The Merrion centre goes bananas
Fairtrade banana Joan Machin with young hat maker at the Merrion Centre
Shoppers at the Merrion Centre in Leeds may well have been surprised to find some fruity friends to greet them last Saturday. Fairtrade Leeds supporters gave away over 200 free Fairtrade bananas and invited young visitors to make their own banana themed party hats.
“We are celebrating 10 years as a Fairtrade city and wanted to involve Leeds’ citizens to join in the fun!” said Hannah Langdana, chair of Fairtrade Leeds Steering Group.
Fairtrade means better prices, decent working conditions and fair terms of trade for farmers, workers and their communities. When you buy a product with the Fairtrade mark it means that workers’ rights and the environment have been protected, and that farmers have been paid a Fairtrade Minimum Price and also an additional Fairtrade Premium to invest in their business or community projects.
Leeds was honoured to have Aimeth Fernandez a banana farmer from Colombia visit the city in February. She said that her family were only able to afford running water and electricity in their home after they started to sell to Fairtrade. She ended her visit by asking the people of Leeds to “carry on buying Fairtrade bananas from Colombia so we can make a difference to our lives.”
“We were able to tell lots of parents about how Fairtrade has changed Aimeth’s life and were impressed with the beautiful hats that the children made” adds Hannah.
