Let's be fair about this

CHRIS Eddowes is wearing Fairtrade T-shirt, Fairtrade socks, Fairtrade necklace. She brings in Fairtrade coffee and Fairtrade biscuits while I admire the Fairtrade roses.

When she gathers all the Fairtrade products from her kitchen cupboards to see just what she has, the table gradually vanishes under a pile of packets, jars, boxes and bottles. But it's not enough.

Chris and her husband Richard, who live in Hartlepool, have vowed to spend Fairtrade Fortnight - February 25-March 9 - living exclusively on Fairtrade products, with the addition of fruit, veg and meat as locally as possible, and definitely British.

For Chris, a former teacher, Fairtrade is a way of life - she runs a Fairtrade shop at her local church - she and Richard are on the Hartlepool Fairtrade Steering Group and for her, Fairtrade is a simple matter of conscience and responsibility.

"I'm old enough to remember when the atlas was coloured pink. We exploited countries all over the world for our own ends, the least we can do now is make sure we treat people there decently."

Chris and Richard are fortunate in that, although retired, they don't have to worry too much about the food bills.

For students Chris Henderson, Jenny Kelly and their flatmates, Matt Charlwood, Doug Conway and Pavels Prokofjeus, it's a different matter.

"We shop and eat together and have a budget of £15 each for food," says Jenny.

"And they are big hungry lads."

Chris and Jenny - he studying maths, she engineering - have been committed to Fairtrade since their school days at English Martyrs School in Hartlepool. "Just simply because it's fairer. As easy as that,"

says Jenny, who already uses a lot of Fairtrade products.

"Our flatmates didn't take much persuading,"

says Chris Henderson, "apart from getting them off Twining and Tetley teas and onto Fairtrade, but they're fine with that now and very supportive."

Fairtrade shopping has become much easier in the last few years. There is a much greater number of products, including staples such as rice and pasta, and supermarkets, such as Sainsbury's and Asda, carry more than 50 lines - everything from footballs to floor cloths, as well as a huge range of food stuffs, though there is most choice in things like tea, coffee and chocolate.

The Co-op, which was the first supermarket to stock Fairtrade products, now stocks around 130 lines, including an excellent selection of wines, which, selflessly and thinking only of others, Richard Eddowes has tried, purely in the interests of research, you understand.

The other big development in recent years has been in the development of Fairtrade clothes, especially cotton. Chris's Tshirt was £7 from Marks & Spencer. Sainsbury's have some for just £3. The cost to us is small, the difference it can make remarkable.

The price difference between Fairtrade and normal products continues to narrow and will narrow even further during Fairtrade Fortnight with lots of offers - including the Co-op's 20 per cent discount.

"We'll be taking advantage of all the special offers," says Jenny. "Our main problem is that a number of Fairtrade products, such as rice, are available only in small or standard sizes and we need the huge bags for better value. But we shall try."

For Chris and Richard, Fairtrade raises all sorts of issues as they try to put their principles into practice.

"Maybe we shouldn't be asking why Fairtrade costs a bit more, but why the rest of our food is so cheap. Someone, somewhere is paying the price."

MEANWHILE, Durham too received Fairtrade status last year.

"Interest has really grown," says Kathryn Sygrove, chair of the Fairtrade Partnership. "People are demanding more Fairtrade products and more coffee shops are going over to Fairtrade.

"But the big news is clothing. We are already seeing a lot of fashion using Fairtrade cotton and I think, hope, that's going to be a big new area."

Events in Durham include a Fairtrade market in the Market Place on Saturday, March 8, 9am-4pm and St Chad's College Fairtrade Fair on Sunday 1.30pm-4pm.

For more details of everything Fairtrade in Durham go to www.durhamcityfairtradepartnership.

com And our friends at the ethical superstore in Newcastle have over 400 Fairtrade items on their website. Okay, a lot of them are cards, but there are still coffee, cookies, cotton wool, babygrows, beer, biscuits, bathrobes. T-shirts, chocolate, coffee, wine, fruit, footballs and even furniture.

Have a look on www.ethicalsuperstore.com

What's it all about?

■ Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world. It enables them to improve their lot and have more control over their lives.

■ The Fairtrade mark is a consumer label which appears on products as an independent guarantee that disadvantaged producers in the developing world are getting a good deal.

■ There are over 2,000 Fairtrade products available in the UK.

■ All Co-op own brand tea, coffee and chocolate, including 99 tea, is now Fairtrade.

■ Workers on a tea estate in Tanzania have used their Fairtrade social premium on education, healthcare and water, including dispensaries, classrooms, books, wells and a maternity ward.

■ Virgin Atlantic use Fairtrade tea and coffee on all their flights.

■ Marks & Spencer uses 100 per cent Fairtrade coffee in all its Café Revive outlets.

■ Global Fairtrade sales now benefit seven million families across the world.

■ We bought 83 million Fairtrade flowers in 2007.

■ Fairtrade chocolate is delicious. Fact.

■ For more information on Fairtrade go to www.fairtrade.org.uk.

Bouquets of the Week

Dear Sharon,

I WANT to tell you about a special lady, Angie Taylor. For the last 17 years she has been helping to rehome badly used lurchers and greyhounds. Angie has spent a lot of her own money on veterinary care for these dogs, which are often in an appalling condition.

Some of them have spent their lives tied up in a dark shed. Sometimes she finds them tied to her front gate, as people know she will care for them and find them a good home.

Angie has been quite poorly lately but is still helping these animals, working voluntarily with the RSPCA and Deerness kennels at Langley Moor. We rehomed a beautiful dog from there a year ago who had been treated very badly but now, with time and love, is happy and healthy.

Angie deserves some recognition for all her efforts. She is a very special person.

Carole Slater, Woodham, Newton Aycliffe.

■ We all hate to see animals mistreated, and it's good to know that there are people like Angie Taylor willing to put in so much effort to help, so we wish Angie well and are sending her this week's bouquet.

PROOF that there are some decent youngsters out there comes from Ruth Laycock of Shildon.

"My sister and I had walked to a funeral, but I had a fall on the way, so we decided to catch the bus home from Eldon Lane. Unfortunately, we only had £2 between us in our pockets and hadn't realised bus fares had gone up so much. The bus driver had reeled off the tickets and we were 20p short. The bus was full of people and he just sat waiting to see what we'd do. It was very embarrassing. A young lad about 13/14 years old, sitting near the front of the bus, very kindly said he'd give us the 20p, which he did.

We don't know who he is, to return it, but I think he deserves a public thank you. It just seemed such a nice gesture, in a whole bus full of people, interestedly watching our plight, that a young lad helped us."

Penzance in Cornwall is probably just a teeny bit out of the Echo's circulation area, but in these days of the internet, what's 450 miles between friends? And Sharon Edwards has been a very good friend to Colin Jones and his mother in Spennymoor, since they met on a Weightwatchers message board. Colin and his family have had more than their share of troubles in recent years. "Sharon has been a great support and got me through many dark times. She is thoughtful and sends my mam cheery hand-made cards and even a bouquet when she moved into her new home. She has touched our hearts from hundreds of miles away and I just want to say thank you."

■ If you want to say a public thank you for good service, a helpful neighbour, kind stranger or efficient business, then just send all the details to Sharon Griffiths, Bouquet of the Week, The Northern Echo, Priestgate, Darlington, DL1 1NF. Or email sjgriff111@aol.com. Each week the person nominated in our main letter gets a bouquet of flowers or a box of posh chocs.