[imc-scotland-discussion] World Development Movement - Fairtrade banana-eating challenge

[jon at noflag.org.uk]

Hi Cindy,

Sorry for not replying earlier. We are extremely busy :)

Indymedia Scotland is an open publishing news website, which means that
activists, campaigns and community groups can write about their own
campaigns, analysis and issues, and publish them on our website.

I have created an article on the website from your press release, but in
the future, feel free to publish articles yourself about WDM campaigns,
commentary, and events :)

Indymedia Scotland is an self-funded, volunteer run organisation. We aim
to provide an alternative news outlet for progressive groups, to share
information, and to reach the public, free from the often biased and
fickle mainstream media.

Sincerely,

Jon Black
Indymedia Scotland Editor
www.indymediascotland.org



Cindy Courtillier wrote:
> *PRESS RELEASE:*
> 
> *WORLD DEVELOPMENT MOVEMENT GLASGOW *
> 
> *Media release *
> 
> *Saturday 7th MARCH 2009 *
> 
> *LOCAL ACTIVISTS HOLD A FAIRTRADE BANANA-EATING CHALLENGE*
> 
> THEME:            Fairtrade Banana-Eating Challenge
> LOCATION:     The Co-op, 1060 Pollokshaws Road
> TIME:                Saturday 7 March 2009, 10am-2pm
> PHOTOS:          On Flickr: 
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/34305355@N06/?saved=1
> 
> The World Development Movement today held a Fairtrade banana-eating 
> challenge at the Co-op on Pollokshaws Road, to help the Fair Trade 
> Foundation set a world record for the largest number of Fair-trade
> bananas eaten over a 24-hour period.
> 
> Thanks to the support of the Co-operative who agreed to host the
> event and donate fair trade bananas, councillors and members of the
> public was invited to eat a Fairtrade banana and write their own
> personal messages on a graffiti wall, which will be presented to
> MEPs/MEP candidates in a mass lobby later in the year.
> 
> The banana is the most popular fruit in the world – people spend over
> £10 billion on the fruit globally. Yet, the majority of banana
> plantation workers do not earn enough to live and support their
> families with some farmers earning less than £1 per day. The
> Fairtrade mark provides a guarantee to consumers that developing
> country producers have received a fair price for their products.
> Despite an increase in UK sales of Fairtrade products, only one in
> four bananas sold in the UK is Fairtrade.
> 
> Bananas also symbolise the challenge of international trade. Like
> many banana farmers, millions of people working in agriculture,
> manufacturing and services endure unacceptable working conditions and
> are kept in poverty by unfair trade rules.
> 
> This world record attempt aimed to make it clear to retailers and
> European policy-makers that the public wants Fairtrade products but
> also trade policies that put people before profits and support human
> rights and long-term, sustainable development.
> 
> Steve Rolfe, Chair of WDM Glasgow said:
> 
> 'Millions of people across the developing world continue to face the 
> damaging impacts of unfair trade rules that are rigged in favour of
> big business. Fairtrade can only take us so far in tackling the
> fundamental injustices of the international trade rules. We need to
> change the unfair trade rules that keep people in poverty.'
> 
> The World Development Movement is one of the founders of the
> Fairtrade Foundation and this year the two organisations are teaming
> up to demand a system that prioritises the needs of the world's poor
> and challenge the new trade deals which the European Union is
> currently trying to broker with over a hundred countries.
> 
> WDM argues that these deals will put European companies first, not
> the 1.5 billion people in these countries living on less than US$2 a
> day. They will particularly harm the poorest and most vulnerable
> people in the world, as millions of low income farmers and producers
> will be at risk of not being able to compete with subsidised
> agricultural produce from Europe flooding their markets and
> destroying their livelihoods.
> 
> It can take many years for the impacts of trade deals to be realised,
> but evidence from previous deals in Mexico and South Africa shows
> that they rarely benefit the poor. For example, in Mexico the trade
> deal led to two million people leaving their land as the price for
> maize collapsed – whilst corporate giants reaped the profits.
> 
> The World Development Movement is calling for these trade deals to be
>  stopped and campaigning for Europe to adopt trade policies that put
> people before profits.
> 
> ENDS
> 
> 
> Media contact: Cindy Courtillier   07787 197 103 
> cindy_courtillier at yahoo.co.uk
> 
> Notes to Editors
> 
> http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/
> 
> The World Development Movement campaigns for a world without poverty
> and injustice. We work in solidarity with activists around the world
> to tackle the causes of poverty. We research and promote positive
> alternatives which put public good before private gain.
> 
> http://www.wdm.org.uk/campaigns/trade/
>