Fairtrade Fortnight 2014

It’s Fairtrade Fortnight.

Just before we moved, a load of Fairtrade goodies turned up, and I was dying to get baking. 

There were some very delicious lime & chilli salted nuts – they didn’t last long: we invited our friends round the night before we moved, and spent a lovely few hours, adults crammed into the kitchen while the children rampaged through the rest of the house. The nuts stayed in the kitchen. Along with the alcohol…

I thought I’d lost the bar of milk chocolate with almonds and raisins in the move, having accused everyone of snaffling it, much to their indignation. It turned up on Sunday morning, a week after the move, with all the cake decorating stuff, instead of with the ‘treats’, and in the interests of promoting domestic harmony, I ate it (so I would no longer accuse people of taking it).

I was hoping the ill-fated chocolate cake might have done justice to my Fairtrade haul, but despite using the Fairtrade hot chocolate powder, it wasn’t a great success.

There were also some rather intriguing Black Cardamom pods. As I am still without a reliable internet connection, I have not had the opportunity to establish how these might differ from the green cardamom pods I already have in my possession, but I’m open to any suggestions. I suspect it may be to do with their origins – like black and yellow mustard seeds. I remember trying to buy one kind in Brixton market (Afro-Carribean) and being told that I’d only be able to get the other type there – I needed to go to Tooting (Indian) for the type I was looking for…

What this all demonstrates is the diversity of Fairtrade products. It’s not just chocolate and coffee – there are loads of Fairtrade products about, and it’s worth looking out for them. When you buy Fairtrade, you are guaranteeing that the producer receives a fair price for his or her product. This enables communities to become more sustainable, to establish infrastructure and education for their children. To create security and allow development. And that has to be a good thing.

This year, the focus is on bananas. The Brits love bananas, but the problem is that the supermarkets engage in banana price wars to entice us in, and then if the bananas aren't fairtrade, the only people who really lose out are the producers, and that can't be fair. So buy Fairtrade bananas - they may not taste any different, but they will leave a better taste in your mouth and on your conscience than the cheaper ones.