Newcastle North MP, Catherine McKinnell, joined Fairtrade business, fairandfunky and ‘Foncho’, a Colombian banana farmer, at an event in Parliament this week to celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight, which this year runs from 24th February to 9th March.
Catherine – who first got involved in politics campaigning for Fairtrade as a student – attended the event to give her backing to this year’s Fairtrade Fortnight campaign, Make Bananas Fair.
The UK eats over five billion bananas a year, 80% of which are bought from major supermarkets. In the past 10 years, the UK supermarket sector has almost halved the shelf price of loose bananas while the cost of producing them has doubled. The typical cost of a loose banana is 11p, compared with 18p a decade ago, while a loose apple grown in the UK now costs 20p.
The resulting drop in export prices for bananas in producing countries means an ever-tightening squeeze on what producers earn for their bananas. This, combined with escalating production and living costs, means many farmers and workers’ standards of living have progressively worsened in the past decade.
Columbian banana farmer Albeiro Alfonso ‘Foncho’ Cantillo Ruiz is in the UK throughout Fairtrade Fortnight, and joined Yorkshire-based fairandfunky in Parliament to convince the Government to take action to help end unfair pricing by supermarkets.
Catherine said:
‘The campaign for Fairtrade produce is one that is close to my heart and is what got me into politics in the first place. But hearing again about the impact of Fairtrade – and the need for a fair price for his produce – firsthand from Foncho was very powerful. I was happy to sign the pledge and support the Make Bananas Fair campaign.
‘Fairtrade, and the need to ensure people around the world receive a fair price for their goods, is one of the main issues raised with me whenever I visit schools across Newcastle North – and it was great to see a number of young people, equally passionate about this issue, at the event in Parliament.’