Fairtrade Towns - Do You Live in One?

By Kevin S Longworth

From Aberdeen to York and 433 towns, villages and cities in between, the United Kingdom is jam packed full of Fairtrade towns but have you ever even heard of such a thing and if you have, do you know if you live in one?

Until you start looking into all things Fairtrade, Fairtrade clothing, Fairtrade food and Fairtrade jewellery, you'd be forgiven for not knowing what it meant and how it affects you as a consumer. This article will tell you all about what a Fairtrade town is so you can decide whether or not you care.

Put simply a Fairtrade town is a place whose community has come together to support all things Fairtrade and it's all about community, so a town cannot become Fairtrade just because one store happens to stock Fairtrade goods. Typical examples of the range of people needed to support the application are faith groups, school, businesses and the local council, once these are all on board and have made the commitment, it's onwards and upwards.

It's all about meeting five main goals which are, in no particular order, shops will sell Fairtrade products, the local council will agree to serve Fairtrade food in its canteens, schools, etc, a steering group is set up to make sure that the Fairtrade commitment stays strong, local workplaces must also commit to offering Fairtrade products and finally, there must be a concerted effort to gain media coverage and to raise awareness of the plight within the community.

They're not unachievable by any means, in fact, some would say that they're actually very achievable with one or two individuals committed to making the cause work and spreading the word. It's easy to get involved if you're not already and what an achievement it would be to make your village, town or city Fairtrade. They say volunteering work makes you more desirable to future employees and that they give you increased confidence and people skills and this will give you both of those things as well as giving you a real sense of achievement and worth.

Chester is a great example of a large Fairtrade town (it's actually a city) in the North West, if you can get a city with a population of over 77,000 to commit, you can certainly get your small village or town involved and you'll be benefitting from a wider choice of fresh and ethical food, creative and fashionable ethical clothing and a completely clear conscience.

Ethical clothing is a big one to consider because it's so easy to get sucked in by huge brands offering massive sales and cheap prices but have you stopped to think about how they make a profit from such tiny prices? The answer is simple, they're not generally Fairtrade so instead, when you're out shopping for clothes, look for the Fairtrade sign and sign up for organic clothing and ethical fashion in a big way - same goes for food.

You can find Organic clothing online with both men's and women's fairtrade clothing [http://www.wombatclothing.com/category/woms] available.

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