Jane Powerson fairtrade fortnight.
Back in 2002, only 16 per cent of Irish people understood the meaning of the "Fairtrade" mark. Last year, however, that number had grown to 50 per cent. And by the end of Fairtrade Fortnight, which starts on Monday, and which includes supermarket promotions, coffee mornings and other events, the numbers will have grown even more.
Fairtrade is an international certification that is assigned to various products from the developing world. Coffee, tea, chocolate, bananas, honey, sugar, juice, dried fruit and rice are some of the foodstuffs to which the symbol may be applied. New to the scheme is cotton: Marks & Spencer have Fairtrade organic baby clothes, underwear, T-shirts and jeans; and young Irish company, Fable, have a range of T-shirts, available online (www.fableclothing.com) and at Topshop in St Stephen's Green in Dublin.
The aim of the Fairtrade labelling organisation is to encourage companies to do business in a manner that improves the lives, communities and environments of producers in a long-term and sustainable way. A fair price must be handed over for the products, as well as a premium for development investment. Contracts are signed, and partial advance payments may be paid. Workers are assisted to form cooperatives or to join unions.
Fairtrade can help lift families out of crippling poverty, rebuild communities, and enable workers to invest in production equipment and further training. In other words, it can ensure that the people who grow the raw materials for our skinny lattes and boxes of choccies get to live a half-decent life. Which shouldn't be too much to expect.
Nonetheless, in Ireland, only 3-4 per cent of all coffee sold is Fairtrade, compared to 20 per cent in Britain - the largest and fastest-growing Fairtrade market. Here, growth in all Fairtrade product sales is increasing by at least 30 per cent per year; and Insomnia, the cafe chain, changed all its coffee to Fairtrade last autumn - so there is hope for us yet.
We have 18 Fairtrade towns at present, with 35 more working on it. In 2003, Clonakilty became the first such Irish town, with the council passing a motion supporting Fairtrade, with local businesses selling and using products, and with schools learning about the certification system. For further information: see www.fairtrade.ie and www.fairtrade.net.