Manchester City Council

Fairtrade

Introduction

Imagine you're a farmer in the Third World - you've managed to harvest your crop but there's only one potential buyer and they're offering you an insulting price. But your children have nothing to eat and you're desperate for the cash so you'll sell at any price, and making a massive loss is better than not selling the crop at all. Right?

Wrong! It's not fair, and it's not fair trade

The Fairtrade Foundation was set up in 1994 to support farmers who find themselves in this predicament, and protect them from unscrupulous middlemen taking advantage of their desperate plight. The situation described above is an everyday occurrence in many parts of the world as a result of market forces and the huge buying power of multinationals. Often it's the person at the very end of the chain who gets taken advantage of: third world producers regularly have no choice but to accept far less for their crop than it has cost them to produce, and as a result, whole families are living in abject poverty.

Fairtrade is, however, not a charity - it's a way of ensuring that these families can sustain and develop their communities.

To encourage more people to think about what they're buying and where it's come from, Manchester City Council led the bid to make Manchester a Fairtrade City and the city was awarded Fairtrade status in March 2005

What is a Fairtrade City? - the Five Goals

The goals of a Fairtrade City are set down by the Fairtrade Foundation.

The local council must pass a resolution supporting Fairtrade, and serve Fairtrade coffee and tea at its meetings and in offices and canteens.
A range of Fairtrade products must be readily available in the area's shops and served in local cafés and catering establishments (targets are set in relation to population).
Fairtrade products must be used by a number of local work places (estate agents, hairdressers etc) and community organisations (churches, schools etc).
The council must attract popular support for the campaign.
A local Fairtrade steering group must be convened to ensure continued commitment to Fairtrade City status.

Want to help? Want to know more?

There are many things you can do to make a difference

Want to help? Want to know more? There are many things you can do to make a difference: Have a look at the "How to" guides to see where and how:

If you meet the criteria you can register and apply for Fairtrade Friendly status

Getting Manchester City Council Fairtrade Friendly Accreditation