Help Make South Tyrone's Towns & Villages Fairtrade Areas
Publish Date: Thursday, 09 November 2006
Dungannon & South Tyrone Borough Council would like to hear from local food retailers and catering establishments interested in taking part in the area's new Fairtrade Town Initiative, which will link the Borough with a UK and Ireland-wide network of towns promoted by the Fairtrade Foundation and Fairtrade Mark Ireland.
Councillors recently adopted a motion to achieve Fairtrade Town status for a number of towns and villages within the Borough; an initiative driven by the Council's Sustainability Committee which will see the implementation of six specified goals of Fairtrade including the set up of a cross-sector Fairtrade Steering Group.
Currently, more than one hundred coffee, tea, banana, chocolate, cocoa, juice, sugar and honey products carry the Fairtrade Mark; increasingly, non-food items such as Fairtrade cotton or footballs are included in the range. Through increased awareness and co-operation with local businesses and community organisations, the Council hopes to increase the range of Fairtrade products available in local outlets and the number of local organisations that use Fairtrade Mark products.
The Fairtrade Town initiative is another key initiative by Dungannon & South Tyrone Borough Council to progress sustainable development both at local and global levels. Already, in the year 2000, the Council took the pro-active step to adopt a Fairtrade Tea and Coffee Policy in response to a Fairtrade Campaign by War on Want NI. Since then, every cup of tea and coffee drank at the Council offices has been enjoyed in the knowledge that the farmers who produced it receive a fair price and work in decent and secure conditions. Fairtrade is also included in the Borough's Agenda 21 Action Programme under the key area of "Sustainable Consumption".
Councillor Gildernew, Chairman of the Council's Sustainability Sub-Committee explains: "Fairtrade is a decent and sustainable way of doing business without exploiting farmers and labourers in developing countries. Take the example of coffee - a commodity we all have become used to. 10million people throughout the world are involved in the production of coffee, but on average just 10p of every pound that we pay for 'ordinary' coffee goes to the farmer who grew the beans. Fairtrade guarantees a minimum price which covers the cost of production, provides a basic living wage and allows for investment."
Interested local businesses or community organisations who would like to become involved should contact the Council's Agenda 21 Co-ordinator on (028) 8772 0338.
