Oberursel is now officially a “Fairtrade Town”. The certificate confirming this was presented on Saturday during the autumn market (Herbsttreiben) by TransFair’s ambassador Manfred Holz to Mayor Hans-Georg Brum and the Fokus-O Chairman Michael Reuter.
To get this far the town has spent the last six months bringing together businesses, politicians and members of the community to promote “fair trade” goods, and is the first town in Hochtaunuskreis to by archieve this. Local shops office the products for sale and café and restaurants serve them as well.
It is also a requirement that local schools, clubs and churches use “fair trade” products and educate people about them.
To be classified as “fair trade”, and to carry to logo, goods have to be produced and transported to certain standards that are intended to provide more financial support for the producers than is normally the case. For example, the importer might pay a higher price, or loan money to start a farm collective.
As a side note: we also drink “Fairtrade” coffee with “Fairtrade” sugar in the office.
About Graham Tappenden
