UK: Unique fairtrade event

Farmers from South America and Africa will visit Keswick, Northern England, on Saturday, June 21, to attend a unique event at Keswick School.

They are members of Fairtrade fruit pioneers Agrofair which is 50 per cent owned by farmers in the developing world and run for the benefit of its producer members.

They will travel to Keswick after their annual meeting in London and hope to visit at least one local hill farme, see their products on sale in UK supermarkets and meet people who have actively campaigned for Fairtrade.

The farmers will be from Costa Rica, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Burkina Faso and Ghana.

Roger Purkiss, Keswick mayor, will open the event at 4.30pm and there will be short informal speeches from Joe Human of the Keswick Fair Trade Campaign and Cumbria Fair Trade Network, Debbie Robinson, the Co-operative Group?s Marketing Director and John Bowes, managing director of AgroFair UK.

There will be country dancing from 5pm and the opportunity to visit stalls including a Fairtrade school tuck shop, cakes with Fairtrade ingredients, a stand reflecting the Co-op?s contribution to the Fairtrade revolution, a fruit stand run by Fairtrade farmers, and a local bread and cheese stand.

There will be a buffet and closing speeches from Jeroen Kroezen, chief executive of AgroFair Europe, and from one of the Fairtrade farmers, followed by drinks and dancing to Latin American music until about 11pm.

Dates & Venue
21 June 2008
Keswick, UK

More info
www.agrofair.nl