Garstang Fairtrade

Garstang Fairtrade Fair trade is a method of trading that ensures the world’s poor are not exploited and that they receive fair and stable wages for their products.

Fairtrade, as it is known today, was launched in the 1980s and in the late ‘80s and ‘90s, the concept of fairly traded products rocketed across Europe and North America. For the first time ever, consumers were presented the option of purchasing a panoply of items that had been traded fairly such as food and drink and crafts.

It was in the height of this newfound trading system that Garstang was voted as The World’s First Fairtrade Town in 2000 at a parish council meeting on April 27th.

Garstang received government approval for being a Fairtrade town on June 8, 2000, when George Foulkes visited to congratulate the town on its achievements. During his visit, Foulkes said, “The beacon that has started here in Garstang can spread like wildfire across the whole of the country and beyond.” And that is exactly what has happened. Since then, Fairtrade and the awareness of this practice, has increased.

Today, Fairtrade products are available in mainstream supermarkets and other retail shops.

Fairtrade has evolved from the coffee and bananas that marked its inception into a gamut of products that fall under the green and blue label of Fairtrade, including beauty products, clothes, shoes, linens, wine, fruits and vegetables and chocolate. Furthermore, Fairtrade has spread around the globe with over 700 towns following in Garstang’s footsteps and becoming recognised Fairtrade cities, villages, zones, boroughs, islands, countries and universities.

Other Fairtrade cities following Garstang’s example include London, Rome and Manchester. The Fairtrade Town movement was initiated in Garstang by Bruce Crowther and the local Garstang Oxfam Group. Crowther and the Oxfam group were highly successful, for within months, over 70 percent of the town was aware of Fairtrade and sales of certified Fairtrade products saw a significant increase.

This initiative opened a variety of opportunities for Garstang, one of which led to the town being twinned with New Koforidua in Ghana.

Campaigns to make Garstang a Fairtrade town began in 1992. A survey led by Oxfam revealed that 82 percent of participants indicated that they would purchase products that would afford third world vendors improved opportunities and trading conditions.

Further tests and surveys were carried out in Garstang that revealed that people preferred Fairtrade products to non-Fairtrade products, such as the Cafedirect Challenge. The Cafedirect Challenge was a challenge in which participants had to identify which coffee they preferred in a blind taste test. The Cafedirect coffee, which met the undisclosed named brand coffees in taste and price, had the added bonus of being a part of the Fairtrade movement.

From the success of the Cafedirect Challenge, Garstang soldiered on in its mission to become reliant on Fairtrade products.

Benefits of Fairtrade include those that effect farmers such as providing stable pricing for quality products and the formation of partnerships. Benefits also exist for consumers—Fairtrade ensures that products which represent positive values and principles can be purchased.

Finally, Fairtrade encourages and supports environmentally sustainable production methods. By committing to trading fairly, farmers agree to protect their living and working environment, including forests and natural water areas.

Lengths are also taken to ensure erosion and waste management are dealt with properly. Furthermore, Fairtrade farmers are not permitted to use products containing any genetically modified organisms, and they must follow national and international standards of handling chemicals. Farmers are also required to monitor the effect their work is having on the environment and draft a plan to lessen this impact.

Further information can be found on the official garstangfairtrade.org.uk website.