Fairtrade Fortnight smashes record
Over 380,000 campaigners attempted to munch their way into the record books last weekend by eating just one Fairtrade banana during a 24 hour period to mark the end of Fairtrade Fortnight 2009.
People dressed in an array of banana-themed costumes flocked to London’s Trafalgar Square on Saturday 7 March to join in the communal banana chomp, some after attending 24 events in 24 London boroughs over a 24 hour period. Meanwhile residents in the first Fairtrade towns in the UK and the United States - Garstang in Lancashire and Media in Pennsylvania - watched each other take part in the record attempt via a live video link while Leeds hosted its own banana-eating event in the city centre . Elsewhere around the country, young and old, in churches, mosques, synagogues, schools, universities, work places, restaurants, cafés and shops all helped break the world record.
Backed by catering company Compass and retailers Tesco, Waitrose, Asda and Sainsbury’s, events ranged from banana afternoon teas, banana school events, bars serving banana cocktails, banana dancing, banana plays, banana fishing games and lots of other weird and wonderful banana-themed proceedings. The Fairtrade Foundation created a dedicated humorous rap animation aimed at young people, Rapping Bananas, which was seeded across a range of social websites. The track featured Matt Helders’ remix of the Roots Manuva classic Again and Again and was donated by the artists to support Fairtrade. The record bid aimed to support small farmers and workers in developing countries who rely on Fairtrade to earn a sustainable living and improve their communities.
Jane Snell, Business Development Manager at the Fairtrade Foundation said ‘We are thrilled that the banana challenge has been so successful and has resonated with so many thousands of people. Buying Fairtrade is a really easy way to help alleviate poverty and ensure that the people behind the product get a fair price. Bananas are the most popular fruit in the UK and are the most popular Fairtrade product.’
Fairtrade Fortnight was launched to the general public with an action-packed event on London’s South Bank on 22 February. Attended by 8,000 visitors, the launch featured a range of sporty games and activities and special guests included Olympic athletes from Team GB’s rowing squad. Comedian Harry Hill judged a line up of 35 Harry Hill lookalikes in a competition organised by Liberation, the 100% Fairtrade nut company behind Harry’s Nuts!
Also during Fairtrade Fortnight, an estimated 11,000 separate campaigner events were held, ranging from coffee mornings to fashion shows and regional debates by Fairtrade Towns, Churches and Schools around the UK.
The Fairtrade Foundation launched a report The Global Food Crisis and Fairtrade: Small farmers, big solutions? which warned that efforts to tackle the global food crisis will fail without urgent action to support small farmers in developing countries. The report formed the basis for a high-level conference at which a range of government officials, international NGOs, small farmer representatives and businesses discussed the impact of the food crisis for small farmers and the business case for future small farmer support. Key speakers included Gareth Thomas MP, Minister of State for Trade and Development; industry chiefs including Justin King, Chief Executive of Sainsbury’s; dedicated Fairtrade company bosses including Sophi Tranchell, Managing Director of Divine Chocolate, as well as producer representatives from India, Malawi, Sri Lanka and Uganda who supply the UK market with nuts, sugar, tea and coffee.
A series of regional debates on trade, climate change and ethical shopping were hosted by Fairtrade networks and organisations which support Fairtrade. The Great Trade debates explored the various issues in relation to marginalised farmers and workers and looked at how Fairtrade is part of the solution.
A new schools DVD called Are you a Fairtrade School – All you need to know was launched to coincide with Fairtrade Fortnight. The resource provides ideas and inspiration for students, teachers and young people in education, either interested in becoming a Fairtrade School or seeking ideas on ways to support Fairtrade. The DVD features 25 school case studies from all over the UK showing how they can incorporate Fairtrade into school life and the curriculum. Fairtrade is currently taught across a wide-range of subjects including citizenship and ‘Every Child Matters’.
The Fairtrade Foundation announced that UK sales of products carrying the FAIRTRADE Mark reached an estimated retail value in excess of £700m in 2008, bucking the global downturn with a 43% increase over 2007. Fairtrade tea, sugar and cotton all doubled in value, whilst bananas remain the biggest selling Fairtrade product with 27% growth to £184m estimated value in 2008. TNS Worldpanel research (real supermarket purchases of around 15,000 demographically weighted shoppers) also showed that almost 18 million UK families bought Fairtrade goods in 2008, over 70% of households bought Fairtrade goods in 2008 (up from 66.7% in 2007), 1.3m more households bought Fairtrade in 2008 than in 2007 and shoppers purchased Fairtrade more regularly in 2008 compared with 2007 up from 10.7 shopping trips to 12.8.
Commercial announcements included Cadbury’s plans to achieve Fairtrade certification for Cadbury Dairy Milk, the nation’s top selling chocolate bar, by end of summer 2009. This groundbreaking move will result in the tripling of sales of cocoa under Fairtrade terms for cocoa farmers in Ghana, both increasing Fairtrade cocoa sales for existing certified farming groups, as well as opening up new opportunities for thousands more farmers to benefit from the Fairtrade system.
The first olive oil to carry the FAIRTRADE Mark was launched to coincide with the start of Fairtrade Fortnight. This delicious, high quality product produced by marginalized Palestinian farmers will provide much needed income to olive farmers, struggling to make a living.
Commenting on the Fairtrade Fortnight campaign, Barbara Crowther, Director of Communications and Policy at the Fairtrade Foundation said: ‘We’ve just ended another amazing Fairtrade Fortnight. The good news is that despite the current economic situation, were have been able to report growth of 43% in the estimated retail value of Fairtrade sales. But if times are tough for us here, they’re desperate for smallholders, caught between rising food and fuel prices, and a credit crunch that means whilst our banks are being bailed out, theirs are closing their doors. Fairtrade is needed now more than ever – and we’re delighted that so many thousands of people across the UK continue to support Fairtrade and choose products with the FAIRTRADE Mark.’