Sibford School in Oxfordshire has gone bananas to mark Fairtrade Fortnight 2017 (27 February – 12 March).
Following persuasion from pupils, the school’s catering company, Thomas Franks Ltd, has agreed that in future, only Fairtrade bananas will be served on the lunchtime fruit counter.
Sixth form pupil Finn, part of the school’s Fairtrade Group, explained: “We are delighted that the kitchen staff has started providing Fairtrade bananas to students at lunchtimes, paying the premium price for them in name of fair pay for those further down the production line.
“We were able to announce the change to the fruit suppliers during Fair Trade Fortnight when we also held special break time sales selling Fairtrade chocolate bars, jelly beans and chocolate eggs and generally raising awareness of the Fairtrade campaign.”
Mark Higgins, catering manager at Sibford School said: “For a long time now we have been using Fairtrade tea, coffee and sugar, but our fruit suppliers have tended to differ depending on who has had the best deal. However, we like to work closely with the pupils at the school and, following their well-researched persuasion, we have agreed to ensure that, from now on, we will only supply Fairtrade bananas.