this challenge, the Foundation is co-ordinating The
Fairtrade Fortnight promotional campaign, showing just how easy
it is to bring change by choosing Fairtrade products. Posters are
being distributed countrywide exorting people to Munch it!, Wear
it!, Spread it!, Taste it! and Choose it! along with the call to
action Promote it!, Try it!, Plan it! These will be used by thousands
of Fairtrade supporters who hold events to promote Fairtrade during
the annual Fairtrade Fortnight campaign. Last year around 10,000
events were held, from fashion shows and football matches, to concerts
and exhibitions. Tastings of Fairtrade products were held in churches,
mosques, synagogues, schools, universities, supermarkets and workplaces.
Throughout 2006, there has been a host of major developments for
Fairtrade in the UK. One of the main successes has been an increase
to 210 in the number of Fairtrade Towns ? communities where
active Fairtrade networks pledge to promote Fairtrade in their towns,
villages and cities. There are also 50 Fairtrade Universities and
3,000 Fairtrade Churches. A Fairtrade at Work campaign was launched
in the autumn, championed by major companies including Co-operative
Financial Services ? the parent organisation of the Co-operative
Bank and Co-operative Insurance ? to encourage workplaces
to offer Fairtrade products such as tea, coffee, fruit juice, sugar
and biscuits to employees in the staff canteen, in meetings or throughout
corporate catering.
The year has also seen unprecedented uptake by the commercial sector
resulting in many new products and new product categories, and major
increases in market share in some of the well developed categories.
Fairtrade bananas currently make up 7.9% of the UK banana market
by value, compared with 4.2% in 2004 and 6.7% in 2005. Fairtrade
roast and ground coffee now accounts for around 20%of the market
and Fairtrade pineapples 5.2%.
?With everything from peppercorns, cinnamon and vanilla pods,
to avocados and grapes to rum and wine, to yule logs, and blueberry
muffins, there is something for everyone in Fairtrade,? says
Harriet Lamb. ?Many people still only think of tea and coffee
when they think of Fairtrade, but there is now a huge range of products,
and a huge range of choice within each product category. So there
is something for everyone among the 2,000 Fairtrade retail and catering
products - and Fairtrade Fortnight 2007 is a great time for people
to make the change and choose Fairtrade.?
Tags: fairtrade campaign development
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Eat and Drink 
Many
office workers now choose the convenience of a pre packaged sandwich for their
lunchtime snack, but the thousands of tons of plastic packaging that wraps all
these butties makes a major contribution to the two million tonnes of waste
that the food and drinks industry generates annually. 
Coffee is a universal experience enjoyed by billions of people on a
daily basis and is part of an industry worth over $80 billion a year.
But the people behind the product are in crisis with millions of
growers fast becoming bankrupt. Nowhere more evident is this paradox
than in Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee.
Uncork a nice bottle of
wine this month and help relieve poverty in the UK and abroad. As part
of 
In order to draw attention to this years ?World Water Day? Water Coolers Direct are increasing their normal donation to FRANK Water Projects from ?5 to ?25 for every cooler purchased between the 1st and 22nd March 2007.
