Fairtrade Fortnight starts today!
A bright and breezy Monday morning blog to say that the celebration of all-things Fairtrade starts today for two weeks. Fairtrade Fortnight is organised by the Fairtrade Foundation and aims to spread the word about Fairtrade and the benefits it brings to farmers and workers in developing countries. As ever, there are loads of ways you can get involved - first off, you could win a signed Fairtrade football in our rather nifty spot the ball competition.
It all comes as The Observer yesterday published an interesting article on how we can all make a difference to the world around us, including buying Fairtrade fashion. And all the tea and coffee in Marks and Spencer will be Fairtrade from next month, as it "extends its commitment to ethical sourcing", including clothes made from Fairtrade cotton.
10 ways you can support Fairtrade Fortnight >>
posted at 9:52 AM
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3 comments
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GenerationWhy and Oxfam accept no responsibility for the content of comments in the Blog.
Nice to see that M&S is following the co-op's example. How long before companies like Nescafé decide to make fairtrade coffee and tea their business?
By Edd,
March 06, 2006 4:50 PM
It's already happened. In October Nescafe launched Partners' Blend, a new coffee blend sourced from five co-operatives in El Salvador and Ethiopia. It's the first Nestle product to carry the Fairtrade label. It's a good start, but let's hope it's not a token effort.
By ,
March 06, 2006 6:01 PM
Nestlé launched a major PR campaign based on the farmers in El Salvador who supply its Partners' Blend coffee. It failed to mention there are just 200 farmers involved in El Salvador or that over 3 million farmers are dependent on Nestlé, a company which helps to keep prices low by playing suppliers off against each other. The advertisements in Radio Times, Sunday Times, Hello magazine and elsewhere suggest instead Nestlé is launching this initiative to help solve the coffee crisis. As Oxfam's report mugged notes, while farmers have been driven into poverty Nestlé has been making 26% profit on its coffee. So how much is Nestlé move a welcome first step, and how much the latest in a long line of Public Relations strategies to improve the image of the UK's most boycotted company, recently voted the world's 'least responsible company' in a global internet vote? Nestlé is the target of a boycott because of its aggressive marketing of baby foods - this is on-going, except in those countries where campaigners have succeeded in bringing in strong legislation. Nestlé is using its Fairtrade product to try to get back into outlets the support the boycott. Baby Milk Action has added Nestlé's product to the boycott list and encourages people to support genuine Fair Trade companies, for the benefit of infant health and coffee farmers.
By Mike Brady,
March 10, 2006 3:35 PM
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