March 2022 Parenta magazine

most popular products include:
Fairtrade Fortnight
• Bananas – one third of bananas
bought in the UK are Fairtrade and it
makes a huge difference to thousands
of farmers, workers and their families
Fancy a tea or a coffee? How about a
sumptuous meal with a fresh banana
dessert smothered in smooth chocolate,
a bottle of the finest wine, a bunch of red
roses and a gold ring to boot?
No, we’re not talking about Valentine’s
Day, we’re getting all excited and hot
under the collar about Fairtrade Fortnight –
the annual celebration of sustainable and
fair world commerce we can all join in with
whilst making a difference to the planet as
well.
This year, Fairtrade Fortnight runs from
21st February to 6 March. Thousands of
people, nurseries, schools, companies,
institutions and local groups of all sizes
and interests will come together to share
their stories about where our food and
drink come from, the people who grow
the cotton in our clothes, and how we can
mine gold more sustainably. Many of the
people we rely on to produce the goods
we want in our lives, are often exploited
and underpaid. Fairtrade Fortnight aims to
raise awareness of the issues of inequality
in global production and get us, the
consumers, to make choices that can affect
change.
What is Fairtrade?
Fairtrade is “a system of certification that
aims to ensure a set of standards are met
in the production and supply of a product
or ingredient. For farmers and workers,
Fairtrade means workers’ rights, safer
working conditions and fairer pay. For
shoppers, it means high quality, ethically
produced products.”
When you think about it, wouldn’t we like
everything we buy to be traded in a fair
and equitable manner? None of us want
to think that the tea we drink or the clothes
we wear have been produced at the
expense or exploitation of another human
being, let alone consider that they have
been mass-produced by children in sweat
shops or by enforced labour. Yet this is the
reality of some products and ingredients
available to us.
When we as consumers, choose Fairtrade
products, we can be sure that the farmers
have been treated with fairness and
equality, are investing in climate-friendly
farming techniques and are developing
leadership roles for women. As it says on
the Fairtrade website: “With Fairtrade, you
change the world a little bit every day.
Through simple shopping choices, you are
showing businesses and governments that
you believe in fair and just trade.”
Some facts about Fairtrade –
did you know?
• There are over 1,880 Fairtrade certified
producer organisations in 71 countries
• There are more than 1.9 million
farmers and workers in Fairtrade
certified producer organisations
• 17% of farmers and 41% of workers in
Fairtrade are women
• In 2020, £169 million was paid to
farmers and workers in Fairtrade
premium, with each producer
organisation receiving more than
£90,000 on average
• 47% of all Fairtrade farmers produce
coffee and 41% of all Fairtrade workers
produce flowers
• Workers on large-scale Fairtrade
certified farms invested 20% of their
Fairtrade premium in education for the
workers and their families
What products does the
Fairtrade certification cover?
If you want to change your shopping habits
and switch to Fairtrade, you will not have to
exist on a diet of rice and beans! There are
over 6,000 Fairtrade products which can
be easily identified by the distinctive black,
blue and green Fairtrade logo. Some of the
• Chocolate – Fairtrade in this industry
means fairer prices and safer working
conditions for farmers and workers
• Coffee – Fairtrade investment results
in a better quality of life for coffee
farmers, and better-quality beans
• Clothing – sustainable fashion that
does not exploit its workers is making
headlines and Fairtrade supports
cotton farmers in some of the world’s
poorest countries and worker’s rights
and conditions within the textile
industries
• Flowers – beauty without exploitation
• Gold – Fairtrade describes its
independent ethical certification of
gold as “more than just gold – it’s gold
with heart”
• Tea – fighting against discrimination
and low wages
These are just some of the products you
can find, but think too about sugar, wines,
beauty products, spreads, oils, herbs
and spices as well as everyday fruit and
vegetables too.
How to get involved in
Fairtrade Fortnight in your
setting
There are lots of ways to involve your
setting in Fairtrade Fortnight. Children are
future consumers, so educating them to
understand the ideas and values behind
Fairtrade, even at an early age will help
them make sustainable and ethical choices
in future years. So here are some ideas to
get you started:
• Set up a Fairtrade display – you can
print out images of products, collect
empty boxes or use actual items to
help the children understand where
their food comes from. You could put
up a wall map and stick images of
different countries showing where
the products come from, perhaps
focusing on a different product each
day for the 2 weeks
• Cook up some easy recipes using
Fairtrade ingredients – the children
will love making chocolate brownies
or honey and lavender cupcakes. You
can find links to recipe pages at the
end of this article
• Research and tell the stories of how
our food is produced and the people
who produce it – the Fairtrade website
has resources for early years settings
and schools using Pablo – The Super
Banana to engage younger children.
You can also find books such as “Fair
Trade First”, a new book for early
years, written by Sarah Ridley, and
there are plenty of resources on Twinkl
for the EYFS
• Hold a bake sale to raise money –
every penny raised can help farmers
improve their lives and have hope
for a better future. You could collect
products to raffle in a Fairtrade
Fortnight hamper, or donate it to your
local food bank
• Dress up as a banana – yes, the
banana is almost synonymous with
Fairtrade, so why not have some fun
and see how many ‘little bananas’
you can count in your setting!
We all want to live in a way that is
sustainable, better for the planet and
equitable for everyone living on it. We
can’t always have a direct impact on
governments or poverty in third world
countries. However, it doesn’t take much to
change to Fairtrade items, but it makes the
world of difference to the producers and
the planet.
Fairtrade recipes
https://www.fairtrade.org.uk/choose-theworld-you-want/foodie-tent/
https://www.coop.co.uk/recipes/fairtrade
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/
user/112927/recipe/fairtrade-chocolatebrownie
https://www.wlv.ac.uk/media/wlv/pdf/
fairtrade_recipe-book.pdf
32 March 2022 | parenta.com
parenta.com | March 2022 33