Press Q&A - Ziggurat of Flavour
What is the Ziggurat of Flavour?
The Fairtrade Foundation has teamed up with food architects Bompas and Parr who are conducting a unique experiment by creating a Ziggurat of Flavour which leads you to a Fairtrade fruit cloud that you can taste.
The Ziggurat of Flavour is a three-storey high pyramidal installation that will be unveiled at the Big Chill Festival in Herefordshire on Friday 6 August (the festival takes place from 5 - 8 August) and will kick start the Fairtrade Foundation’s year-long Fairtrade Fresh Fruit Campaign. Fairtrade fruit is being prepared onsite, liquefied by Big Chill visitors and clarified through reverse osmosis. The cloud itself is using the same technology as Anthony Gormley’s Blind Light at the Hayward Gallery. To see images of the Ziggurat and find out more go to: http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/products/fruit
Can I really get one of my five-a-day by inhaling Fairtrade fruit in the Ziggurat of Flavour?
Although this is a really exciting experiment, the Fairtrade Foundation recommends that eating fresh fruit and vegetables remains the most reliable way of getting your five a day - and there’s lots of Fairtrade fruit to choose from. There are currently 19 types of Fairtrade fresh fruit available and, to raise awareness of this growing range, the Fairtrade Foundation is launching a year-long fruit campaign called Power Up Your Fruit Bowl, to get consumers to buy Fairtrade fruit and make a positive difference to their lives of Fairtrade farmers and their communities.
Why a Ziggurat, how will this get the Fairtrade message across?
Bompas and Parr approached the Fairtrade Foundation about working with us on this project which is about the provenance of food and making the connection between food and the producer. The project is being funded by various partners including the Arts Council, the Big Chill, Bompas and Parr and the Fairtrade Foundation. The Ziggurat is an innovative and eye-catching way for us to launch the Fairtrade Foundation’s Fairtrade fresh fruit campaign called Power Up Your Fruit Bowl to promote awareness of the growing Fairtrade range which supports Fairtrade producers and communities in developing countries to improve their lives.
What is the message behind the campaign?
Fairtrade is launching this campaign to raise awareness of the need for fairer terms of trade for all farmers and workers producing the food we eat. We want to encourage more people to choose Fairtrade fruit, and make more of a difference to the lives of the small-scale farmers and workers on commercial fruit farms who grow it. We have seen how Fairtrade can bring tangible benefits to farmers and their communities, and want people to see the difference they can make by choosing Fairtrade. We are focusing on fruit to highlight the fact that in order have a decent livelihood fruit farmers must receive a fair price for what they grow and farm workers paid an adequate wage.
Is this not a waste of Fairtrade fruit?
No, this is just a whole new way for people to taste, enjoy and learn about Fairtrade fresh fruit. The fruit will be recycled where possible and Bompas and Parr will supply local farms with fruit waste to use in animal feed.
Why is the focus fruit and not another Fairtrade product category?
We are focusing on fruit because although many people know about of Fairtrade bananas, they may not be aware of the other 18 fruits in the Fairtrade range. Fruit is a staple shopping basket item but often one which, because of supermarket price promotions, does not always reflect the true cost of its production. Because of this, and as a result of the recession, many Fairtrade farmers are struggling to sell their produce to retailers on Fairtrade terms, and one of the aims of the campaign is to increase sales of this category to open the door for new and existing Fairtrade producers.
Are there Fairtrade standards and a Fairtrade minimum price for Fairtrade fruit?
Yes. Fairtrade generic standards comprise both minimum social, economic and environmental requirements, which producers must meet to be certified, plus progress requirements that encourage continuous improvement to develop farmers’ organisations or the situation of farm workers. In addition, there are product specific requirement for bananas (a separate category) and also for fresh fruit. For more information go to http://www.fairtrade.net/
The Fairtrade minimum price defines the lowest possible price that a buyer of Fairtrade products must pay the producer and the starting point for price negotiations. The minimum price is set following a consultative process with Fairtrade producers and traders and is calculated to cover the costs of sustainable production. When the market price is higher than the Fairtrade minimum price, the market price is payable. For current minimum prices for bananas and for other fresh fruit go to http://www.fairtrade.net/
What is the Fairtrade premium?
The premium is a sum of money paid on top of the Fairtrade minimum price that is invested in social, environmental and economic development projects, decided upon democratically by farmers or farm workers.
Is all Fairtrade fruit grown by small-scale farmers or does some of it come from large plantations?
Fairtrade fruit comes from both small-scale farmers’ organisations and commercial farms or plantations. For example the Windward Islands Farmers’ Association (WINFA) has been Fairtrade certified since 2000 and represents 3,500 smallholder banana farmers from Dominica, St Lucia, and St. Vincent. On the other hand, pineapples are supplied to the UK from Bomarts Farms, a plantation in Ghana that employs 650 workers.
Is Fairtrade Fruit organic?
Not necessarily. Fairtrade criteria however require sustainable farming techniques, and offer a higher price for organic products. Moreover, Fairtrade premiums are often used to train producers in sustainable farming techniques like composting and integrating recycled materials and also for organic conversion programmes. Fairtrade organic bananas are available in many stores.
Why should consumers pay more for Fairtrade fruit when it is sometimes almost double the cost of non-Fairtrade fruit?
It is the retailer that determines the final price you and I pay, and we can’t control it. Whilst Fairtrade farmers do receive better prices and Fairtrade premiums for their fruit, this only accounts for a small part of the price difference. Because many Fairtrade fruits, apart from bananas, are only sold in small quantities at present, all the costs of exporting, shipping, storing and packaging this fruit can be higher. The more we can increase the amount of Fairtrade fruit sold, the more likely it will be therefore that economies of scale could be found. This has already happened on bananas which are now very competitively priced. For the other fruits in the meantime, what can often be a small difference for many consumers can make a huge difference for the farmers and we hope people will understand the difference they can make in choosing Fairtrade fruit.
What Fairtrade fruit is available and where does Fairtrade fruit come from?
A calendar of seasonal fruit is available on our website http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/products/fruit which shows which Fairtrade fruits are in season and when. We continually update this. There are also producer case studies which show you where some of the fruit comes from such as Ghana, South Africa and the Windward Islands on the website. These show how the Fairtrade premium has been used.
Where can I find other Fairtrade fruit besides Fairtrade bananas? If I can’t find other fruits like oranges, lemons and pineapples is there anything I can do to persuade retailers to stock the fruit?
Our website has information on where you can find Fairtrade fruit. If you can’t find any in store, we suggest you go and ask the manager of your local store to start stocking Fairtrade fruit and direct them to our website to find out more information on Fairtrade.
Is Fairtrade fruit air freighted?
Virtually all Fairtrade fruit is shipped by sea, often in temperature-controlled conditions. Fairtrade flowers and some vegetables, however, are often air-freighted because of their high perishability. Air freight in fact accounts for only 0.3% of total UK greenhouse gas emissions against the 8% associated with meat and dairy production. While reducing the carbon footprint of food is important, the issue is complex and it is important that producers in poor countries responsible for only a fraction of overall global emissions are not penalised in the transition towards a low-carbon global economy.
Shouldn’t we be buying local fruit in season, rather than shipping it from the other side of the world?
It’s important we support our local farmers, who often face similar problems to farmers in developing countries. Some Fairtrade products, like apples, are harvested in both the UK and places such as South Africa at different times of the year, and, for as long as shoppers want to buy apples out of season in the UK and there is a demand for fruit from other countries we suggest shoppers should buy fruit with the FAIRTRADE Mark.