We went Fairtrade bananas and now it's over - Veronica

On Friday we all went bananas for Fairtrade as part of the record-breaking Fairtrade banana eating event. Over 380,000 people took part! Team Fairtrade went on the road, visiting various London boroughs as part of the 24-hour 24 borough banana-thon. Travelling on the tube dressed as a Fairtrade banana was certainly an experience, and a great way to get the message out in an amusing way!
Among other things, we visited City Hall with a giant Dubble bar, went to a school in Merton where hundreds of kids waved their bananas in the air, went to Wembly Stadium where two friendly coppers had their photo taken with us, drank Fairtrade banana cocktails in a bar in Islington and joined the banana mob in Trafalgar Square.
The bananas gave us plenty of energy, and we had a celebratory Fairtrade orange juice and Fairtrade white rum in a Sam Smiths pub (I brought my own Sainsbury's rum...ssshhh) but by the time I got home, I was looking forward to Fairtrade nut cutlets and pasta and sleep! That night, I have to say I dreamt of a delicious meal involving fresh vegetables and woke up drooling!
I spent most of Sunday in bed recovering from a hectic two weeks, but snacked on Fairtrade fruit and Divine chocolate. We had a great party in the evening at Theodore Bullfrog - lovely pub and part of a small chain - they may well be open to getting some Fairtrade wines in with enough pressure, but for now I paid the corkage on my own bottle of Fairtrade Argentinian Pinot Grigio from M&S! It was great to hear from all the producer partners who had spent the Fortnight travelling to ever corner of the UK visiting supporter events. They were so impressed with the commitment of Fairtrade supporters in the UK and will be telling their fellow farmers on their return. So we need to keep buying their products...
So, farewell Fairtrade Fortnight for another year. Our challenge has finally come to an end and we survived and learnt a lot! The main thing for me is that though there are a lot of Fairtrade products, we really need to continue to ask for them everywhere we go and persuade retailers and outlets that this is what we want, if we are to really scale up and increase the impact on farmers. So, you know what to do - choose Fairtrade and make it happen!

Fairtrade north of the border - Veronica

So, I have spent the last couple of days on the road at events in the Fairtrade City of Edinburgh. Travel up to Edinburgh on the National Express East Coast line is super speedy and by far the best way to travel, but unfortunately they don't serve Fairtrade hot drinks. Luckily I had some Hampstead Tea Fairtrade Peppermint teabags about my person, so I could make my own, but there's a job to do to persuade National Express to follow in the footsteps of Virgin trains and switch all their hot beverages to Fairtrade.

On Tuesday I was at an event to present the first Fairtrade School in Edinburgh, St Thomas Aquin's with their certificate. It was great to talk to the pupils about what they had done to spread the message in their school and to hear from some other schools they invited about their activities for Fairtrade Fortnight. Inspiration also came from Alex Chamas, a Brazil nut producer from Bolivia who is here with Equal Exchange to tell people about how by continuing to harvest Brazil nuts in the Amazon rainforest, they are helping to protect the lungs of the planet. He also told us about how the nut cooperatives in Bolivia are using Fairtrade premiums for healthcare in their communities, and to help young people continue their education - there are only primary schools in the villages, and young people need to travel to the city to get further education.

Back at the hotel, there was sadly no Fairtrade wine available at the bar, and a trek out in to cold, wet, wet, windy Edinburgh eventually yielded a bottle of the finest Fairtrade red from Threshers Origin range. What a relief...

By Wednesday evening I was getting pretty peckish, as the delicious package of brown rice, cashews and pineapple that Hannah had sent me off with was running low. As I wasn't able to cook the bag of pasta and walnut pesto I had with me, I was forced to snack on Fairtrade bananas and oranges, along with the ever-present rice cakes and peanut butter. Thoughts of food were pushed well out of mind as the last of the Great Trade Debates began - Can your shopping basket change the world? The conclusion of an excellent discussion with Ann McKechin MP, Duncan McLaren from Friends of the Earth, Malcom Brown from the Co-op and our very own Diana Gayle, was that yes, we can go some way to changing the world through our shopping, but that greater systemic changes are also required through better regulation.

I am now speeding my way back to London and preparing for tomorrow's Great Fairtrade Banana-thon across London - 24 boroughs in 24 hours...! Can the banana bunch do it?

Green Banana Curry a go go - Hannah

As we pass the half-way point, the Fairtrade only challenge is actually becoming easier. We spend lots of our time trying to make Fairtrade the norm - an integral and automatic part of every shopping basket. This week we've put our money where our mouth is and Fairtrade can be the norm - albeit with the help of your friends!
The lovely Bridgette - communications team legend and Fairtrade Foundation super-star - treated Team Fairtrade to home-cooked green banana curry. Take a bunch of still-green Fairtrade bananas and simmer in the coconut milk from one, fresh Fairtrade coconut, lashings of Fairtrade black pepper and tumeric from the taste-bud saving folks at Barts and serve with Fairtrade rice and a squeeze of fresh Fairtrade lime. A taste of the carribean on a cold, London day. Also a good way for us to warm up for the Go Bananas world record attempt from noon on Friday 6th to noon on Saturday 7th. If you haven't already, sign up to join over 260,00o people (and counting) to munch a Fairtrade banana and send a collective signal that the UK wants more Fairtrade!
Evening meal lacked Bridgette's culinary genius but Traidcraft quinoa pasta stir-fried with Fairtrade brazil nuts meant that farmers in Bolivia got a better deal from my evening meal. Glass of the Co-ops Savingon Blanc and a chance to wind down and watch the amazing footage from Bolton Fairtrade Town's Go Bananas event in the Reebok Stadium. Over 2,000 school pupil set the standard for the Go Bananas record this weekend by munching a Fairtrade banana with players from Bolton Wanderers - wouldn't fancy cooking curry for that lot!