Fairtrade Fortnight 29th February -13th March

The theme chosen for this year is ‘Sit Down for Breakfast, Stand up for Farmers.’ The Fairtrade Foundation are encouraging us to hold a big breakfast event as an opportunity to bring the community together and pass on the message that Fairtrade means supporting farmers  and workers who help put food on our tables all year round.

The Beverley Fairtrade Group is inviting the local community to join them for breakfast in support of Fairtrade Fortnight 2016 to highlight how dependent we are on farmers across the world for our food and to emphasise the lack of food security faced by them.

The event is planned to take place in Toll Gavel Church Hall in Beverley on Saturday February 27 from 10 am to 12 noon.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day yet millions of farmers and workers don’t earn enough to know where their next meal is coming from. We are joining forces with groups across the country by holding a Big Breakfast to support the farmers who grow some of our breakfast table regulars such as coffee, tea, bananas, and fruit juice.  We shall also be using locally produced dairy products for those who want something cooked.  There will be a stall with a wide range of Fairtrade products from across the world and several will be on special offer during the two weeks.

John Turner, chair of the Beverley Fairtrade Group said’ Fairtrade means producers and workers are able to do what we take for granted – put food on the tables for themselves and their family. We have been campaigning for Fairtrade in Beverley for over 10 years and we have learned what a difference it makes  for the world’s most vulnerable communities to make farming viable and creating a social impact. We have had visits from banana farmers and some of our group have visited cocoa farmers and fruit growers in their homelands to learn about the benefits firsthand ’.  Rachel Sweet, Communities Campaigns Manager for the Fairtrade Foundation said, "Farming is the backbone of the world. It is simply wrong that people who produce what we eat go hungry themselves."

Some local churches and schools are also organising their own breakfast events. 

St Michael's Church at Cherry Burton is holding their Breakfast on March 5th between 9am and 11.30am. Molescroft Primary School is holding an event and also hosting a shop.

Thousands of similar events will take place across the country to amplify the campaign which now has a network of 600 Fairtrade towns, 1350 Fairtrade schools and 7,500 places of worship