The latest news from Fairtrade Haworth
Haworth Fairtrade group has been given a boost by Rev Oli Preston who is keen to bring new ideas and involve young people. He was introduced to regular Haworth visitor Bruce Crowther, the founder of the Fair Trade Town movement who brought along Yusuke, a Japanese student doing a study of child labour and slavery.
Joined by other seasoned campaigners, the group gathered at Upstairs Pennybank House, with the iconic view down Haworth Main Street, where they discussed many activities and events that have taken place over the past 21 years. Rita Verity from Sonia’s Smile, founder of Haworth Fairtrade group and Haworth Machu Picchu (Peru) Twinning group, hosted the meet up. Also present were Joanna Fianu, chair of Fairtrade Lancashire and co-founder with husband Samuel, of a new social enterprise – Alls Fair Tours – offering trade justice-themed tours of Ghana as a way to promote income generation through tourism in cocoa-growing regions.
Rev Oli Preston, Bruce Crowther, Joanna Fianu, Rita Verity, Samuel Fianu, Mike De Villiers, Yusuke Yasuda
The majority of shoppers nowadays are aware of the importance of knowing the conditions in which their purchases are produced and crucially the hardships of the people growing and making them. The life changing benefits that Fair Trade brings and the massive shift towards ethical purchasing is due in part as a direct consequence of Fair Trade campaigning. With this knowledge, consumer pressure for corporations and businesses to adhere to strong ethical policies has benefitted both people and planet.
Along with the more commonly understood, safe conditions and fair pay etc, the Fairtrade premium ensures farmers receive the training to adapt and prepare for the rapidly increasing climate change which is causing a real threat to their crops, it’s hard to imagine a world without chocolate, coffee or bananas!
Exciting plans are also forecast for the future of the Twinning group in collaboration with Bradford University’s Archaeology department.
