Shoppers Urged to Back Fair Trade Fortnight

from from the Melton Today

MELTON'S shoppers are bring urged to lend their support to Fair Trade Fortnight.
As part of the fortnight, which kicked off yesterday, Fair Trade champion Sue Gowans and former Mayor of Melton, councillor Pat Cumbers, are distributing promotional stickers which local retailers can display in their windows – if they stock or serve Fair Trade goods.

Mrs Gowans, of The Fair Trading Post in Burton Street, said: "Even though Fair Trade is starting to become big business, we're not stopping here. There are more people and more products that could change people's lives.

"Fair Trade is helping a million farmers and their families, yet 25 million people are still suffering from poverty.

"We've come a long way from one Fair Trade product in a few shops in 1995, but there's a lot more we can do to ensure that Fair Trade is on every shelf and every cupboard in the county and around Britain."

Since Fair Trade started with Green and Blacks Maya Gold Chocolate, the market has grown to 1,500 products including clothing and footballs as well as food and was worth £195million in 2005.

Across Leicestershire, five towns, boroughs and a city have already achieved Fair Trade status, and Melton will join them later this year.

This means a minimum number of shops, cafes and restaurants serve or sell Fair Trade products, Melton Council supports and promotes Fair Trade and there is a Fair Trade group to promote products.

A week on Friday, Melton will be doing its bit to promote the products by taking part in The Big Brew, organised locally by Lynn Marriott, a director of The Fair Trading Post. The event will take place at Melton Baptist Church in Leicester Road from 10am until noon.

A list of coffee mornings and activities across the borough is available from The Fair Trading Post.

Midlands Co-op was one of the first supermarkets to stock Fair Trade goods and shoppers at the store can now carry their Fair Trade goods in a Fair Trade bag.

The chain has become the first in the UK to launch a cotton Bag For Life, as part of its support for this year's Fairtrade Fortnight.

The bag is the first to be made using Fair Trade certified cotton. Normally 99p, it will cost 79p during the fortnight, when Melton and other Midlands Co-op stores will be reducing the price of all Fair Trade products by 20 per cent to encourage more customers to sample and switch.

The chain has also opted to stock Fair Trade bananas.
tara.rippin@meltontoday.co.uk