AFTER two years of hard work Dawlish has been granted Fairtrade status.
To become a Fairtrade Town several goals must be met: the local council must pass a resolution supporting Fairtrade and serve Fairtrade coffee and tea at its meetings and in the office, a range of Fairtrade products must be readily available in the area's shops and served in local cafés and catering establishments, Fairtrade products must be used by a number of local work places (estate agents, hairdressers etc) and community organisations (churches, schools etc).
The Fairtrade movement enables poor countries to trade fairly in products such as tea, coffee, wine, fruit, cotton and many other products enabling poor producers to work their way out of global poverty – a total five million farmers and their families.
The Friends of Fairtrade in Dawlish has been active in encouraging community to stock Fairtrade and was delighted with receiving the status. Its chairman Mike Nicholson said: 'It's great that the community is getting involved and demonstrates the town's awareness of Fairtrade.'
But Mr Nicholson said a problem was keeping the status, since the town will constantly be reassessed. The mayor of Dawlish, Cllr Tom Bush, said: 'The benefits to Dawlish will be quite limited, but it's what the town will be doing for the rest of the world that is important.
'It's an opportunity to take our wealth and give it directly back to the people who produce the goods.
'The middleman, for a long time, has taken the profit from farmers and this is a way to make sure money is going back into their community.
'I have been keen on this for years and think it is excellent that Dawlish is involved.' A formal presentation will take place at Dawlish Town Council on March 7.