Fair Trade Fortnight - 23 February to 08 March 2009
Launch event - London 22 February
Remember last year's Fairtrade Fairground on London's South Bank? This year's launch event for Fairtrade Fortnight 2009 will be even bigger. Visit the event page on Facebook
- Compete in the races and games to win a Fairtrade chocolate medal
- Make a Fairtrade smoothie under your own pedal power
- Enjoy Fairtrade products
- Meet Fairtrade farmers
- Learn about Fairtrade and much more!
Events will be taking place throughout the UK, you can check out all the latest here
Two billion people – a third of humanity – still survive on less than $2 a day. Unfair trade rules keep them in poverty, but they face the global challenges of food shortages and climate change too. Fairtrade is a people’s movement for change that aims to tip the balance of trade in favour of poor producers. We all need Fairtrade more than ever and we all have the power to create positive change for people and planet.
Make it happen. Choose Fairtrade.
Take part in Fairtrade Fortnight 2009 and play your part by joining a powerful global movement for change!
If you are in Devizes on 21st February you can visit the Fair Trade Carnival at the Town Hall, amongst all the stalls and displays you will find Brigit giving a talk !
Date: Saturday 21 February 2009
Time: 10am - 3:30pm
Description: Devizes Town Council have joined forces with Wiltshire Churches Together and Voluntary Action Kennet to raise the profile of Fair Trade within the area and find out what we can do to promote Fair Trade both home and abroad.
Drop in throughout the day to hear a range of speakers (including Bridget Strawbridge from TV's It's not easy being green ) and visit our fair trade stalls. Local and fairly traded producers include everyone from Planks to The India Shop, there will be a fairtrade wine bar and we will be entertained by New Orleans-style jazz from the Kennet Vale Brass band.
Come and see how you can make a difference!
Venue: Devizes Town Hall, St John's Street, Devizes, SN10 1BN
Contact: Danela Adams at the Ramsbury Office on 01380 729808
Website: http://www.voluntary-action-kennet.org.uk/voluntary-action-kennet-forthcoming.html#ftc
The Fortnight in more detail
Fairtrade Fortnight is the Fairtrade Foundation’s annual campaign call to people in the UK to promote awareness of Fairtrade and buy products carrying the FAIRTRADE Mark. In 2009 it will take place from 23 February – 8 March and will be themed Make it happen. Choose Fairtrade.
Make it happen. Choose Fairtrade reflects the urgency of expanding Fairtrade to benefit more farmers and their dependents in the developing world. It is also aimed at galvanising campaigners, supporters and the general public to organise events for the Fortnight.
Harriet Lamb, CEO of the Fairtrade Foundation says: ‘The Fairtrade Foundation’s message for Fairtrade Fortnight 2009 is that, while sales of Fairtrade products and awareness of Fairtrade has been growing apace in recent years, change is still not happening nearly quickly enough for the millions of the world’s poorest farmers who remain trapped in trade poverty. The challenge now is to urgently scale up the reach and impact of Fairtrade so that by working together, we can succeed in tipping the balance of trade in favour of marginalized farmers and producers. Fairtrade Fortnight is an opportunity for us do something too by holding events at work, at home or in the community.’
The Big Debate
This year’s activities will commence on the 19 February with a top-level conference at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster, which will launch new Fairtrade Foundation research on the impact of the global food crisis for small-scale farmers.
The conference, entitled: The global food crisis and Fairtrade: Small farmers, Big solutions? is expected to attract around 200 delegates from leading businesses and NGOs around the world as well as a host of Fairtrade producers, MPs and embassy representatives.
The conference will be chaired by George Alagiah, Patron of the Fairtrade Foundation, and will include presentations from Justin King (Chief Executive of Sainsbury’s), the Minister of State for International Development Gareth Thomas MP, and other high-profile speakers. Following the conference, the Fortnight will also trigger a series of regional debates on trade, climate change and ethical shopping (Oxford 23 February, Cardiff 25 February, Birmingham 2 March, Edinburgh 4 March, Leeds 5 March), hosted by Fairtrade networks and organisations which support Fairtrade. Register for the regional debates at www.fairtrade.org.uk .
On your marks, get set, go Fairtrade!
Fairtrade Fortnight’s official public launch will be a sporty day of fun and games for all the family on London’s South Bank, near Gabriel’s Wharf on Sunday 22 February. Alongside many delicious Fairtrade product tasting opportunities, visitors will be able to hear directly from Fairtrade producer partners from around the world, make a Fairtrade smoothie under their own pedal power and compete in mini-hurdling and Fairtrade product weight lifting competitions to win a Fairtrade chocolate medal and stand on the Fairtrade champions’ podium. The Fairtrade Foundation chose the sporting theme to highlight its ambition to double the impact of Fairtrade globally by 2012, the year that London will host the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Celebrities from the world of sport are expected to attend.
Go Fairtrade bananas!
The two-week campaign will culminate in a 24-hour world record attempt for the number of people simultaneously eating a Fairtrade banana across the UK. The mass banana eating will take place between noon on Friday 6 and noon on Saturday 7 March, with hundreds of events expected to take place around the country during Fairtrade Fortnight. For example, Bolton Wanderers first team players will wear Fairtrade cotton T-shirts during the match warm up against Newcastle United on 1 March. A film on Fairtrade will be screened to supporters during half time and Fairtrade Fortnight will be featured in the match programme. On 2 March up to 2000 school children will simultaneously eat Fairtrade bananas at the Reebok stadium and a Fairtrade market will be opened by the Mayor of Bolton at the stadium that evening.
Companies are also planning to go bananas for the campaign. Tesco’s and Sainsbury’s will invite their customers to Go Fairtrade bananas! with a specially designed sticker placed onto all their bagged Fairtrade bananas. In addition the catering company Compass is been working hard to ensure they have sufficient Fairtrade bananas available in the schools, university and workplaces it supplies, and will also be running special events with both customers and staff. Many employers such as the Welcome Trust and KPMG are already planning events with their staff to support Go Fairtrade bananas. To help break the record, register online at www.fairtrade.org.uk .
Producer Tour
Fairtrade Fortnight 2009 will bring together producers, campaigners, retailers, licensees and NGOs around the country to highlight global inequality and promote Fairtrade, which benefits impoverished rural communities in the developing world. Through Fairtrade, 7.5 million people – farmers, workers and their families – have more security and control over their lives. The Fairtrade Foundation is organizing a delegation of farmers from Sri Lanka, Cameroon, Burkina Faso and St Lucia who will tour separate locations around the England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. They will explain to schools, businesses and community groups about the potential of Fairtrade to make a difference to global poverty and with a view to inspiring people in their roles as both consumers and citizens.
The FAIRTRADE Mark is now recognised by 70% of people in the UK, and more than 4,500 food, drink and clothing items as well as other goods have now been certified Faitrade. The value of UK Fairtrade sales has grown more than tenfold since 2001, reaching nearly £500 million in 2007 and, more importantly still, in 2007 the real volumes (by weight or number) of produce more than doubled. This is great news for the producers whose Fairtrade premiums, the extra payment they receive from selling to the Fairtrade market, are based on these volumes. But we still have a long way to go to make trade fair. Two billion people – a third of humanity – work hard to support themselves yet still struggle to survive on $2 per day or less.
Hundreds of Fairtrade Towns, Churches and Schools around the UK will promote Fairtrade at a regional level. In 2008, over 10,000 activities and events took place during Fairtrade Fortnight, reflecting the diverse range of supporters across the country – everything from Fairtrade parades, concerts and debates to coffee mornings, fashion shows and family days.
To join and get a copy of the Fairtrade Fortnight 2009 Action Guide go to http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/resources/downloadable_resources.aspx
Click here for the gobananas site
Click here for the regional events calendar
Click here for the great trade debate
