Christian relief and development agency Tearfund is launching a campaign this week to encourage churches to mark the 10th anniversary of the Fairtrade Mark by committing to become a fairtrade church this Fairtrade Fortnight (1-14 March).

Churches throughout the country are being asked to commit to using only fairtrade tea and coffee at all meetings, to encourage the use of other fairtrade products such as sugar, biscuits and fruit and to promote fairtrade during Fairtrade Fortnight.

‘Hundreds of thousands, if not millions of cups of coffee and tea are drunk after services every Sunday, not to mention during prayer groups and other meetings throughout the week,’ says Mari Griffith, Tearfund’s Trade Campaign Officer. ‘Just imagine the difference this could make to the lives of producers if all the churches in the UK took this small step to switch to fairtrade.’

Tearfund has produced a ‘Fairtrade Action Pack’, with resources to equip churches to become a fairtrade church, including a CD-Rom with audio-visual presentations, prayer and reflection materials, fairtrade recipes and a fairtrade church application form.

The British public already drink 1.7 million cups of Fairtrade tea, coffee and cocoa every day. ‘With 7 million people attending church every week in the UK, churchgoers have the potential to significantly increase the number of cups of Fairtrade tea and coffee that are drunk,’ says Mari Griffith.

Fairtrade benefits 4.5 million producers and their families across the developing world. It guarantees a better deal for producers by paying a price that provides a basic living wage, ensures safe working conditions, fair treatment and provides a social premium to invest in community projects such as improving healthcare and education.

‘Life is very difficult for farmers who are not involved in fairtrade. They are slaves to the market,’ says Felipe Huaman, Director of the Bagua Grande cooperative, whose coffee is sourced by fairtrade coffee brand Cafédirect. ‘The price of coffee on the international market is very low and doesn’t compensate for the work farmers put in.’

Eribeto Quintana Lopez, a coffee farmer from Peru says, ‘I am grateful for the benefits I’ve had from fairtrade. It’s enabled us to educate our children, to improve our house and have better healthcare. I’ve also been able to improve the amount and the quality of the coffee I produce.’

‘The Bible has a lot to say about the need for justice in trade, the need to pay workers fair wages and not exploit them to make money,’ says Mari Griffith. ‘By supporting fairtrade we can put this teaching into practice.’

Coffee farmer and mother of four Maridelsa Contrina Vera says, ‘I’d like to encourage our friends in the UK to carry on buying fairtrade coffee for us to be able to live a better life. We know that the fairtrade market is for small scale producers like us.’

Sales of fairtrade foods have more than doubled over the past three years and fairtrade brands now account for 14% of the total UK roast and ground coffee market. In 2002 the retail value of fairtrade food sales in the UK reached £63 million.

There are more than 180 products that now carry the Fairtrade Mark, including coffee, tea, chocolate, snacks and biscuits, cocoa, sugar, honey, fruit juice and fresh fruit.