Fairtrade Foundation Supporter Day

Three members of WAFTAG (Kathy, Susan and Wendy) attended the Fairtrade Foundation Supporter Day in London on October 9th. They heard Harriet Lamb (Executive Director of Fairtrade Foundation) talk about the terrible effect that cotton subsidies are having on cotton farmers. She said "Fairtrade must put values back into the market."

Susan Paice and Wendy Maddison with Caroline Lucas MP

Caroline Lucas then spoke about "environmental colonism" and how equity and justice should be at the heart of everything. She discussed the link between climate change and measures taken by Fairtrade to mitigate the effects it has on poor farmers. She said "we need to do more than just measure GDP".

The next speaker was a Kenyan from the board of Cafedirect. His message was that people are abandoning Cafedirect and buying cheaper Fairtrade teas. This is causing real problems for Cafedirect which blazed the trail for all these other multinationals. "Please buy our tea" he said.

Finally the audience heard from Alan Duncan, Minister of State for International Development. He had actually asked to come and address the conference because he feels so strongly about the cause of Fairtrade. He said to the meeting "Dont scoff at Fairtrade. It is a sensible, robust economic model. Everyone should support it." He also talked about the harm that cotton subsidies are doing. He said there is no such thing as cheap clothing; if it seems cheap then someone else has paid the price!

Wendy and Susan with George Alagiah,

who chaired one of the sessions

It was a great and inspiring day for us all.