14th May, 2020

World Fair Trade Day

Saturday 9 May was World Fair Trade Day, a moment to celebrate the role that fair trade plays in the fight against poverty across the globe. In the face of a global crisis, farmers and workers around the world are playing a vital but often forgotten role.

This World Fair Trade was a time to say a big thank you to all of the farmers and workers who are working hard to provide us with our food and drink at this time. Did you know that fifty percent of the food that we buy in our supermarkets comes from overseas? That means there are a lot of different people across the globe involved in getting our food to our plates!

On the run up to World Fair Trade Day, hundreds of children across the UK took the time to learn about the many people involved in producing our products. Our new Fairtrade Schools story ‘Thank you for the chocolate’, written for World Fair Trade Day, highlights the number of people involved in supply chains, from farmers to shippers, packers to shop keepers. Young readers then unleashed their creativity and designed beautiful thank you cards for the key workers beyond our borders.

The Fairtrade Schools team have been busy gathering all of your messages over the past week, and will be sharing the first bundle with farmers and workers in producer countries on Friday 15th May. But saying ‘thank you‘ is not just for World Fair Trade Day, and there is still plenty of time to get involved…

To send your message of thanks to farmers and workers, send your home made Thank You card to schools@fairtrade.org.uk, or share on Twitter with the global hashtag #FairtradeTogether. Remember to download our new Fairtrade Schools story ‘Thank you for the Chocolate‘ to learn about the many different workers within the chocolate supply chain.

As we celebrate these amazing farmers and workers around the world, a big thank you to you as well! The Fairtrade Schools Team have been so impressed by the care and thought put into your messages. Although many of us cannot be together in school just now, you have shown that we can still learn about, and support, Fairtrade together at home.

Find out how Fairtrade producers are already coming together to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 in their communities.