I'm not the biggest fan of shopping at Sainsbury's since I always have immense difficulty trying to work out where their fresh fruit and veg comes from.
This is their fault, not mine, since their labelling isn't great for someone like me trying to minimise the food miles.
Bananas are another matter, however, since I'm not aware of too many British banana growers. That just leaves the ethical aspect to concern myself about, and now even that isn't something to worry about since Sainsbury's have announced that all the bananas they sell are going to be certified Fairtrade.
Sainsbury's sells about 10 million bananas each week so this is a big deal for The Fairtrade Foundation and their producers, the retail industry and, of course, the consumers. We're quick to criticise the supermarkets so it's only fair we should applaud Sainbury's for this initiative. A big pat on the back to The Fairtrade Foundattion for their part in this, too.
Fingers crossed that other retailers follow suit.
Photo credit: The Fairtrade Foundation
Related stories: Sainsbury's Organic Menu for Organic Fortnight | New Fairtrade Chocolate Bars | The UK's only fair trade magazine | Choc banana bars (justification: they're organic and Fair Trade)
I'm
not the biggest fan of shopping at Sainsbury's since I always have
immense difficulty trying to work out where their fresh fruit and veg
comes from.
This is their fault, not mine, since their labelling isn't great for someone like me trying to minimise the food miles.
Bananas are another matter, however, since I'm not aware of too many British banana growers. That just leaves the ethical aspect to concern myself about, and now even that isn't something to worry about since Sainsbury's have announced that all the bananas they sell are going to be certified Fairtrade.
all well and good but why only bananas??? - what about everything else in the store! - supermarkets are just a joke! and if anybody is stupid enough to shop there just because it does fairtrade bananas then there is something wrong with the world - what about all the little independant shops out there that sell local organic and fairly traded goods - they are always overlooked especially when the supermarkets have a big ad campaign such as this - a lot of the time the 'little shops' are cheaper than the supermarkets...go on get out there and support local people who really do care for the people of this world and the environment!
Like it or not, a lot of money is spent in supermarkets and while that's the case it is noteworthy for someone as big as Sainsbury's to restrict their customer's choice to only Fairtrade products.
To ignore those initiatives altogether would be churlish and, in the eyes of the 'mainstream', make ethical shopping the preserve of sandal-wearing muesli-eating anti-globalisation Guardian readers who are lucky enough to live within spitting distance of charming local shops where everyone knows your name.
I agree that in the first instance it'd be preferable if people considered shopping at their local store first but there needs to be an element of critical thought put into it: shopping local doesn't guarantee ethical, organic or fair-trade status. (My local greengrocer, for instance, has just as many unseasonable products with thousands of food miles on them as the products in the supermarkets.)