Product Description

It started very small and full of hope. But its daring campaigns have placed Fairtrade goods at the heart of the supermarket shelves. From bananas and coffee beans to cotton and chocolate, Fairtrade has grown to become an important global movement that has revolutionised the way we shop. As Harriet Lamb, Director of the Fairtrade Foundation, explains in this fascinating story, Fairtrade is about a better deal for workers and famers in the developing world.It's about making sure the food on our plates, and shirts on our backs, don't rob people in other countries of the means to feed or clothe themselves. She explores the journey, through an often unjust system, that Fairtrade items make from farm to consumer. And she uncovers the shocking cost of our demand for cheaper food. There is much still to be done. But by hard work and high ideals, Fairtrade is starting to transform the lives of over 7 million farmers, workers and their families, and is a powerful symbol of how extraordinary change can be achieved against all the odds - by us all.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17314 in Books
• Published on: 2008-02-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Review
A stirring story of a burgeoning "global family", tenaciously pushing big business to trade more fairly with some of the world's poorest farmers --New Statesman

Review
Consumer power at its best

Review
Lamb's farmers come across as real people...Her corporate savvy impresses

Customer Reviews

Read YOUR story now!
It is fantastic that the campaigners are enjoying Harriet's book so much and like me just cannot put it down.

I know that many, if not all of them understand the power of stories and that is what makes this book so special to me.

It is the power of so many stories from so many different people (producers, licensees, NGOs, consumers etc) all coming together to show what can be achieved when we all start to care about the `problem' and take what action is required by each of us.

I consider it an enormous privilege to be one of those stories and many people that I know are also mentioned by name in the book, but of most importance is the wording in the final paragraph under the 'Acknowledgements' section:

"Above all else, I would like to acknowledge those many, many people across the world who have played their part in putting Fairtrade on the map but whose stories could not all be included in this book"

That of course means all of us who have done anything to support Fairtrade, even if it is just drinking a cup of Fairtrade coffee, so if you have not done so already go out and read YOUR story now!

As well as an excellent read this book is a must have campaigner tool. I just cannot stop reading out aloud from it at every opportunity as it provides the heart and soul that lies beneath all that I do.

Bruce Crowther
Oxfam Campaigner & Fairtrade Towns Coordinator

Inspiring, Informative and Insightful!
This is a brilliant book, it will make you cry, it will make you laugh and most of all, it will inspire you to change the way you shop! It will connect you with the people who grow and produce the food and clothes that you buy.

I cried at the description of the horrific effects that the (banned in Europe but not in the Third world) chemicals have on the farmers and their families.

I laughed at the breath-taking honesty and self-effacing way that the road from 'crap chocolate wrapped in cardboard' (to quote Tony Robinson) to over 3,000 products (including major supermarket own brands) is described. The book also gives the credit to the everyday people who have campaigned and bought Fairtrade, as they have created the unstoppable flood which has led to a fairer way to trading with developing countries.

I was inspired by the way that the book illustrates how Fairtrade provides stability to the farmers, and also gives them new power and hope. They decide whether to use the Fairtrade premium to build a school or wells or to provide healthcare. It gives them back their pride and voice - as one banana worker puts it - 'the banana worker is the poorest person in our society, managed and exploited by multinational corporations... I was someone that took a box and loaded it onto a train...In this new system I have become an international businessman'.

Harriet is a social campaigner who is definitely one of the ordinary people - and the passion and pragmatism shines through this book.

She doesn't shy away from the difficult questions - how to avoid tokenism by big companies, other ethical areas (the sweatshops, mining and diamonds), where does ensuring a fair price for UK farmers from supermarkets fit in, etc. In fact, the book tackles these areas with balanced, intelligent answers.

The book shows how far things have come, but also spurs you on as we still have far to go - for example, less than 1% of chocolate sold in the UK is Fairtrade (and no major confectioner yet has a Fairtrade product).

I have already pledged to change the way I shop - I dare you to read this book and not to take up at least one of the steps that are outlined at the end.

Fairtrade is a force for change
Harriet Lamb's account of the beginnings and growth of Fairtrade achieves an excellent balance between clearly explaining the knotty economic and political issues involved, and taking the reader on a journey around the world to where Fairtrade is having a tangible impact. An inspiring read and great resource for anyone wanting to find out more about the real facts and figures behind Fairtrade.