EXETER Fairtrade City Steering Group are inviting the local community to celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight 2015 and choose products that change lives.

Campaigners across Exeter are joining forces with the rest of the country to remind everyone of the dramatic difference Fairtrade makes around the world and why it is urgently needed.

Exeter City Councillor Ollie Pearson, Chair of the Exeter Fairtrade City Steering Group, said: "Devon has been a Fairtrade County for ten years , supporting Fairtrade to pave the way for fairer and ethical trading but there is still a long way to go as trade isn’t working for the poorest farmers in the global south. We want to drive more benefits for farmers and workers in the Fairtrade system and make sure we can support those who aren’t, so they can receive a fairer deal too.

“We are inviting everyone in Exeter to come down, enjoy the Fairtrade tastings and learn what lies behind our everyday shopping – when you’re enjoying a cup of Fairtrade tea, you’re helping a tea grower pay for their child to go to school.”

70% of the world’s food is produced by 500 million smallholder farmers yet many of them remain trapped in chronic poverty while shoppers enjoy the fruits of their labour. Fairtrade ensures farmers across the developing world receive a fairer price for their work, as well as an additional Fairtrade Premium, used by farmers and workers to invest in their communities. The community then decides what the Premium is spent on, whether that’s building a new school or hospital, or investing in better environmental business practices.

Adam Gardner, Fairtrade Foundation’s Communities Campaigns Manager, said: “The UK has one of the most powerful networks of Fairtrade campaigners in the world, raising awareness about Fairtrade values in their communities and driving positive change for smallholder farmers, and their families, in developing countries. It is thanks to the support of groups like Exeter that currently more than 1.5 million farmers and workers around the world benefit from the Fairtrade system.

“In 2015, we want to see more individuals and businesses buying and selling Fairtrade products in the UK. The more that people choose Fairtrade, the more farmers and workers will be empowered to improve their lives through the better terms of trade it offers.”

On 28 February there will be a Fairtrade Tasting Market from 10:00am to 2:00pm in Bedford Square, Exeter. Oxfam, Exeter Anti-Slavery Group, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose supermarkets, will have Fairtrade products on display and samples to taste. They will also be joined by Paul Tiony a tea producer from Kenya Sireet Outgrowers Empowerment Project Company Ltd. Sireet OEP is an organisation of small-scale tea growers who also own a tea factory.

This year, people are also asked to bring an item of non Fairtrade dried or tinned food (unopened and in date) to donate to Devon & Cornwall Food Association in Exeter in exchange for a Fairtrade tea or coffee in Bedford Square. Devon & Cornwall Food Association rescues good food that would otherwise be wasted and redistributes it to local charities and community groups. This is one way to act more fairly when people are facing food poverty, while at the same time we throw away one third of our food every day.

Fairtrade Fortnight is the highlight of the year for Fairtrade campaigners up and down the country. From 23 February to 8 March thousands of events will be held to amplify the campaign in many of Fairtrade’s network of 600 Fairtrade Towns, 1,350 Fairtrade Schools and 170 Fairtrade Universities, and 7,500 Fairtrade Faith Groups. Activities will include producer events, film screenings, tastings, and a ‘Stock It’ Challenge.

Fairtrade visitor Paul Tiony’s visit to Fairtrade communities around Devon has been organised by Devon Development Education Centre in Exeter and is supported financially by Co-operative Membership.

For more information on Fairtrade and and events going on across Exeter and Devon go to www.exeter.gov.uk/fairtrade or www.fairtrade.org.uk