Celebrating Fairtrade Fortnight 2022

Fairtrade Fortnight returns this month, from Monday 21 February to Sunday 6 March. As a proud Fairtrade borough, we’re supporting this year’s programme and sharing the details so residents, businesses and schools can get involved. 

What is Fairtrade and Fairtrade Fortnight?

Fairtrade is much more than just a label - it’s a way of making sure the people who are growing your food or making something you buy are paid fairly and treated well. For shoppers it means high quality, ethically produced products.

Fairtrade Fortnight is a great opportunity to learn more about how you can support equality for farmers and workers worldwide. This year, Fairtrade Fortnight is highlighting climate justice - the idea that climate change will affect different people in different ways, and we need to make this as fair as we can. 

Get involved and support Fairtrade

There are lots of ways you can support Fairtrade and get involved this year - both online and here in Sutton. 

• Take part in Fairtrade’s online Choose The World You Want festival, with events including panel discussions, storytelling and coffee mornings.

• Visit the youth exhibition, where young people share their vision of the world they want for farmers and workers worldwide, and the planet we all share.

• Join the Sutton Fairtrade Community Group to learn more about Fairtrade locally and show your support. Visit their stall at the next Wallington Farmers Market, Saturday 12 March.

• Shop Fairtrade. Look for the Fairtrade logo on products such as tea, coffee, chocolate and bananas to ensure you’re supporting fair conditions for workers. Many supermarket own-brand products are Fairtrade!

• If you work in education, you can download Fairtrade resource packs for everything you need to teach your students about this important topic.

• Businesses can get involved by promoting Fairtrade products, holding events or telling their Fairtrade story. 

Visit the Fairtrade website for more ideas.

What does being a Fairtrade borough mean? 

This year Sutton marks 15 years as a Fairtrade borough. This achievement has been driven by Sutton Fairtrade Community Group, with the support of lots of individuals and organisations across Sutton, including Sutton Council. 

The Council buys Fairtrade products including tea and coffee, and our commitment to buying Fairtrade is included in our sustainable procurement policy. Our commitment to buying Fairtrade is part of our response to the climate and ecological emergency.

Liz Udall, of Sutton Fairtrade Community Group group explains: “The climate crisis is an immediate threat to the livelihoods of millions of small scale farmers in low-income countries world wide, even though they have done the least to cause it. These farmers produce the things we love, such as chocolate, coffee and bananas. Fairtrade supports them to adapt and cope with unpredictable storms, floods and droughts but they desperately need the extra money promised by wealthy nations. 

“We can all do something to help by buying Fairtrade products and spreading the message about the massive challenges farmers face, and the need for governments and businesses to take action now.”