Shahid backs Fairtrade Fortnight
08 March 2007
Shahid backs Fairtrade Fortnight
Dewsbury and Mirfield MP Shahid Malik is backing Fairtrade Fortnight which runs until 11th March in an attempt to promote products which offer a better deal for growers of coffee beans, foods and fruit, many of whom are farmers in the third world.
The Labour MP said that the government has been a major supporter of the Fairtrade Foundation over many years and that between 2002 and 2007 central government funding had given more than £1 million to the Fairtrade Foundation to help it promote and extend its Fairtrade mark.
Fairtrade sales increase by around 40% every year in the UK, giving hundreds of thousands of producers in developing countries the chance to build a better future and to compete in cut-throat global markets. But MP Shahid wants the movement to go further: "Using Fairtrade products is a great way to help the poor of the world. Knowing that a high and fair proportion of the price we pay here in the UK for products like bananas, tea or coffee actually reaches the growers and farmers in the developing world means we can be confident that we are helping to create a more just world."
Shahid added: "Fairtrade goods guarantee farmers in developing countries decent wages, minimum health and safety standards, a fair minimum price, a longer-term trading relationship, better environmental standards and the right to join a trade union. In return, we get delicious food and drink - it's a win-win situation."
Stephen Butler, organiser of Fairtrade Mirfield, applauded Shahid's support for his support: "We need to encourage more caterers and shops in Mirfield serve and sell Fairly traded goods in Mirfield as part of our ongoing campaign to promote Fairtrade but we also wanted to celebrate the success of Mirfield, The First Fairtrade Town in Kirklees. Everyone is welcome to come and find out more about Fairtrade and why we think it is so vitally important to all of us in the 21st century."
The Fairtrade Foundation is an independent certification body that awards the FAIRTRADE Mark to products which meet international Fairtrade standards set by FLO (Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International) the umbrella organisation that unites national initiatives across Europe, Japan, North America, Mexico and Australia/New Zealand. This independent consumer label appears on products as a guarantee that disadvantaged producers are getting a better deal. Today, more than five million people - farmers, workers and their families - across 58 developing countries benefit from the international Fairtrade system.