News
Fairtrade Fortnight
26/02/2010 09:15:00
AS PART of their celebrations for Fairtrade fortnight 2010, members of Kirkwall East Church are set to have a Coffee Morning on Saturday, February 27.
This will be one of thousands of events taking place around the country
during Fairtrade Fortnight, February 22 to March 7, which was
kick-started by the Fairtrade Foundation's public launch in central
London.
The theme of Fairtrade Fortnight 2010 is 'The Big Swap' and the idea is
to get everyone to swap their usual brands for Fairtrade ones. Swap
your usual bananas for Fairtrade bananas, your usual socks for
Fairtrade socks and your usual cuppa for a Fairtrade cuppa. Each swap
will help farmers and their dependants in the developing world to get a
fairer deal.
A Fairtrade Foundation spokesman said: "We've come a long way in 15
years, but there is still a long way to go. Buying Fairtrade products
shows that we want trade to work in favour of producers in developing
countries. Although Fairtrade products are much more widely available
these days, buying them is still not yet the norm for everyone. So, for
Fairtrade Fortnight 2010, let's get swapping and build on the progress
we have made so far."
In 2009, despite the economic downturn, Fairtrade Fortnight reached
17.7 million people and sales of Fairtrade products bucked the national
trend with 7% year-on-year growth in the first half of 2009. A study
commissioned at the end of Fairtrade Fortnight showed that 7 in 10
people in the UK recognised the FAIRTRADE Mark.
At the Coffee Morning there will be fairly traded refreshments and
stalls including, where possible, baking made using fairly traded
ingredients and also other Fairtrade products.
Kirkwall East Church would encourage as many people as possible to swap
to Fairtrade products. So far, around 7.5 million people in the
developing world have benefited from Fairtrade deals, - but there is a
long journey ahead as Fairtrade still accounts for a tiny percentage of
world agricultural trade.
Harriet Lamb, executive director of the Fairtrade Foundation says:
"When times are tough for families here, they are desperate for
producers in developing countries. Getting involved delivers real
change for producers."