Change the Rules at your supermarket
Did you know that Britain's top ten supermarket chains make the same amount of money each year as the 35 poorest countries in the world?
We can pop into our local store and buy fresh food from Kenya, Brazil and Thailand, but did you know that children in those countries are still dying from curable diseases like diarrhoea?
Supermarkets have the ability to influence the working conditions of people producing their own brand goods. Change the Rules is all about urging stores to adopt an important set of international standards which will protect workers in the Third World.
They already stock some goods which carry an independent guarantee that the workers get a better deal. There are now 21 products including tea, coffee and chocolate which carry the Fairtrade mark. So you can see that it is possible to change the rules.
Consumers dictate what supermarkets stock, so by switching your brand of tea you can help change the current trading system which exploits workers and keeps them poor.
If you would like to encourage your local supermarket to do more, simply follow the two steps below:
Write to your local store manager asking how the supermarket ensures that Third World workers who produce their own brand goods receive basic rights, such as fair wages and safety at work. Does an independent body check the standards?
Pop your last till receipt into the envelope with your letter to show the value of your custom, and hand the letter in to the customer information desk next time you go shopping.
For more information on Christian Aid's Campaign "Change the Rules", contact Neil Thorns at Christian Aid on 0171 523 2261.
ST GEORGE'S HARVEST FESTIVAL, SUNDAY 12 OCTOBER
Christian Aid Secretary, Fiona Ross
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page last updated 5 OCTOBER 1997