The Leader of the Opposition and Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Councillor Howard Sykes, MBE, is urging local residents to get involved in Fairtrade Fortnight 2016 (29 February to 13 March) to help support farmers and growers living in poor communities around the world.
Cllr Sykes said: “Lack of food security is one of the world’s most critical issues. Despite millions of farmers and workers in developing countries working hard to grow the food we eat every day, many do not earn enough to afford an adequate and nutritious diet.”
Research shows that half of the world’s hungry people, nearly 400 million, are estimated to live on small farms.*
Councillor Sykes added: “The Liberal Democrats strongly support the Fairtrade movement which guarantees the world’s poorest farmers and workers a decent and stable income for the products that they grow or make and bring to market.”
“I am proud that during my Administration, our Council became a local authority committed to purchasing and promoting Fairtrade products. I am now asking as many people in our Borough as possible to get involved this Fairtrade Fortnight by purchasing products displaying the Fairtrade symbol. This helps ensure a decent income for the poorest working families from around the world.”
Fairtrade works with 1.5 million farmers and workers in parts of Africa, Asia and Latin and Central America enabling them to earn a sustainable income and the Fairtrade Premium that they can invest in community, business and environmental projects.
For example, in Nicaragua, many coffee farmers suffer food shortages for the 3-4 ‘thin months’ before the coffee harvest. Farmers at the Fairtrade coffee co-operative COOMPROCOM use the Fairtrade Premium to run programmes to grow food crops, and become more self-reliant.
Adam Gardner, Communities Campaigns Manager for the Fairtrade Foundation, said:
“Farming is the backbone of the world. It’s simply wrong that whilst farmers work hard to produce what we eat so many of them should go hungry themselves.”
“Shoppers in the UK can change this by making choices that help ensure food security for farming communities in developing countries; be it buying Fairtrade or campaigning against trade policies that can disadvantage farmers.”
“It is the support of campaigners such as the Oldham Liberal Democrat Council group that drives the Fairtrade movement forward and we hope the residents in the Oldham borough will join them this year.”
Fairtrade Fortnight is an annual campaign aiming to get shoppers, campaigners and businesses in the UK talking, thinking about and buying Fairtrade.
Thousands of events will be held in over 600 Fairtrade Towns, 1350 Fairtrade Schools, 170 Fairtrade Universities, and 7,500 Fairtrade Places of Worship. You can find out more about Fairtrade Fortnight, and how to get involved in your local area, at http://fortnight.fairtrade.org.uk/
Notes
The Fairtrade Foundation is an independent certification body which licenses the use of the FAIRTRADE Mark on products which meet international Fairtrade standards. This independent consumer label appears on products to show that disadvantaged producers are getting a better deal from trade. Today, more than 1.3 million people – farmers and workers – across more than 70 developing countries benefit from the international Fairtrade system.
Over 5,000 products have been licensed to carry the FAIRTRADE Mark including coffee, tea, herbal teas, chocolate, cocoa, sugar, bananas, grapes, pineapples, mangoes, grapefruit, lemons, oranges, satsumas, lychees, coconuts, dried fruit, juices, smoothies, biscuits, cakes & snacks, honey, jams & preserves, chutney & sauces, rice, quinoa, herbs & spices, seeds, nuts & nut oil, wines, rum, confectionary, muesli, cereal bars, yoghurt, ice-cream, flowers, sports balls, sugar body scrub and cotton products including clothing, homeware, cloth toys, cotton wool, olive oil, gold, silver and platinum.