Fair Trade Morning Perk: London Becomes Fairtrade Capital of the World

by Zarah Patriana

Published October 24, 2008 @ 07:10AM PT

I thought it was a big deal when San Francisco was declared the first Fair Trade city in the U.S. Now, with about 1,000 retailers and 600 catering outlets, including the Houses of Parliament, selling items carrying the Fairtrade Mark, London is officially the largest city in the world to be declared a Fairtrade city. Sophi Tranchell of Fairtrade London Steering Committee is claiming London to now be the "Fairtrade capital of the world."

In order to be a declared a Fairtrade city, five goals must be met, which includes carrying Fairtrade products at various institutions like schools, community organisations, hospitals and stores.

Run down of what makes London a Fairtrade city:

• 941 retailers and 607 catering outlets now sell a range of Fairtrade products, including London institutions like the National Theatre, the Royal Festival Hall, Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, St Martins in the Field café, the British Library café,  Amnesty International UK and many more.
• Key organisations now providing Fairtrade at work include the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, the London Fire Brigade, the Metropolitan Police, The Bank of England, BBC TV Centre, the Globe Theatre and East Thames Housing Association.
• Churches across London have stalls stocking Fairtrade products and within the Anglican church, the Diocese of Southwark, the Diocese of London and the Diocese of St Albans all support Fairtrade.
• Six universities across London reaching 89,650 students have Fairtrade University status. These include Kingston University, LSE, Royal Holloway College, King’s College London, Imperial College London, and Southbank University.

Fair Traders in the U.S.! Want your town to be a Fair Trade Town? Fair Trade Towns USA has all your information.

Congratulations to London for receiving such an honorable status. It proves that citizens throughout London care a great deal about making trade fair and supporting small scale farmers around the world.

Although London is now #1 across the pond, you're still #1 in my book, San Francisco.