Cherry Burton Fairtrade & Local Produce Project

Fairtrade Breakfast 2016

Fairtrade Breakfast kitchen volunteers

Volunteers

Volunteers

Cherry Burton celebrated Fairtrade Fortnight by joining with the rest of the country in holding a Big Fairtrade Breakfast in the St. Michael’s Centre on Saturday March 5th. The menu was packed with Fairtrade and Yorkshire products in recognition of the importance of farmers in developing countries and our own Yorkshire farmers. Fairtrade mueslis and orange juice were followed by a cooked breakfast of East Riding Country Pork bacon and eggs from Field House Farm, Newbald, via Trophy Pets at Walkington, accompanied by toast and Fairtrade marmalade/jam/honey, and all washed down by a choice of Fairtrade ground coffees or tea. Even the milk was local from Chestnut dairies and butter from the Dales Creamery.

Ros Stanley from Cherry Burton Fairtrade and Local Produce Group said: “Fairtrade means many producers and workers are able to put enough food on the table for themselves and the people they care about, all year round. We have been campaigning for Fairtrade for thirteen years, and have learned what a difference it makes for the world’s most vulnerable communities. 400 million hungry people live on small farms and work to produce many of the foods we eat or drink. Fairtrade is something everyone can engage in and make a positive difference in our very challenging world.”

Come and join our Fairtrade Breakfast, where we will once again be serving up a delicious breakfast of Fairtrade mueslis, orange juice, coffee and tea, together with local East Yorkshire bacon butties, and toast with Fairtrade marmalade, jam or honey. We will be serving from 9 to 11.30am on Saturday 5th March, in the St. Michael Centre, behind St. Michael’s church, Cherry Burton.

A new competition from Fairandfunky invites Primary Schools across Yorkshire to create an A4 poster, using Divine Chocolate packaging, on the theme “Fairtrade for the Future”.

The winning design in each category (KS1 and KS2) will win a Fairandfunky workshop, AND a Divine Chocolate fundraising kit, as well as a hamper for the individual artist.

Each poster must include Divine Chocolate packaging and packs including enough for a whole class to take part are available from http://www.fairandfunky.co/fairtrade-online-shop/resources/ for a nominal postage fee.

Good luck!

Aimeth and children with some of her bananas

Cherry Burton welcomed Aimeth Fernandez Angulo to the village on Sunday 9th March 2014 – “Banana Sunday”! Aimeth is a banana farmer and manager of a banana growers’ co-operative in the Magdalena region of northern Colombia. She grows bananas on her small farm of 1.3 hectares, producing around 67 boxes (1.2 tonnes) of bananas a week. She has been employed by the co-operative, ASOBANARCOOP, for 26 years, using her skills as a trained economist with extensive experience in business management.

The co-operative was set up in 1987 by 17 small-scale farmers who formed an association to collectively export their bananas and improve their livelihoods. It now has 44 members, including 11 women. The average farm size is three hectares with an average annual yield of 30 tonnes of bananas per hectare, providing 80% of the farmers’ incomes. Fairtrade sales now account for 90% of the total, with ASOBANARCOOP Fairtrade bananas available in The Co-operative, Sainsbury’s, and Spar.

We were privileged to have Aimeth as our guest, and to hear her compelling story of the difference it makes to her life if we buy Fairtrade bananas!

Excitement is mounting in Cherry Burton as we prepare for the visit of a banana farmer from Colombia as the highlight of our Fairtrade Fortnight 2014. On Sunday 9th March the farmer will spend the day in our village, talking to the children in the morning about what it’s like to grow bananas, and telling us in the afternoon what difference it makes to their life being able to sell them as Fairtrade. The afternoon event will be held in the St. Michael Centre, behind the church, from 2.30 to 4.30pm, and there will be a Fairtrade stall and refreshments on the banana theme. All welcome – please let us know you are coming!

Watch this space for further details of this and other events in Fairtrade Fortnight 2014!