Sutton Council pledges continued support for Fair Trade

Fairtrade and the wider Fair Trade movement aim to support farmers and workers in 73 countries across the world by paying the market price for products, investing in local communities and ending the exploitation of local workers.

Sutton has been a Fairtrade Borough since 2007 and the Fairtrade Foundation recently renewed the borough’s status. This means that Sutton is committed to and supports the use of products with the Fairtrade Mark across the borough.The Council itself only uses Fairtrade tea, coffee and sugar for its meetings. 

The community-based Sutton Fairtrade Steering Group, run entirely by volunteers with the support of the Council, has played a vital role in helping residents understand Fairtrade by promoting the Fairtrade Fortnight and other projects in schools, colleges and libraries locally.

Councillor Marian James, Chair of Sutton’s People Committee, said: 

“We are proud and delighted that the Council will continue to support the Fairtrade campaign.

“The Council has been ambitious in supporting the campaign and strengthening its policies to ensure that Fairtrade products are chosen wherever possible in council buildings, and that Fair Trade considerations are included in any council contracts being let. 

“The decision to champion Fair Trade also supports the Council’s plans for our residents to make informed choices and enable them to sustain change.”

Councillor Barry Lewis, who presented the motion on Fairtrade to councillors, said:

“Sutton’s steering group has been extremely successful in raising awareness of Fairtrade issues with an active programme of events and activities across the borough, and the Council now looks forward to supporting Fairtrade initiatives in future years.

“It’s fantastic to see that councillors from all parties agree that this is a worthwhile cause that needs to be supported and championed by everyone in Sutton.” 

Fairtrade Fortnight 2020 will run from 24 February until 8 March. As part of the plan to tackle the climate emergency and to encourage people to make more sustainable choices, Sutton Council will be hosting events to inform the climate emergency action plan in mid-February and mid-March. Find out more here. 

Note

Council agreed a motion proposed by Councillor Barry Lewis at its meeting on 20 January for continued support of the global Fair Trade initiative.  You can see the motion wording here.

ENDS