FAIR TRADE: CONSIDERING that Northallerton is now a Fairtrade Town I thought there was a poor show of fairly traded products in the shops during the recent Fairtrade Fortnight.

When I spoke to the manager of Tesco, he told me that the displays were not up to him and the Northallerton branch was only a small store.

The only evidence in there of Fairtrade Fortnight was a tiny card by the Fairtrade bananas saying "make fair trade your habit".

In Lewis and Cooper I could not find any goods at all bearing the Fairtrade mark.

I volunteered to run a fair trade stall at the Saturday market and most of my customers were from out of town.

Through fair trade we pay a few pennies more for goods such as coffee and dried fruit and thus support poor farmers who otherwise could not afford to feed their families properly or send their children to school.

By the way, Sainsbury's in Darlington had big posters outside publicising Fairtrade Fortnight and lots of special offers within and I bought lots of fairly traded tea, coffee, chocolate, snack bars, fresh fruit and wine there. - Veronica Piekosz, Northallerton.

CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL

THE carnage at the Cheltenham Festival, during which nine horses died, has forced the suffering that lies behind horseracing into the public arena.

The notorious Grand National takes place on Saturday, April 8, another death-trap race at which there is a risk more horses will die. The racing industry deliberately conceals the number of horses which are killed each year and perpetuates the image of the harmless flutter.

Cheltenham, according to extensive research carried out by Animal Aid, is Britain's most hazardous course, seeing 21 deaths in just 54 days of racing.

Aintree - where the National is held - is the country's second most deadly course. Since 1997, the three-day meeting has killed 30 horses.

About 375 horses are raced to death in Britain every year. These documented fatalities take place on the course or during training, and represent the disposed of because they fail to make the grade as money-making racers, or are destroyed at the end of their careers.

For too long the Jockey Club has wrung its hands and professed amazement that horses are killed by racing.

But the fatalities are as predictable as they are shocking. It is time for the Government to rein in this exploitative industry. - Dene Stansall, Horse Racing Consultant, Animal Aid, Tonbridge, Kent.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

I LIKE to read the Mike Amos food column, Eating Owt, and sometimes my family and I visit the places that he has written about in our quest to eat glorious food.

One place that I would like Mr Amos to visit is the Nags Head, in Tubwell Row, Darlington.

I have dined in this establishment on many occasions and the home cooked food and service is second to none. Last week myself and the good lady went for a meal there and we both ordered and devoured the mince and dumplings, which was served by a cheerful lady who told us that it was a 'popular choice' amongst customers.

With the Nags Head being a pub of the people, meals are available to pensioners at a knock-down price and the atmosphere is friendly and welcoming.

Instead of Mike Amos visiting grand restaurants and pubs in the middle of nowhere, from time to time maybe he could come and sample the delights of good food that is served on a daily basis, where he will be able to wash down his meal with a fine English beer and join in with the laughter that is always supplied by the local drinkers and diners.

I am sure that such a visit would brighten up his lunch hour, just like it does mine. - Christopher Wardell, Darlington.

ACADEMIC DUST

THE academic dust has temporarily settled in Darlington and leaders in education can get back to the interests of our children.

The waste of town hall time and money trying to persuade people to accept their academy point of view will be considerable, no doubt we will never know the cost to the local community taxpayer as usual.

Despite months of unnecessary turmoil, the severe problems of Darlington secondary education over capacity remain unchanged.

Some local councillors presented constructive solutions to the Hurworth and Eastbourne issue which were subsequently used by the town's MP to "resolve" the problem.

Political aspiration, rather than the future education of our children, seems to be more on the agenda of our councillors.

Those in control should gain wisdom to listen before using the power to instruct and remember that the truth is out there if they bothered to inquire. - David Reed, Darlington.

HEALTH SERVICE

THE spiralling cost of the health services does not appear to have improved under New Labour since they took over in 1997.

An article in the Guardian in February 2004, when John Hutton was the health minister, stated that payment by results was the only way to go, following what the Tory government had already put in place.

This meant greater use of the private sector which both the Tories and New Labour see as the saviour of the NHS. He also stated that the resulting saving would go towards improving other services.

Hutton also admitted that the cost of using the private sector was 43 per cent higher per operation than the NHS; this makes you wonder if contracts drawn up with the private sector by him at that time are now responsible for what is presently happening in the health service.

It is obvious that no savings have been made and the private sector is still doing more work than the NHS, resulting in the threat of nursing redundancies all over the country and the shutting of wards as seen under the Tories. - Peter Dolan, Newton Aycliffe.

CONGESTION

SCARCELY a day passes without the appearance in The Northern Echo of a news item, feature or reader's letter making reference to one of the many shortages we suffer (anything from parking space to privacy).

A good example is Nick Morrison's piece (Echo Mar 24) on road traffic congestion.

This and other related problems have all arisen from over-population, a fact which our rulers refuse to admit.

Until government accepts the crucial need to stabilise population, efforts to ease our so-called shortages will have little or no effect beyond that of reducing our personal liberties. - Bob Jarratt, Richmond.