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Hurray for Fairtrade
"The recession has not affected purchases of
Fairtrade goods - the rate of growth is still increasing," reported
Harriet Lamb from the Fairtrade Foundation recently in the National press.
This is great news for all the farmers producing products for the Fairtrade
market. There have also been a couple of really exciting developments
for Fairtrade: Cadbury's Dairy Milk, the UK's best-selling chocolate bar,
is set to become Fairtrade certified this summer. They will be sourcing
their cocoa from Ghana, tripling the amount of Fairtrade cocoa the country
currently supplies to about 15,000 tonnes a year. This will ensure that
although the open market price for cocoa has slipped in recent weeks and
may continue to do so, Cadbury has committed to pay a guaranteed minimum
price for their cocoa. It is also good news in the battle to end child
labour. Forced and child labour is a big problem in the West African cocoa
industry but under Fairtrade criteria this is not permitted.
A year ago Cadbury launched the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership (CCP), investing
£45 million over the next ten years to secure a sustainable future
for cocoa farming in Ghana, India, Indonesia and the Caribbean. The total
annual cocoa production of Ghana is more than 600,000 tonnes, around 20%
of the world's cocoa supply. Projects such as this, and encouraging other
chocolate companies to follow suit and pay Fairtrade prices are vital
if the cocoa industry is to survive
The Fairtrade Foundation aims to double its positive impact for producers
by 2012, by opening up opportunities for more farmers to sell more products
under Fairtrade conditions. Cadbury will be sourcing cocoa from Kuapa
Kokoo, one of the first groups to be Fairtrade certified, with over 40,000
registered cocoa farmers across Ghana. Since they begun selling a proportion
of their cocoa as Fairtrade, they have been able to build school classrooms,
construct wells etc. In addition they invest in corn mills. The increase
in their Fairtrade sales resulting from Cadbury's commitment will greatly
increase their Fairtrade premiums, and therefore the range of farmer support
and community development programmes they can implement.
Following Cadbury's announcement, Mars has also announced that by 2010
all their Galaxy chocolate bars are to be made with sustainably sourced
cocoa. Although not Fairtrade, Galaxy will carry the Rainforest Alliance
Certified trademark. The Rainforest Alliance works to conserve biodiversity
and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices,
business practices and consumer behaviour.
These are definitely steps in the right direction but as consumers we
can still push for more. Rainforest Alliance is less concerned with basic
workers rights than the Fairtrade Mark guarantee. We need to encourage
Mars to go the full mile and meet international Fairtrade criteria as
well as their own standards. And for both companies, Dairy milk and Galaxy
form only a proportion of the companies' total chocolate production. Converting
100% of their cocoa usage to Fairtrade would have even further reaching
benefits for the producers.
But just as there are vegetarians who eat bacon, I know there are Fairtrade
shoppers with a weakness for Dairy Milk. This article is for you! Soon
you will be able to have your chocolate and eat it!
Final call for Fairtrade Recipes for the Torrington recipe competition.
See last month's Crier for more details. Closing date 6th June 2009.
PS - Don't forget The Fairtrade Wine and Wisdom evening at the Howe Concert
Hall - Saturday 20 June at 7.30pm. Teams of 6 x £3 per person.
Please book by contacting the Torrington Fairtrade Steering group on 01805
622143
E Van -Huysse
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