27th February 2007 - Euro-MP urges region to choose Fairtrade

To mark the start of the annual national Fairtrade Fortnight, Yorkshire and the Humber MEP Linda McAvan is promoting Fairtrade products and urging people to find out more.

Ms McAvan, who represents the local area in the European Parliament and who is Chair of the Parliament's cross-Party Group on Fair Trade, has produced a leaflet reminding people about the range of Fairtrade products available and urging people to try them out. The leaflet urges women in particular to make March 8th, International Women's Day, a "Fairtrade Day".

In recent years the sale of fair trade products has grown by 20% per year across Europe, and there are now more than a million farmers and producers in the developing world benefiting from this expanding market. Each producer is guaranteed a minimum price for their crop, reducing the risk to their income from volatile world market prices.

Linda McAvan said;

"I have seen for myself how Fairtrade products make a real difference to some of the world's poorest farmers - many of them women - I met in Africa and the Caribbean. It means they get a fair price for their goods, so they can put their children into school and pay medical bills. It means a community premium to be spent on local projects such as clean water, schools and clinics."

She added;

"These days there are Fairtrade goods for everyone. There is a remarkable range of goods available in the shops and online: not just fruit and chocolate but wine, clothes, flowers, jams… the list goes on and on!"

Anyone wishing to find out more can visit the fair trade page on Linda's website at http://www.lindamcavanmep.org.uk/special_reports/fair_trade or contact her constituency office on 01709 875665, or click here for a leaflet.