Civil servants arriving for work at the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in London on Tuesday were each handed a banana for breakfast and told not to forget the farmer who grew it.
The National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI), the Fairtrade Foundation, Cafod and Banana Link joined forces to urge the EU to place a moratorium on its proposals for the new banana import regime due to coe into force in 2006 which threaten the livelihoods of small, family-run banana farms from the Windward Islands. Around 40 of the organisations’ supporters handed out the fruit to DTI staff to encourage the UK government to put pressure on the EU to halt the proposed changes.
The campaigners were joined by street-theatre characters The Bananas' who unpeeled their costumes to reveal the Fairtrade m ark in order to share the Fairtrade message.
The event was part of the Global Week of Action which ends on April 16. The Trade Justice Movement in the UK, and similar movements across the world, are staging events decrying indiscriminate trade liberalisation and promoting teveryone’s right to the five essentials of food, a livelihood, water, health, and education. Tuesdays banana event focused on livelihoods, and the week will culminate with the Wake up to Trade Justice overnight vigil on 15/16 April in Westminster Abbey and Whitehall when 5,000 people are expected to take part.
Campaign action cards proclaiming SAY YES to Fairtrade Bananas, SAY NO to Trade Rules that Threaten Farmers’ Livelihoods have been sent to EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson from around the UK by supporters of the NFWI, CAFOD, the Fairtrade Foundation and Banana Link. The cards urge him to stand up for the farmers of the Windward Islands at EU talks and oppose the EU proposals. The cards explain that this is an example of how free trade is not necessarily fair trade.
One in five bananas from the Windward Islands now carry the Fairtrade mark and increasing sales are helping Windward Islands banana farmers survive.
No comments yet