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Onward, fairtrade soldiers!

Sarah Meyrick reflects on a Herculean battle against injustice

Fighting the Banana Wars and Other Fairtrade Battles: How we took on the corporate giants to change the world
Harriet Lamb

Rider Books £10.99 (978-1-84-604083-2)
Church Times Bookshop £9.90

GIVEN THE ease of buying fairly traded produce these days, it’s hard to believe that the Fairtrade mark arrived in Britain only 14 years ago.

Today, more than £300 million-worth of goods bearing the Fairtrade mark — from tea and coffee to fruit, flowers, and even footballs — are sold here every year. Fairtrade is now so well established that it is easy to forget the scale of the Fairtrade revolution.

Many Christians have been aware of the issues for much longer, of course. Fairly traded products have been available since the post-Second World War period, when groups such as Oxfam sold handicrafts produced by war-torn communities in Europe. Later on, “alternative” trade organisations such as Traidcraft appeared. But all these relied on sales in church halls, or by mail order.

It wasn’t until the establishment of the Fairtrade Foundation in 1992 — by agencies including CAFOD, Christian Aid, the New Consumer, Oxfam, Traidcraft Exchange, and the World Development Movement — that those behind the fairtrade movement set their sights on conquering the mainstream. There are now 400 companies selling Fairtrade products in the UK, in all the leading supermarkets.

Few people are better placed to tell this particular story than Harriet Lamb, who is the executive director of the Fairtrade Foundation in the UK, and who was awarded a CBE in 2006 for her pioneering work.

She recounts the Herculean battle from its small beginnings, when it was fired by a passion for justice. There are defining moments along the way — such as the dumping of a tonne of banana skins outside Del Monte’s headquarters in Kent on a hot August day in 1997, in a call to stop Del Monte “dumping” on banana workers.

Interwoven among the roller-coaster ride with the supermarket giants and some dramatic PR stunts are first-hand accounts from the workers, for whom fair trade is not simply a lifestyle choice, but a matter of life and death.

After the history chapters (with titles such as “To Hell and Back” and “Swimming with Sharks”), there is a section (“What You Can Do”) offering ten steps towards fair trade. It provides practical, straightforward advice on keeping up the campaign pressure.

This is a useful, accessible book, with a potentially wide audience. Readers who are new to Fairtrade will have their eyes opened to a shocking — yet exhilarating — story for our time, while seasoned campaigners will also find food for thought.

Sarah Meyrick is Oxford Diocesan Director of Communications.

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