Brighton Girl Guide: Buying Fairtrade In Brighton
It’s Fairtrade fortnight - focusing on supporting the farmers and workers who grow our food, making sure that everyone is treated fairly throughout the supply chain and they all get a fair price for their produce and their work.
Trade is something that should be and can be empowering and has the potential to improve the lives of farmers and workers around the world, but they are often exploited by corporations wanting to make profit whilst still selling products at cheap prices. And most of us don’t even realise.
WHAT IS FAIRTRADE AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
Fairtrade is a movement for change, represented by the Fairtrade foundation which covers everything from clothes and toiletries to food. The international fair trade system (which fairtrade foundation is part of) is part of an global independent, non-profit organisation working to secure a better deal for farmers and workers across the world.
They work in these key areas. Providing an independent certification in the form of the FAIRTRADE mark on products so that you know if something is legitimately a fairly traded product. They help to raise awareness of and grow demand for Fairtrade products, empowering producers to sell to traders and retailers. And they promote new ways of working with their partners, to support producer organisations and their networks in a sustainable way.
There are over 4,500 Fairtrade products from coffee and tea to flowers, toiletries and cotton - so when you shop, just look for the Fairtrade mark. If you’re looking to switch to using as many Fairtrade products as you can, then your easiest options to start off with are chocolate, bananas, sugar and coffee. These are all widely available, and not too pricey.
WHERE TO BUY FAIRTRADE FOOD IN BRIGHTON
There are a variety of different shops both big and small across Brighton that stock Fairtrade food products, here are just some of our favourites:
📍 York Place
Hisbe is a supermarket that aims to source locally, seasonally, ethically and sustainably avoiding waste wherever possible. They claim to respect customers, farmers, suppliers, animals and the planet to create a real food community, and put happiness before their profits. They stock a range of fairtrade food and drink products from cereal bars, chocolates and spreads to tea and coffee.
📍 Beaconsfield Road
Sunny foods is a tiny health food shop up Beaconsfield road that has a great range of vegan, vegetarian organic, and fair trade products. They also make their own delicious currys and soups that you can find stocked at Infinity Foods.
📍 North Road
Infinity foods is a shop and worker co-operative in the heart of the North Laine’s that focuses on 100% vegetarian food. They are one of the largest selection of organic and natural vegetarian and vegan foods in the South East. They have the biggest selection of fair trade products in Brighton including tea, coconut oil, peanut butter and chutney.
📍 Elm Grove
Up Elm grove, Hilly Laine is a tiny little corner shop with a difference - they only sell ‘conscious’ products e.g. organic, natural, fair trade or locally sourced. If you need to pick up a few bits or need to buy a gift on your way home, then this is the place to go.
📍 London Road, Kensington Gardens and North Street
Oxfam (London Road, Kensington Gardens and North Street) as well as being a charity shop selling second hand clothes and goods, they also have a range of fair trade chocolates, biscuits and other gifts for sale as well as Faith in Nature soap and hair products.
📍 Queen’s Park Road
Wild Cherry is a gorgeous cafe on Queen’s Park Road that stocks some really great fair trade products. Next time you’re in the area and want a coffee and a cake, pop in there and do some shopping while you’re at it.
📍 St George’s Road , Kemptown
Tucked away in Kemptown, this hidden gem sells a variety of different vegan and vegetarian, organic, local and fair trade products. This includes a variety of sweet treats and ingredients. So don’t worry, if you’re up that end there are still Fairtrade options and the staff are really lovely too.
ALSO: WATCH OUT IN SUPERMARKETS!
A lot of supermarkets stock Fairtrade products, especially chocolates, coffee, sugar and bananas - just look out for the label. For example a few of co-ops own brand items are fair trade including their dark chocolate.
HERE ARE 10 OF OUR FAVOURITE FAIRTRADE SNACKS AND SWEET TREATS:
Kallo Rice Cakes
Vego Bar
Cafe Direct Coffee
Ben & Jerry’s
Pop Chips
Co-op Dark Chocolate
Geo Bar
Suma Peanut Butter
Dove’s Farm Cookies
AND IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR FAIRTRADE TOILETRIES AND CLOTHING:
For toiletries we recommend Infinity Foods, Co-op, Hisbe, Neal's Yard, Seed ‘n’ Sprout and Oxfam.
And for clothing and accessories The Fair Shop on Queen’s Road and Love That Stuff at Brighton Marina.
So there you have it, a guide to buying fair trade in Brighton - buying consciously is a lot easier than you think and even one small product switch is a step in the right direction. Now you’ve got the list, why not make your snack fairtrade today? Post a picture of it and tag @fairtradeuk and @brightongirlmag and let’s see how many we can collect.
Written by Hermione