Broadcaster urges firms to switch to Fairtrade

May 10 2008 by Paul Loraine, The Journal

NEWSCASTER George Alagiah was in the North East yesterday to spread the message of ethical trading. Speaking in his role as patron of the Fairtrade Foundation, the renowned journalist spoke to business people, children and families as part of the EAT! Newcastle Gateshead Festival.

The former BBC foreign correspondent started the day at As You Like It, a restaurant in Jesmond, Newcastle, at an event sponsored by The Journal, where he addressed a group of local business people about how they could contribute to Fairtrade.

Mr Alagiah, who has been patron of the Fairtrade Foundation since 2002, said: “Fairtrade has grown beyond anybody’s expectations.

“Five, six, or seven years ago, when I first got involved in this, it was quite difficult to get people to understand what Fairtrade was about, to get people to buy Fairtrade products, to get businesses to offer Fairtrade products.

“Now I would say it’s almost the reverse.

“There’s almost a queue of people who want to get in. The latest figures show the vast majority of British people not only know about Fairtrade, but also know what Fairtrade does. The best example of that is in the sales figures. That tells you something about where the British people are in terms of wanting to do something about the world they are living in.”

Guests at As You Like It were served a breakfast of local produce supplied by a wide range of businesses, including North County Organics, Carroll’s Heritage Potatoes and Moorhouse Farm Shop.

Sausages wrapped in dry-cured bacon, Craster kipper pate with brown ale bread and local pastries were among the regional treats on offer.

After leaving Jesmond, Mr Alagiah made appearances at Cardinal Hume school in Wrekenton, Gateshead, and Thornhill School in Sunderland.

He then spoke at Hartlepool’s Nazir Mosque before finishing the day at the Rivergreen Centre in Aykley Heads, Durham.

As foreign correspondent for BBC News in the 1990s he was often tasked with exploring the link between trade and poverty.

Festival director Simon Preston said: “George has been talking about taking things into his own hands and this morning he was addressing the business community of Newcastle and Gateshead about switching their businesses over to Fairtrade.

“It is the middle weekend of our festival and it is all on a Fairtrade theme.

“Some people would say that Fairtrade and supporting local produce are in conflict, but we certainly don’t believe that. You can and should support both.

“And it’s very evident from the producers who have supported this business breakfast that the two things are not at odds.”