Fairtrade Yorkshire

Fairtrade Fortnight this year is from 24th February to 9th March and the theme this year is Make Bananas Fair.

We love bananas – in fact they’re our favourite fruit. In the UK alone we eat over five billion a year.

In the last 10 years, the UK supermarket sector has almost halved the shelf price of loose bananas while the cost of producing them has doubled, trapping many of the farmers and workers who grow them in a cycle of poverty.
Does that sound fair to you?

Our campaign aims to transform the banana industry. We want to make bananas fair. This means that every banana farmer and worker earns enough to have a decent standard of living, works in conditions that are safe and has rights and benefits. It also means bananas are produces in a way that is environmentally sustainable too.

More than 1.2 billion Fairtrade bananas are now sold in the UK each year. That’s one in every three bananas we buy.

Fairtrade provides a vital safety net for banana farmers and workers.  The Fairtrade safety net is the minimum price that farmers get to cover the costs of sustainable production, and a premium on top of this which they choose to invest either in community projects or in their business.

Fairtrade alone is not enough to end the price wars. We have to go further to ensure the price we pay for our bananas is sustainable, so that the whole industry can be made fair for farmers and workers.

Colombian banana farmer, Foncho.

Foncho is a banana farmer from Cienaga in Colombia.  This Fairtrade Fortnight, he’s coming to the UK and he’s on a mission to make bananas fair.

Before Foncho’s co-operative Coobafrio was certified as Fairtrade, Foncho often struggled to make ends meet – it was a hard life.

But since becoming Fairtrade, Foncho receives a fair price for his bananas, which means he can afford to care for his loved ones and send his daughter to college.

We need to act now so that all banana farmers and workers get a fair deal.

This Fairtrade Fortnight Stick with Foncho to make bananas fair.

The third annual Yorkshire Schools Fair Trade conference has won praise for motivating and encouraging schools in their raising of awareness of global trade issues.  The Lord Mayor of York and representatives of the Cooperative, and local businesses, praised the varied and exciting programme that had been put together by the event organisers: the Centre for Global Education, York St. John University and the York Fair Trade Forum.

The Sheriff’s Lady, the Sheriff of York and the Lord Mayor of York arrive at the conference.

Helen and Sophie of the business ‘Fair and Funky’,
praised the conference.

Excellent presentations were given by Riccall Primary School, Cawood Primary School and York’s Bootham School.  Workshops took place on topics ranging from Fairtrade honey, to the price of a T-shirt role play.  The event concluded when the Lord Mayor of York presented the Fairtrade in Yorkshire School Awards and the Global Teacher Awards.

Tockwith School were one of the winners of the Fairtrade in Yorkshire School Awards and their pupils were clearly delighted.  The Church of England primary school are Eco Warriors and have been a Green Flag school for over four years.  Focus on Fairtrade is one of the five areas that Eco Warriors concentrate upon in Years four and five.

Tockwith School pupils.

Tom with competition judge, Juliana Mensah, Artist in Residence, Centre for Applied Human Rights.

Tom Haygarth, a student at York’s Fulford School,  has won a literary competition with his short story ‘Behind the Bars’. The tale looks at the lives of those who produce cocoa in West Africa.  It is an accessible and entertaining read, written in a confident and mature style; a well deserved winner.

Fulford School students with the book ‘Chocolate Factory’.

The competition was organised by the Centre for Applied Human Rights at the University of York, and by Amnesty International; its theme was chocolate and Human Rights.  Tom’s, and other winning stories, have been collected in a book ‘Chocolate Factory’, which is published by Stairwell Books.

Carleton Primary School receive their Fairtrade in Yorkshire School Award from the Lord Mayor of York, Councillor Julie Gunnell.

Carleton Primary School, near Skipton in Craven District, has just put in its application to become a Fairtrade School.  This marks the culmination of several years work and all pupils and staff have their fingers firmly crossed that they will be successful.

The school is no stranger to awards, having won a Fairtrade in Yorkshire School Award 2014, and two of their teachers have been presented with Global Teacher Awards, accredited by Liverpool Hope University.

Brompton Hall pupils and teachers at York St. John University, where the award ceremony was held.

Brompton Hall School in Brompton, near Scarborough, were awarded with a Fairtrade in Yorkshire School Award 2014, in recognition of all the work the school has done to raise awareness of Fairtrade.

The school has its own Fairtrade group, which coordinates a wide range of activities and Fairtrade is raised in cookery classes, where many fairly produced ingredients are used.

Ken Wyatt of Fairtrade Rotherham

For Fairtrade Fortnight 2014, primary school pupils in Rotherham Metropolitan Borough are being invited to design a poster which reflects the principals of the Fairtrade movement. Ken Wyatt, of Fairtrade Rotherham, points out that there are plenty of ideas for the pupils to focus on for the subject of their poster: there are well over 200 Fairtrade products available in the UK ranging from beverages, dry foodstuffs including yummy chocolate , sports goods, clothing, wines, fresh fruits and flowers….the list goes on. There is an emphasis on the relationships between producers and consumers; sustainable farming; decent working conditions for people with no exploitation of child labour and supporting communities to maintain their own well being.

Posters need to be returned to Ken Wyatt c/o Rotherham Town Hall before Easter for judging.  1^st 2^nd & 3^rd prizes will be awarded along with certificates for those whose posters are highly commended.  A presentation evening will be held for the winners, parents & staff  in May 2014.  The Mayor of Rotherham will award the prizes.

Leeds Lord Mayor Tom Murray and school children from Ireland Wood Primary school launched a very special Birthday card competition today. February 2014 marks 10 years of Leeds’ status as a Fairtrade City and all Leeds school children are invited to design a Birthday card to celebrate this great achievement.

“In 2004 Leeds worked very hard to involve the Council, Businesses, Faith Groups and Schools to attain Fairtrade City Status” said Fairtrade Leeds Chair Hannah Langdana “This is a great opportunity to celebrate everyone’s hard work and remember how we are making a real difference to millions of people in the developing world who are getting a fair deal for their hard work.”

Birthday party celebrations planned include a ‘Fairtrade Bake off’ for interested adults and cafes, a T shirt design competition for youth groups and of course a Birthday Party, with a  Fairtrade banana farmer, at the Civic Hall on March 7^th.

“The Council is very committed to Fairtrade and we look forward to seeing all the Birthday card entries and tasting all that Fairtrade cake” said the Lord Mayor.

Schools in the Leeds City Council area that would like to enter the competition should click here for more details.

Mark Dawson, a PhD student at the University of Leeds, is set to undertake an important study of Fair trade activism by churches.

Mark is part of the subject area of Theology and Religious Studies which has a long standing focus on understanding the role of religion in  local communities.

The study will focus on two Yorkshire communities and will look at how the churches in those areas connect with the wider public through their action in support of Fair Trade.

Mark Dawson (right) with the Archbishop of York

Mark will interview churchgoers and listen to their opinions on how churches relate to their local communities in their work on Fair Trade, including their relationship to: the Fairtrade Towns movement, local businesses, politicians, community groups, other faith groups and the general public.

The churchgoers will also be asked about how their work on Fair Trade relates to their own  faith.

The study will take three years to complete and will make a significant contribution to the body of research on Fair Trade activism.

The University of Leeds is a Fairtrade University and the flagship employer for the Yorkshire Fairtrade Region.

The Fairtrade Yorkshire Steering group committee congratulated award winners, Amarjit and Jas’ ,at their meeting at the University of Leeds on Saturday 9th November.

Amarjit and Jas’ worship at the Sikh temple Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha Leeds.  The temple was presented with the ‘Best Outreach and Networking award’ by Fairtrade Foundation CEO, Michael Gidney, at the national Fairtrade Supporter Conference in London on 5th October.

The award recognises the achievements and creativity of Fairtrade campaigners and supporters during the first half of 2013, including during the Fairtrade Fortnight campaign.

As well as organising events for Fairtrade Fortnight,  Fairtrade supporters at the temple also translated Fairtrade literature into Punjabi and wrote a document which links support of Fairtrade with insights from the Sikh faith.

Well Done to St. Mary’s Menston for their efforts in working towards Fairtrade School status.

Benedict, Isobel, Marienne and Jack Tunnecliffe: taking Fairtrade forward at St. Mary’s

The students have set up a campaign to make Fairtrade products more accessible locally and have worked with Leeds Development Education Centre to learn more about fair trade issues within school.  “The challenge is to continue this work by educating our families, our neighbours and the wider community about this essential work” says teacher Jack Tunnecliffe.