March 3, 2003
Almost 9 in 10 young people want to see their schools and universities ‘go fairtrade', according to one of the largest surveys of young people's attitudes to fairtrade, conducted by Christian relief and development agency Tearfund.
Published on the eve of Fairtrade Fortnight (3-16 March), the survey reveals that 87 per cent of young people want to see their school and university canteens and shops offer a wide range of fairtrade products, such as fairtrade chocolate, coffee, tea and bananas. In addition, 7 out of 10 young people say that they would be willing to buy fairtrade products even if they were more expensive.
Tearfund's survey reveals a higher level of support for fairtrade products amongst young people than in the general population, with 60 per cent of young people recognising the Fairtrade Mark compared to 20 per cent of the general population. In addition almost 50 percent of young people say that they buy fairtrade products on a regular basis, compared to only 5 per cent of the general population.
However, the survey suggests that relatively few schools and universities offer fairtrade products, as only 8 per cent of young people say that their university or school canteen sells fairtrade products. Indeed, almost half of young people know that their canteen does not offer any fairtrade products.
"It's clear from this survey that young people want to buy fairtrade products and so school and university shops and canteens won't lose out by stocking fairtrade products. If the fairtrade option is on offer then young people will buy it," says Esther Stansfield, Tearfund's Lift the Label Campaign Coordinator. "That's why Tearfund is echoing the call of the overwhelming majority of young people who want their schools and universities to go fairtrade. Everyone benefits."
The survey also reveals that the desire to make a difference to the lives of the poor is driving young people's consumer choices. Some 78 per cent of young people said that the main reason they buy fairtrade is to help the poor. In addition, the majority of young people (63 per cent) believe it is important that the people who produce the food they eat are paid a fair wage. Indeed, more than 90 per cent of young people want to know more about how their lifestyle can benefit the poor.
Tracey Wearn, a student at Birmingham University says, "I know that if I buy a chocolate bar, even if it's just 39p, that money is directly helping somebody in the developing world to get a wage they deserve and give them a sense that there is some justice in the world."
Since hearing about the Lift the Label campaign, Tracey has been negotiating with university caterers to go fairtrade. "Our vision is for Birmingham to be the first university to go completely fairtrade. We want to kick off a trend that spreads throughout the country. If all universities and schools became fairtrade then that would be an enormous fairtrade economy in the UK, as well as massive awareness raising. Thousands more people would know about the exploitation in the developing world and be able to do something about it."
Stephen Montgomery, a student at Queens University in Belfast, has also been successful at drawing the fairtrade issue to the attention of his university. "It's now union policy to actively promote and guarantee the provision of fairtrade products in all its facilities. Getting the union to support fairtrade is a real step forward and we'll keep going until we see as many fairtrade products in the university's shops and canteens as possible."
"When you buy fair trade the people behind the products get a fair deal," says Esther Stansfield, Tearfund. Victor Owusu, the son of a cocoa farmer in Ghana, speaks from experience about the impact the fair deal has on his life. "This fairtrade way of trading helps farmers to earn our way out of poverty and allows us to plan for a better future. We need fair prices so that we can invest in the things that we really need – like clean water, tools and an education," he says.
Tearfund's Lift the Label Lifestyle Survey was conducted to inform and shape Tearfund's new ethical living campaign for young people and students, Lift the Label, which encourages young people and students to buy fairly traded products, such as food and clothing, and to make ethical choices when it comes to money. More than 3,000 young people between the ages of 14-24 years throughout UK and Ireland participated in the survey. The research was gathered at Christian festivals and events, through mailings to Tearfund supporters and online voting through the organisation's website.
The fairtrade market is growing significantly, with sales of fairtrade foods doubling in the past three years. In the last year alone, there has been an 83 per cent rise in the sales of fairtrade bananas and fairtrade coffee now accounts for 14 per cent of the UK roast coffee market. More than 100 products carry the Fairtrade Mark in the UK and sales last year totalled £59 million.
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