Islanders urged ‘think Fairtrade when out shopping’
JUST as a good breakfast is the best way to start the day, those behind Fairtrade Fortnight in Guernsey launched the two-week event with an early-morning Fairtrade get-together.
Some 70 people enjoyed their breakfast at Les Cotils, with some of the food and drink donated to the cause by the Co-op.
The event was organised by Roy Sarre and Men’s Breakfast.
Fairtrade Guernsey Steering Group committee member Annabel Ede-Golightly attended the breakfast wearing a Guernsey embroidered with the Fairtrade logo.
‘The purpose of the event is to promote Fairtrade.
‘The mark on food and drinks is well-known, but there is still more that can be done,’ she said.
‘We try to keep it in the front of people’s minds for when they are shopping.’
She added that a lot of businesses supported Fairtrade and hosted their own events and initiatives.
It was the seventh year of the breakfast, and some guests contributed to the event.
Performer Lindsey Veillard sang a solo of ‘Neighbours’, and the breakfast attendees joined in.
Kevin Bales, professor of contemporary slavery at the Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation at the University of Hull, was a speaker at the event, and demonstrated the link between slavery and buying Fairtrade supplies.
‘My work is on contemporary forms of slavery and lot of that has to do with agriculture and where our food comes from,’ he said.
‘The ways to deal with it is getting people out of situations of slavery and Fairtrade really contributes to that.’
Steering Group secretary Hannah Davis said that she was grateful to Mr Sarre and the Men’s Breakfast for hosting the event.
‘We love to see other community groups doing things for Fairtrade as it is a community movement,’ she said.
This year the focus of Fairtrade Fortnight is on the future of food.
‘A lot of our daily essentials, fruit, tea and coffee are under threat from things like climate change and so for farmers who grow them to continue growing them, they need to receive a fair price so they can adapt,’ Ms Davis said.
There was also an opportunity to buy Fairtrade products, such as Easter eggs, tea, coffee and biscuits, and new Fairtrade reusable hot drinks cups designed by local students Zara Smart and Sam Le Pelley.
The pair were recognised and presented with their cups following the breakfast.
