The Sunday Supplement - fairtrade fortnight

I was on my way into town today and thought 'Its been a while since I done a Sunday Supplement and its generally because its negative. Well, maybe more like postive criticism ? Either way, best used sparingly in these here times when there is enough political assesment here in Ireland.

Despite the recession ( are we still in it? ) Fairtrade goods are going from strength to strength. Sales continued to grow - from €93m in 2008 to €118m last year. This is mainly due to fairtrade becoming more 'mainstream' with brand like Cadburys Dairy Milk and Ben & Jerry's making the swap amongst others. In fact that is this years theme 'The Big Swap'.

For us Irish -famous tea drinkers- its important to note that just 2 % of tea sold in this country is Fairtrade. Its statistics like this that we all need to become aware of. I always buy my coffee in Butlers, who sell ethically traded tea and coffee. Iv bought two already this Sunday !

We could all be a little better in this area. We all have a little less these days, please spend it wisely.

For more details please visit www.fairtrade.ie