Date: 17 February 2009, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Venue: Hong Kong Theatre
Speakers: Harriet Lamb (Fairtrade), Adam Brett (Tropical Wholefoods), Dr Teddy Brett
Chair: Professor Stuart Corbridge
About the event:
14 years ago, Fairtrade products were not available in Britain. Today, almost £500m worth of goods bearing the Fairtrade mark are sold annually, including tea, coffee, bananas, cotton, flowers and even footballs.
At the heart of this revolution in our shops is the Fairtrade Foundation, which was established in 1992 by CAFOD, Christian Aid, New Consumer, Oxfam, Traidcraft Exchange and the World Development Movement. Starting small but with big ideas, it has turned a grass-roots movement into a phenomenon of our time - changing not only the way in which corporations deal with their suppliers and how consumers shop on the high street, but also transforming the lives of over seven million farmers, workers and their families.
In this lecture Harriet Lamb will discuss her latest book, Fighting the Banana Wars, in which she travels through an often unjust system to uncover the shocking cost of our demand for cheaper produce.
About the speakers:
Harriet Lamb has been executive director of the Fairtrade Foundation since 2001. She has guided the Foundation through a period of staggering growth, which has seen estimated sales of Fairtrade products in the UK increase from £30m to more than £493m in 2007 with more than 4500 products carrying the FAIRTRADE Mark.
Harriet was awarded a CBE in the New Year's Honours List 2006. In 2007 she was voted the second most influential eco-foodie in the UK after Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in the Observer Food Monthly magazine.
Adam Brett is a Fairtrade entrepreneur, director of Tropical Wholefoods and Fullwell Mill Ltd.
Dr Teddy Brett is associate programme director, Development Management MSc in the Development Studies Institute at LSE.
Media:
A podcast of this event is available online or to download here >>|
The slides used by Harriet Lamb during her lecture are also available. Download the slides here >>|