A well-known academic staunchly insisted last week that ethical shopping will not fall off the agenda simply as a result of the financial crisis.

Speaking at the Ethical Shopping - A Producers’ Perspective conference, Professor Tim Lang of London City University said that keeping ethics on the radar of most consumers will not be a problem - as long as movements such as Fairtrade continue to keep pushing and delivering their messages.

Lang’s claims were backed up by The Co-operative Bank this week, which revealed that spending on ethical food and drink, which includes organic products, Fairtrade goods and free-range eggs, was up 14 per cent from £5.1 billion to £5.8bn in 2007. The bank holds no concerns that ethical shopping will take a hit in the economic downturn.

Reports and predictions aside, there still seems to be some worry in the trade about whether ethics will indeed remain a priority for consumers as recession bites. Will the needs of a family of banana workers in Latin America come before the need for a family of four in the UK to eat without breaking the weekly food budget?

In many ways, the credit crunch represents a perfect opportunity to promote ethical trade as the way we should all be shopping. Perhaps it is time for some consumer advertising campaigns aimed at illustrating the real price behind the food that we eat.

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