Labour urges local shoppers to buy Fairtrade

To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Fairtrade Foundation the local Labour Group are encouraging shoppers in Brighton and Hove to buy the new Fairtrade cosmetics and toiletries that will soon be available.

Councillors Gill Mitchell and Melanie Davis also made a proposal that the City Council ensure that more items sold and used in council buildings be Fairtrade.

Cllr Gill Mitchell said:

"Labour made Brighton the first Fairtrade Town in the UK over 10 years ago, but we must continue to fight for ethical trading. During this global economic downturn, it is vital that world trade continues. With 7 out of 10 households buying Fairtrade products our shopping habits can make a real difference to the world's poorest people. Fairtrade helps support 7.5 million people in the developing world. By buying food, gifts and now cosmetics from developing countries we will help grow their economies and reduce poverty. This Council should be leading the way by making more Fairtrade products available to buy and use in Council buildings."

Simon Burgess, Labour & Co-op candidate for Brighton Kemptown, was invited by students to speak at the sixth form college about fairtrade. Simon worked with Oxfam back in 1998 to make Brighton one of the first Fairtrade towns in the country (and then again in 2004 for Brighton & Hove to gain Fairtrade City Status). The meeting was packed with over 50 students, teachers and the Principal in attendance.

"When you hear real life stories of banana workers receiving less than £1 a day wages you know that the system is unfairly weighted against producers. Small Fairtrade premiums that are barely noticeable at our consumer end can provide producer communities with clean water, education, healthcare and decent homes. Surely that is only fair?"

"As someone who believes in, and practises whenever possible, co-op values I am proud of the record of co-operatives here and abroad in promoting Fairtrade products. The Co-op in this country now source from 300,000 Fairtrade workers from across 50 countries. It's a proud tale of consumer power, we can all make a difference by just looking out for the Fairtrade label. We have now reached the point where 25% of bananas sold in the UK are Fairtrade. In the last ten years the sales of Fairtrade coffee has increased ten fold, tea by thirty times and chocolate by twenty six times. You can now even get Fairtrade cola, ice-cream and cosmetics."