Last week saw the launch of a new campaign dubbed Fairtrade Ramadan, which looks to encourage Muslims both in the UK and across the world to buy Fairtrade products during the festival.
The Campaign for a Fairtrade Ramadan was created by a UK group known as the Radical Middle Way in partnership with the UK's Fairtrade Foundation and with the support of MADE in Europe and Islamic Relief.
'Ramadan is a time for being conscious, for becoming aware of our place in the world and our role within it,' wrote Abdul-Rehman Malik, programmes manager for the Radical Middle Way. 'It’s a time when hunger reminds us of those who do not have in a world where all could have.'
The aim of the Radical Middle Way is to encourage Muslims to think about where the food they buy comes from, who produced it and whether the journey it took makes it ethical and fair.
The campaign has called on Muslim communities to be proactive during Ramadan and to make Fairtrade products an integral part of starting and breaking the fast.
'Islam believes that people deserve decent working conditions,' said Harriet Lamb, the Fairtrade Foundation's executive director, at the launch. 'Islam believes that farmers deserve a fair price for what they produce. Islam believes in putting an end to poverty and injustice. And that too is what the Fairtrade movement believes in.'
No comments yet