Fairtrade Christmas Fair at the Hay Winter Festival

While the Food Fair was taking place in the marquee in the town square, and Hay Winter Festival was happening in the marquee at the Cattle Market, the Butter Market was full of Fairtrade stalls for the annual Christmas Fair.

Love Zimbabwe had the stall across the far end, and one lady had come back after about six years away - and said it felt as if she'd never been away. Tools for Self Reliance had a good selection of garden tools on display, and popular items on one of the other stalls seemed to be beeswax wraps - cloth wraps for presents, which are re-usable and an alternative to wrapping paper, and cloth bags for presents, sewn in India. There was also a range of Zaytoun produce including olive oil, and embroidered purses.

There was also a Fairtrade stand in the marquee on Friday evening, for the turning on of the Christmas Lights. The new banner was on display, proclaiming that this is a Fairtrade Town.

The Fairtrade Logo

The next meeting of the Fairtrade group in Hay is on Wednesday 4th September at 6pm in the Blue Boar.

The Fairtrade logo was first introduced 25 years ago, in October, and to celebrate local communities are being encouraged to hold a 25th birthday party to celebrate Fairtrade's achievements and reinforce the principles the logo represents - fair wages and working conditions for farmers and growers in developing countries.

One of the things that the Fairtrade movement is concerned about at the moment is the undermining of the Fairtrade logo by global companies who have introduced their own labels, which are not independently audited.
Sainsbury's now has a 'fairly traded' mark. Lidl is introducing non-Fairtrade bananas alongside the Fairtrade bananas it sells. Nestle, Cadbury, Starbucks and McDonalds have all introduced their own in-house programmes.

So remember the original, and best, logo to be sure you're supporting Fairtrade:

New Fairtrade Shop in Town

Welcome to Rosa Azul, which has opened on Castle Street, just in time for the Festival.

Fairtrade Fortnight

Fairtrade Fortnight is coming up soon! This year it is from February 25th to March 10th.
In Hay, there will be a stall on the Thursday market on Thursday 28th February, with information about local activities and the global efforts to guarantee a living wage for farmers - this year the focus of the campaign is West Africa, including Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana. Between them, these two countries produce 60% of the world's cocoa beans, so a simple way to help them would be to buy more Fairtrade chocolate! Hot chocolate and homemade cupcakes will also be available at the stall.
Hay Co-op uses Fairtrade chocolate in all its own brands, and Fairtrade chocolate is also available at the Hay Deli and other local food shops.
Many women work on cocoa farms, and at present they have fewer rights than men, so the Fairtrade Foundation is working with governments and retailers to improve conditions for women in particular, with the slogan "She Deserves a Living Income".