Why buy fairtrade?

There has been some recent media coverage putting Fairtrade in a bad light, reducing it to another example of Western feel-good tokenism. However we at Scoopaway are committed to Fairtrade  produce as we believe it helps some of the poorest farmers in the developing world. Whilst we don’t think Fairtrade is the answer to everything, we do feel it is a force for the good. It is also a significant step towards building up awareness amongst consumers to the plight of third world producers as it helps sustain businesses and is therefore embraced by us at Scoopaway as a positive ethos. Clean water supplies, community centres and developing agricultural practices are just some of the benefits that Fairtrade contributes towards.

It only seems fair that we pay a small premium for Fairtrade products, in this way a fair ‘farm gate price’ is paid to the farmers.  Paying Fairtrade producers direct bipasses the traditional ‘collectors’ who often pay below a fair market price. In addition to this a percentage of sales go back into the local community as a ‘social premium’.

However some people may argue that charity should begin at home and that we should buy more of our produce from local farmers in order to help some of our struggling home land farmers. In answer to this Scoopaway will always support local farmers wherever possible, especially where freshness is an issue. This is why we support local companies such as Organic Milk from Somerset Dairy, Yoghurts from Yeo Valley, Cheeses from Lye Valley, and Superfood sprouts from Sky Sprouts, to name a few. In addition we buy a significant amount of our produce from Essential Trading Cooperative based in Fishponds, Bristol. In spite of this it will come as no surprise that a significant amount of our Wholefoods can’t be grown in the UK due to climate and growing conditions. As such our ability to support UK Farmers is limited.

We like the fact that many of our customers cook from scratch, so we will be supporting this with a regular feature of Recipes supporting both Fairtrade product and local produce!