Bill Linton looks ahead to Fairtrade Fortnight following the revival of Enfield’s local Fairtrade group

Then-mayor Lee Chamberlain receives a certificate confirming Enfield’s official Fairtrade status in 2008, which it has since lost

Most people believe in fairness and many also look outwards towards a world that could be a whole lot fairer than it is.

One opportunity to put these ideas into practice locally comes in the form of the Fairtrade movement, which has been growing steadily within the UK since it started in the late 1990s. Products bearing the Fairtrade logo guarantee that a co-operative of poor farmers somewhere in the developing world have been paid a fair price for what they have produced – a price that permits the farmers and their families to live a dignified existence with at least the minimum of life’s necessities, and for their community to begin to develop.

So how does it work? For each commodity – such as tea, coffee or bananas – a Fairtrade price is set, sufficient for a diligent small farmer to make a decent living. The farmers get the market price or the Fairtrade price, whichever is higher. This frees farmers from the whims of the New York or London stock markets. Additionally, there is a small premium for community development, which the whole community must decide democratically how to use – perhaps for a school or local health centre. The whole process is minutely inspected by an organisation called Flocert, to insure against cheating either by farmers or by companies labelling produce as Fairtrade when it isn’t.

Garstang in Lancashire declared itself the world’s first ‘Fairtrade Town’ in April 2000, and the idea caught on. Regulated in the UK by the Fairtrade Foundation, which sets the criteria for a ‘Fairtrade Community’ (as they are now called), there are now more than 600 such communities in the UK and 2,000 worldwide, across at least 20 countries.

The campaign to add Enfield to that number started in early 2005 and reached fruition in September 2008 when we were declared a ‘Fairtrade Borough’. Enfield’s success was mirrored by London’s – the declaration of London as the world’s largest ‘Fairtrade City’ came just days before ours.

Once that target was achieved, the local campaign sadly faltered and eventually our Fairtrade status was lost. Now I’m pleased to say we have a steering group in action again, we are aiming eventually to recover our former Fairtrade status and, in the meantime, to encourage you as the people of Enfield to keep buying Fairtrade products with their distinctive logo – you can find it sometimes in quite surprising places!

Fairtrade Fortnight runs from 27^th February until 12th March. There will be a launch event with the Enfield mayor at Lancaster Road Co-op on Monday 27^th from 10am-12pm, so please join us! There will likely be other events at local places of worship and maybe schools, which will be advertised closer to the time.

Find out more about Fairtrade Enfield:
Email [email protected]
Visit ftenfield.webstarts.com

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.