Fairtrade pioneer, Bruce Crowther of Garstang, the world’s first fair-trade town, has been awarded an MBE in the new year’s honours list. As the capital becomes the biggest Fairtrade city in the world, a man who helped get this socially responsible ball rolling is being acknowledged for his efforts and foresight, by the royal family no less.
Fairtrade and ethical products have experienced phenomenal growth and exposure in recent years. The part-time vet and charity enthusiast helped establish Garstang as the first Fairtrade town in 2000. He has been campaigning on behalf of Oxfam since 1984 and has been a fair-trade enthusiast since its inception in 1994.
He will be receiving the award from a member of the royal family, at Buckingham Palace during 2009.
“I’m just one of millions of people who care about the poverty and inequality that underlies most, if not all that is wrong in our unjust world.”
“I hope by accepting this award on behalf of this mass movement of people it will help to promote even greater awareness of poverty and the part we all play in it.”
Other accolades received by Crowther include being made a chief of New Koforidua, which is a town in Ghana, and being described as a hero by Gordan Brown in his latest book on community leaders. He helped Garstang achieve Fairtrade status in 2000 and with this example set, cities like Dublin, Rome, San Francisco and more recently London have followed suit.
In last year’s honours list, another Garstang community leader, Mrs Norah Hoyles, was awarded an MBE for her work on Garstang’s Britain in Bloom campaign.
Garstang is a historic market town between Preston and Lancaster in Lancashire. The population is around 5000. It was on Thursday the 27th of April 2000 that the good people of Garstang voted almost unanimously in favour of Garstang becoming the world’s first Fairtrade town.
Recently, London became the world’s largest Fair trade city, a move endorsed by London Mayor Boris Johnson, calling it “super” and acknowledging that it means “Londoners want their products to be fair trade and to make a significant difference to the lives of the farmers and workers in the developing world.”
There are five guarantees behind the Fairtrade logo; securing farmers a fair and stable price for their produce, extra income for farmers and estate workers, a greater respect for the environment, giving small farmers a stronger position in world markets, and to close the gap between producers and consumers.
Cafedirect is the UK’s largest Fairtrade hot drinks company, with experts in tea, coffee, sustainable development, climate change, and responsible supply chain management.