Fairtrade Fortnight: Youth Release

Joyce Davanna Salazar Zuñiga who’s 10 and lives in a poor region of Costa Rica is one of this year’s smiling faces of Fairtrade – she graces the labels on all of Sainsbury’s Fairtrade pineapples. Her dad, Macedonio, a farmer, has joined the Asoproagroín association of small scale pineapple growers which sells to the Fairtrade market. This has meant more food, better conditions and more security for Joyce, her mother, brothers and sister. Macedonio’s pineapples are imported into the UK by AgroFair – a Fairtrade company owned by its growers, including Macedonio – and they’re on sale in Co-op, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose stores.

Joyce is just one of the young people involved in this year’s Fairtrade Fortnight which runs from March 1-13. Children and teenagers all over this country too are answering her call to CHECK OUT FAIRTRADE.

CHECK OUT FAIRTRADE is the theme of this year’s Fairtrade Fortnight. It’s a call to shoppers across the UK to find out all about the FAIRTRADE Mark - the only independent guarantee of a fair deal for farmers in developing countries. And it’s also encouraging them to take goods with the FAIRTRADE Mark to the checkout of their local shop or supermarket.

“It’s so quick and easy for shoppers to choose products with the FAIRTRADE Mark, and we know that children and young people are among the most enthusiastic. They know the difference Fairtrade makes to farmers and their families in developing countries is dramatic,” says Harriet Lamb, Director of the Fairtrade Foundation. “The Fairtrade system gives communities a real chance to build a brighter future and to ‘Make Poverty History’.” (See notes)

Just as the Fairtrade system can help provide much needed schools in poorer countries, giving children an education they would otherwise miss, more and more children in this country find Fairtrade at their schools every day – vending machines selling Fairtrade snacks, chocolate bars and juices are springing up in schools across the country.

Also in schools in the UK, a network of Young Co-operatives (www.youngcooperatives.org.uk) has been established which promotes Fairtrade in schools and local communities. In 2002 there were two Young Co-operative groups. There are now 107, everywhere from the north of Scotland to southern England. The original two are The Chocolateers and Coco-Banana groups which have sold thousands of pounds worth of Fairtrade goods at their schools in Hartlepool and have been nominated for an Enterprising Young Brits award. The Young Co-operative with the best name is a Durham group: Lock, Choc and Two Smoking Coffees! There’ll be a launch of Young Co-operatives in Wales at the National Assembly, Cardiff, on March 3rd, and an event at Bristol Zoo for young Co-operatives in the area on March 2nd. The National Young Co-operatives Congress takes place on March 9th in Stockton on Tees.

Fairtrade Fortnight Events for Young People
During Fairtrade Fortnight there will be around 7,500 Fairtrade events all over the country many of which will help young people learn about Fairtrade while also having fun.

On 7th March, Manchester/Salford are set to become jointly the UK’s 100th city or town to achieve Fairtrade status. Ten children from each of the city’s schools that have joined the Fairtrade campaign are invited to attend the Lord Mayor’s Tea Party at the Town Hall where the Lord Mayor will thank them in person for their support for Manchester’s Fairtrade City Bid. They will be treated to Fairtrade refreshments and will attend a special screening of Matthew’s Story, a Fairtrade video diary made by nine year old Matthew Hill, as well as hearing a talk by Fairtrade cocoa producers from Ghana. The children will then march in procession with a drumming band, flags and banners to Corporation Street, where the presentation of Fairtrade City status will take place.

In Bolton, on February 25, every school will be presented with a Fairtrade football by Secretary of State for Education Ruth Kelly MP and on March 2 winners of the Bolton Schools Fairtrade Art and Poetry Competition will be presented with prizes by the Mayor of Bolton. The Fairtrade Frenzy! in Glasgow on March 5 will have a children’s activities area to help children learn more about Fairtrade and the problems of poverty. At the Leeds Fairtrade Fiesta on March 5 there will be music, quizzes and a competition for children. At New Consumer Magazine’s Fairtrade Experience at the Royal Concert Hall on March 12 also in Glasgow, there’ll be a tea party for kids and activities all day. Details of these events and many others can be found on the Fairtrade Foundation website www.fairtrade.org.uk.

On March 9th-10th, 180 Year 10 students at Copthall School in North London will spend two days studying Fairtrade and developing their enterprise skills as part of their Enterprise Programme, while at Commonwork Organic Farm in Kent, children from local schools will be getting stuck in to Fairtrade and food activities from 1st-4th March.

Tadesse Meskela, General Manager of Oromia Coffee Farmers’ Co-operative Union in Ethiopia, will be visiting the UK for Fairtrade Fortnight. Oromia’s mission is to support small producers in becoming economically self-sufficient and ensuring their families in famine prone areas have enough to eat. Tadesse explains, “With Fairtrade coffee, farmers in Ethiopia are getting their deserved reward. Fairtrade is not just a selling and buying process. It’s creating a global family.”

The guarantees behind the FAIRTRADE Mark are as follows:

• Farmers receive a fair and stable price for their products
• Farmers and plantation workers have the opportunity to improve their lives
• Greater respect for the environment
• Small-scale farmers gain a stronger position in world markets
• A closer link between consumers and producers

Most major retailers are planning special promotional activities during Fairtrade Fortnight to highlight Fairtrade products on their shelves and at the checkout. Elsewhere on the high street, café chains and restaurants will also be drawing attention to the Fairtrade tea, coffee, juices and snacks now appearing on their menus.
ends

Notes to Editor
1. Glastonbury Festival 2004 blazed a trail for festivals around the UK by requiring all food stalls to sell Fairtrade coffee and hot chocolate. Working with Fairtrade supplier Cafeology, the FAIRTRADE Mark was displayed on stalls throughout the festival grounds and the same will happen at this year’s festival.
2. The FAIRTRADE Mark is an independent consumer label which appears on products as a guarantee that disadvantaged producers are getting a better deal. Today, more than 5 million people - farmers, workers and their families - across 49 developing countries benefit from the international Fairtrade system. The Fairtrade Foundation is an independent certification body that awards the FAIRTRADE Mark to products which meet international Fairtrade standards.
3. Make Poverty History brings together a wide cross-section of 100 organisations united by a common belief that this year offers an unprecedented opportunity for global change, including trade justice, drop the debt and more and better aid. www.makepovertyhistory.org

For further information please contact the Fairtrade Foundation: 020 7440 7695 or switchboard 020 7405 5942, mobile 0790 4455666 / 07734 566079, Email: media.one@fairtrade.org.uk and media@fairtrade.org.uk

www.fairtrade.org.uk