THE members of Okehampton Fairtrade Group are always pleased to have their events reported in the Okehampton Times and value the paper's support.

Last week's report, however, was somewhat confused. To set the record straight, there were in fact three events in Fairtrade Fortnight: 

1— The visit to the Primary School by St Lucian banana producer, Stephen Best. He gave an excellent presentation explaining how bananas are farmed and exported and spoke about the importance of having a Fairtrade agreement. Without it many of the farmers would have gone out of business. 

2 — On Friday, March 7 the anti-poverty Christian group, Just Living, produced a delicious and much appreciated fair and local lunch plus a Fairtrade stall in the parish hall.

3 — On Sat March 8 at the same venue a fair and local coffee morning was held. Delicious cakes and cookies, much appreciated,  were baked for the event by Sue Carn's students at Okehampton College. A number of local small businesses had stalls and the opportunity to sell their goods and talk to the public informally. This event was very well-attended by a wide age group.

The choosing of Fairtrade and ethically traded goods may seem a small way for us to reduce poverty and support people in developing countries but, as witnessed by Stephen Best, the banana producer, it has a tremendous impact.

Kate Thompson

Okehampton Fairtrade Group.