Do you like bananas? Have you noticed that over the last ten years the price of bananas in the UK has halved while the cost of producing those bananas has almost doubled? It just doesn’t add up, does it?
In fact, bananas are now sold so cheaply that this is trapping many banana farmers and workers in a cycle of poverty. They still can’t afford to feed their families properly or provide the basics we take for granted such as an education and healthcare.
Monday 24th February sees the start of Fairtrade Fornight and I am adding my voice to the campaign, asking you to ‘Stick with Foncho’ to make bananas fair.
I love bananas! In fact I’m tucking into one right now with a nice cup of coffee and yes, they are both labelled Fairtrade. In the UK, we eat over 5 billion bananas a year; that’s 13 million each day. Sadly, only one-third of all those bananas is Fairtrade.
Meet Foncho from Colombia
Foncho’s finca near Rio Frio, Magdalena, Colombia.
Foncho is a banana farmer from Cienaga, Colombia. He’s part of a Fairtrade certified
co-operative called Coobafrio. Before Foncho’s co-operative was certified as Fairtrade, Foncho often struggled to make ends meet – it was a hard life. Now Foncho receives a fair price for his bananas, which means he can afford to care for his loved ones and send his daughter to college.
Foncho is furious that so many of his fellow banana growers are still trapped in poverty because of how little we pay for our bananas here in the UK. So furious, that he is travelling from his banana farm in Colombia to the UK this Fairtrade Fortnight, to ask Vince Cable (Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills) to investigate unfair supermarket pricing practices and act to protect the producers of the UK’s favourite fruit.
So please just take a few minutes to sign the petition now to ‘Stick with Foncho’ and please spread the word about this campaign during Fairtrade Fortnight. Thank you!
You can find out more about how you can help here.
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6 Comments
noelmorata
on February 27, 2014 at 9:35 pm
What a wonderful thing to write about, I had no idea that there was dumping going on…but coming from a tropical environment we can’t even compete with the low prices of other foreign countries. Fortunately there is enough demand in our state to support local farmers and markets.
I love bananas, favorite fruit for sure so I was excited to read this post. I would also like to share my thoughts that banana prices here in USA have reduced dramatically over the last year or so. I remember thinking that bananas were fairly expensive but now they are by far the cheapest fruit to purchase.
Bananas are not the only fruit where this is an issue and honestly I think we need to look at the broader picture of how economic numbers are affecting local production and manufacturers, both in terms of how demand is driving their profit margins down and how this is having an ecological impact on localities.
If a local farmer is losing money, they are going to do whatever they can to lower their costs and that may require the use of other fertilizers and pesticides that have an harmful impact on surrounding regions.
Thanks for raising awareness on this issue, Kat… I had no idea that bananas had halved in price (or indeed that they were now costing double to produce).
Of course, it’s not just overseas farmers that are controlled by UK supermarkets, but also UK farmers, too (though admittedly not to the same extent – at least they still have access to schools for their children, basic healthcare, etc.).
Kathryn Burrington
on February 26, 2014 at 12:37 pm
I’m sure most people aren’t aware of this. I do hope Fairtrade Fortnight raises awareness of this and other similar issues and that more people start buying more Fairtrade products.
Bananas make my skin crawl unfortunately! But thank you for raising this… The big multiples put so much pressure on their suppliers and probably penalise them for quality and quantity discrepancies that the margin will just disappear if that is allowed to continue
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What a wonderful thing to write about, I had no idea that there was dumping going on…but coming from a tropical environment we can’t even compete with the low prices of other foreign countries. Fortunately there is enough demand in our state to support local farmers and markets.
I love bananas, favorite fruit for sure so I was excited to read this post. I would also like to share my thoughts that banana prices here in USA have reduced dramatically over the last year or so. I remember thinking that bananas were fairly expensive but now they are by far the cheapest fruit to purchase.
Bananas are not the only fruit where this is an issue and honestly I think we need to look at the broader picture of how economic numbers are affecting local production and manufacturers, both in terms of how demand is driving their profit margins down and how this is having an ecological impact on localities.
If a local farmer is losing money, they are going to do whatever they can to lower their costs and that may require the use of other fertilizers and pesticides that have an harmful impact on surrounding regions.
Thanks for raising awareness on this issue, Kat… I had no idea that bananas had halved in price (or indeed that they were now costing double to produce).
Of course, it’s not just overseas farmers that are controlled by UK supermarkets, but also UK farmers, too (though admittedly not to the same extent – at least they still have access to schools for their children, basic healthcare, etc.).
I’m sure most people aren’t aware of this. I do hope Fairtrade Fortnight raises awareness of this and other similar issues and that more people start buying more Fairtrade products.
Bananas make my skin crawl unfortunately! But thank you for raising this… The big multiples put so much pressure on their suppliers and probably penalise them for quality and quantity discrepancies that the margin will just disappear if that is allowed to continue
Thanks for raising this issue – I always buy Fairtrade when I can.