Paula McIntyre: Fairtrade ensures better trading conditions and sustainable farming

They check that their standards have been met by the farmers, workers and companies that are part of the products supply chain. The Fairtrade mark on packaging ensures that the criteria has been certified. There are over 4500 Fairtrade products from coffee and tea to flowers and even gold. In the UK there are 500 Fairtrade towns, 118 universities, over 6000 churches and 4000 schools registered to the Fairtrade Schools Scheme.

The movement can often be a much more efficient way of promoting sustainable development than traditional charity and aid. Many growers in developing countries testify that without their support, it wouldn’t make economic sense to continue in business. Big conglomerates offered so little for the produce that it was actually costing money to farm, never mind allowing producers to making a profit. It’s a global issue and one that is happening here too. Supermarkets will squeeze farmers in order to make more profit, the best example being of not giving dairy farmers a fair price for their milk.

Today is Fairtrade Day across the globe and a good way to support farmers here and across the globe. The Fairtrade symbol is now well recognised and by sourcing sugar, chocolate, coffee, bananas and thousands of other products with it displayed, you’ll know the farmers are getting a fair price. One of the best examples here is many of the coffee shops who source their coffee from farms they know the growers will get a fair price. They’ll also source their milk directly from dairy farms here that produce non-homogenised milk. It’s a win/win situation and customers attest to the quality of the finished product.

The coffee, milk and chocolate combination in the recipe here is a chocolate and coffee cremeux, essentially a rich mousse that’s served with ginger biscuits to dip. You can source most of the ingredients via Fairtrade or local producers. Bananas are another recognised Fairtrade product. If you’re like me there are always some in the fruit bowl, usually in various stages of ripeness. When they’re a bit over they can be whizzed into a banana bread and in the recipe here it’s transformed into French toast and topped with a banana ice-cream. The ice-cream is also made with ripe bananas that are blended to a smooth puree and mixed with whipped cream and condensed milk before being frozen. For an extra banana hit I’ve added some caramelised bananas for texture and flavour. Even just buying some ingredients with the Fairtrade symbol will have an impact of the lives of farmers and their families across the globe.