Fairtrade fortnight - has Ealing got what it takes...

...to become a Fairtrade borough

Fairtrade campaigners kept up momentum this weekend, urging traders in Ealing to stock Fairtrade goods, and shoppers to go out and buy them.

Last weekend people got togged up in Fairtrade fashion to publicise the good cause. This weekend they set up stall in Ealing Broadway shopping centre giving out free Fairtrade tasters and flyers listing where to buy them in Ealing.

One campaigner asked some schoolchildren whether they realised that children their age are sent out to work producing the non-fairtrade equivalents of the chocolate they had just been handed. The message struck home and not just because of the free chocolate.

“Why doesn't everyone buy this food,” asked one shocked passing child. For a start it would help to know where to get it. And that was the crux of this weekend's push. “We have a simple message for supporters in the borough: ask for it,” said Ealing Fairtrade Group's Herbert Hove. “Anyone who supports Fairtrade can get involved in the campaign simply by asking for it when they are eating, drinking and shopping.

“Fairtrade is no longer confined to coffee, chocolate and bananas – there are now more than 1,500 different products available, including flowers, jeans, T-shirts and footballs.

"Did you know that over £140 million was spent on Fairtrade products in the UK in 2004? The products are no longer the preserve of a tiny minority interest group, but are being taken seriously across the country."

So far 35 shops and 15 cafes are on board, but the borough still needs 10 more shops or cafes to join the list to become a Fairtrade borough. Richmond and Croydon have already proved it can be achieved.

The Fairtrade Foundation says:

"The relentless roller coaster of fluctuating commodity prices can have the same catastrophic effect on the lives of farmers and workers in the developing world as a natural disaster like a tsunami. Disastrous troughs in world prices for agricultural goods, alongside the long-term downward price trend, are devastating the lives of families and rural communities as farmers struggle to make a living from their land. The impact may be more gradual, but the spiralling effects of falling prices and loss of income can lead to under-employment, economic and physical hardship, homelessness, forced migration, and life-threatening poverty and disease.

Against this backdrop, Fairtrade is a positive model of trade which is fairer and more sustainable for farmers and has the potential to transform communities."

If you sell food or drink and would like to know more, you are invited to a Wine & Fairtrade event on 14th March at the YTwo Cafe (YMCA). Join the local consortium and get discounted Fairtrade poroducts.  For more information contact judithramm@blueyonder.co.uk

Where to find Fairtrade

Asda

As Nature Intended

Balfour

Budgens

Co-op Supermarket

Farm W5

Holland & Barrett

JR's Off-licence & Grocery

Londis

Marks & Spencer

Market Place Healthfoods

Millenium Healthfood

Oxfam Shop

Morrisons

Sainsbury's Supermarket

Sainsbury's Local

Somerfield Supermarket

Southall

Stockwells

Stockwells Pharmacy

Tesco Supermarket

Tesco Express

Tesco Metro

Threshers

Threshers Wine Shop

Waitrose Supermarket

Wine Rack

Cafes

BB's Coffee and Muffins

Cadenza

Cafe Chai

Costa

Farm W5

Greegs

Ha Ha Bar and Canteen

Joe's Friends

M & S Cafe Revive

Munson's

Slug and Lettuce

Skylight

Snips

Starbucks

Thames Valley University

Vanilla

Y Two Five (YMCA)

March 15, 2007