This year we want to celebrate the ever increasing range of Peruvian Fairtrade products during Fairtrade Fortnight, from 6 to19 March, by asking our members to organise a Fairtrade event for the PSG.

Fairtrade is an alternative to the free market, where fluctuating commodity prices have a catastrophic impact on the lives of millions of small scale producers. Fairtrade companies buy produce direct from farmers at a fair and guarenteed price, enabling producers in poor countries to rely on their livlihoods and work their way out of poverty.

You could organise an event any time during the fortnight. It could be anything from a Fairtrade coffee morning at work or at home, to a Fairtrade Feast. You could even try organising a public event raising awareness of Fairtrade and raising money for the PSG at the same time.

The Fairtrade Foundation has lots of useful ideas and tips for running small and big events in their ‘Fairtrade Fornight Action Guide’, which you can download from their website or order from them for free by calling 020 7440 7676. Make Fairtrade Your Habit…

“As the array of Fairtrade products increases – there are now well over 1,000 – and more non-food products are becoming available, there are lots more opportunities to Make Fairtrade Your Habit. Fairtrade certified cotton, sports balls and flowers are available now, as well as the ever-growing range of food and drink. The theme of Fairtrade Fortnight 2006 is ‘Make Fairtrade Your Habit’ and the aim is to encourage consumers to adopt a Fairtrade lifestyle!” (Fairtrade Foundation).

To help you get started below you will find a list of some of the Peruvian Fairtrade products you might be able to include in your Fairtrade coffee morning or your Fairtrade Feast.

Agrofair
www.agrofair.com
Importers of Bananas and Mangoes from Peru. The Bananas are grown by a banana co-operative in the North of Peru called Asociación “Valle de Chira”. The co-operative represents 390 small producers. The bananas are traditionally grown in an organic way and are certified as such.

The Mangoes are grown by small farmers who together formed an association called APROMALPI. There are 88 families in the group which is located in the Northern province of Morropón. You can buy Peruvian bananas and Mangoes from your local Co-op supermarket.

Candela and Equal Exchange
CANDELA is a small non-profit trade development company promoting commercial and social development of small-scale Brazil Nut producers in Peru. It works under the principle and Code of Practice of the International Federation for Alternative Trade (IFAT).

They provide over 50 families with credit, food and river transport to their forest concessions to support the harvesting of Brazil nuts. The nuts are brought to the Candela factory in Puerto Maldonado where they are shelled and dried.

Equal Exchange, www.equalexchange.co.uk, import the brazil nuts and sell Amazon Flame Brazil Nut Oil, whole brazil nuts.

Divine chocolate, www.divinechocolate.co.uk, use the nuts to make dark chocolate coated Brazil nuts – you can buy Divine and Equal Exchange products in most Oxfam shops.

COCLA and Cafédirect
Close to the ancient Inca capital grow the organic gourmet beans that have been specifically cultivated to produce the single origin Organic Machu Picchu Mountain Special, Fresh Ground coffee. Grown by farmers from the COCLA co-operatives, it is an aromatic, well-rounded coffee and widely available.