...Continued from homepage

"Large multi-national companies only pay the bare minimum to the farmers in their employment, resulting in widespread exploitation & poverty. This is why it is possible to buy so many different varieties of coffee and suchlike goods so cheaply - not because coffee is less expensive to grow, but because companies such as Nestlé (Nescafé) have taken more and more control out of the hands of farmers, forcing them to sell their coffee at a fraction of its real value.

Fair Trade gives control back to the people who work so hard to produce - they are paid well, with an extra premium given to the farmers to encourage activities such as drilling bore-holes for water, or building schools, actions which have far-reaching effects in the poorest of the world's countries.

I heard a Malawian man talk on the difference it has made in his area, to have sugar grown there, and sold to the rest of the world under the Fairtrade Logo.

Because farmers receive proper pay for their labour, they are able to re-invest in their farms and also provide irrigation, water-holes, and medicines for the whole community. Sugar from the Kasinthula co-operative in Malawi can be bought in our local Co-op (Alderman Road) and is yummy. Also available at the store is chocolate (a big favourite in our house!), coffee, tea and bananas, all bearing the Fair Trade logo. If you've never tried any of the Fair Trade produce, why not choose one item from your regular shopping list, and select a fairly traded variety next time you buy. Each step we take towards buying Fair Trade products, makes a direct difference to lives around the world!

I want to be part of it - don't YOU?"