I regularly have conversations with people about fair trade. In fact, its one of my favourite topics of conversation! Sometimes, I’m met with responses such as: it’s too expensive, my local supermarket doesn’t stock it or I don’t know where to start! So, here’s a list of five easy changes EVERYONE can and should make today!
1. Rethink your coffee. Fair trade coffee is widely available in all supermarkets now so it has never been easier make this change and find a coffee that suits your taste. The Co-op and Sainsbury’s also do their own brand of competitively priced capsules for Nespresso machines meaning that you don’t have to compromise your ethics for a great coffee.
2. Go bananas. Again these are pretty widely available. In fact, Sainsburys and Waitrose only sell fair trade bananas. However, you can buy them at Tesco and Aldi now as well.
3. Change your chocolate. You don’t need to visit a specialist shop or fancy brand to get fair trade chocolate. Chocolate giants such as Cadbury now carry the fair trade mark making it so easy to make a good choice when it comes to your chocolate treats.
4. Sugar switch. Buy fair trade or buy British. Yes it will cost you a few pence more, but not that much more.
5. Think about your cup of tea. Fair trade tea is also widely available and many herbal tea brands only make ethically produced tea. Look for the fair trade mark too (same with coffee). The little green frog symbol is not a guarantee that your tea has been produced under fair standards.
Making small changes such as these wont impact your life that much, you probably wont even notice them. But they will make a huge difference to so many of the poorest people around the world who produce the food we eat.
Pop in to Good Taste – The Sheffield Fair Trade Shop, we’d love to show you round our beautiful shop and talk about the changes you can make in your life and the positive impact that they will have on so many.
Fair Trade: Everyday