I returned from a week’s stint in London for business (highly recommend the Crowne Plaza near the Blackfriars station) a couple of weeks ago and have been, in my brother’s words, “going crazy snapping pictures with my camera phone of fair trade foods.”
Fairtrade Labeling Organization (FLO) is the dominant label. If you happen to be in the job market, they are looking for a CEO. I did not get a chance to speak with anyone from the organization but my research shows that the Mayor’s, Ken Livingstone, campaign to make London a fair trade city on March 11, 2003, “dramatically increased the availability and take-up of Fairtrade
products by every Londoner, and make the city’s commitment to Fairtrade
visible and understood” by many.
One of the goals is for 50 percent of London boroughs to reach fair trade status which as of August 2005, five boroughs have achieved.
Above: Starting with Marks & Spencer’s (tagline: Look Behind the Label) near Teddington where I picked up organic, free-range eggs for breakfast.
“Our coffee won’t have a bitter taste in your mouth. It’s Fairtrade.”
“Our ready meals lack a certain something. Hydrogenated fats.” (An issue which the States is just grappling with and NYC has taken the lead to ban hydrogenated fats.)
Above: Sainsbury’s fair trade banner in Leeds where I was visiting my friends who I met via the British Aikido Association seven years ago.
Finally, fair trade products in Sainsbury’s near Teddington:
If we work hard at it in Austin, perhaps there’ll be a similiar display of fair trade coffee in HEB in the future:
::Update-Tracy is right, it’s not just London but the UK.
4 responses so far ↓
The Zone Read » Blog Archive » links for 2007-04-08 // April 8, 2007 at 8:39 pm |
[...] Why is London so Fair Trade Friendly? « Ten Thousand Villages of Austin Wilson Tan is right – England may be leading the world in Fair Trade support. (tags: fair trade uk) [...]
Tracy // April 13, 2007 at 2:33 pm |
Not just London, but all of the UK. I live near Woking in Surrey which has been given Fair Trade Town status, and our supermarkets all seem to be competing for the “green” pound.
sabistarr // March 12, 2008 at 1:43 pm |
I used to live in the UK (I’m now in the USA) and see huge differences in opinions. In the UK, there is incredible awareness of issues, including fair trade, environment, food miles and health.
As your examples show, banners and signs are throughout the supermarkets (grocery stores) showing consumers their choices. There are fair trade, organic, local and environmental choices in every supermarket. Food miles (unheard of in the USA) are totaled on nearly all imported products, so consumers can consider their global footprint.
Healthy choices are encouraged, consumers to reminded to eat at least 5 servings of fresh fruit/veg a day. “Superfoods” such as blueberries are labeled as such on banners – in the US it might say something like this on the small label on the actual product.
Environmental issues are also publicized. The use of plastic bags is far less than in the USA, and people are more inclined to walk or take the bus than drive to buy groceries.
From a country that had incredible success in changing the culture to prevent drunk driving in the 80s, and is winning in its public health and environmental campaign, perhaps we should send our governors over there for a few lessons.
Thats why I address these and other issues in my blog at http://www.fairfabric.org/wordpress
belinda bryant // July 3, 2009 at 8:15 am |
Its really encouraging to see such positive comments.
I absolutely agree the Fair Trade label is becoming increasingly common in the Western world. But while shoppers seem keen to pay a little over the odds for fair trade products, some observers question how effective it really is in helping developing third world farmers.
In my view, the more the Western market is flooded and the more Fair Trade sold, then over time, the third world will surely reap the benefits in the end?
Surely, the more fair trade labelled items we buy, the more the third world produce and sell, and then the more we buy, the more the third world earn and so on…..and this can only be a positive cyclic relationship perpetuating greater wealth over time for impoverished societies?
The craftsmanship on fair trade crafts including wood carvings, embroider and jewellery is truly outstanding. Quite clearly the skills of the indigenous communities who produce such gems are passed from generation to generation so skills like wood carving, hand painting, hand screen printing and jewellery crafting do not fade. We are lucky to have accessibility to the products of great artisans so we can appreciate their unique beauty in contrast to mass produced generic products that are not, in sharp contrast, skilfully handcrafted and have no soul or originality.