MONDAY marked the beginning of Fairtrade Fortnight. This year’s theme is ‘the big Fairtrade breakfast’, and people are being encouraged to have a breakfast, either for themselves and their families or for a group, using Fairtrade tea and coffee, sugar, honey, bananas and other products.

When you have done that you can ‘make your breakfast count’ on the Fairtrade Foundation website, which will show the number of breakfasts recorded in different parts of the country.

At the end of the fortnight, on Saturday, March 12, you can buy breakfast and other refreshments at the Fairtrade and Local Produce Fair in Devizes Corn Exchange from 10am to 2pm.

You can also visit stalls selling Fairtrade and locally produced foods and handicrafts, enjoy a performance from Devizes Town Band, meet Claire Perry MP and the Mayor of Devizes, and see the results of our schools’ competition.

There will be a raffle for some delicious hampers of Fairtrade and local produce.

Supporting Fairtrade is an easy way to improve the lives of poor farmers in developing countries.

When you buy a product with the Fairtrade label you know that the producers are guaranteed a fair price which does not fluctuate with changes in the market, and their communities receive a premium to spend on social projects which they all agree on.

This makes a real difference to people’s lives.

There are plenty of examples on the Fairtrade Foundation website, and you can find out more if you visit the fair.

So come and do good by enjoying yourself on March 12.

Jasper Selwyn Devizes Fairtrade Group