Let’s raise a glass and go bananas for Fairtrade Fortnight

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It’s a hard job this blogging malarky but someone’s got to do it. This week I have been sampling wine. Yes you read that right. I had been tasting wine, purely for blogging purposes.
Now as we all know, things always taste better when they are free.
My wine was not only free (thank you Sainsburys) but it was also Fairtrade.
Tomorrow is the start of Fairtrade fortnight and, if you don’t know, it is a fortnight which happens every year to highlight the plight of farmers and producers in some of the poorest places on earth.
Now, as a farmers wife, I am quite used to seeing how shockingly low prices are for things like milk and wool in this country.
However in places like the Carribean, South America and parts of Africa, not only do these producers get very little money for their wares but the conditions they work in are sub-standard and, in many cases, dangerous.

Buying Fairtrade means consumers like me and you can buy products like chocolate, coffee and bananas with a clear concience because the supermarkets and shops we buy from guarantee that if the Fairtrade logo is on a product, the cotton, dried fruit or nuts etc are Fairtrade.
This year, the focus is all on bananas.

Many of us probably buy Fairtrade products without even realising it. For example, all Co-operative, Waitrose and Sainsburys stores sell only Fairtrade bananas-even in their budget ranges. How good is that?
Obviously, the other big names need to catch up with this but, with them all vying for our custom on a daily basis, it is easy to forget that when prices get slashed, so too does the price paid to the person producing it. It is therefore down to us, the consumer to vote with our feet and only buy bananas that are Fairtrade.
Why should we be enjoying a banana smoothie or even a glass of wine when someone, somewhere in the world is suffering to bring it to our table?

So back to my review. I could have tried bananas for you or even chocolate, but when I contacted the Sainsburys press office to see if they had any Fairtrade images for my piece, I nearly fell off my chair when I saw the wine.
A very cheeky email and the rest, as they say, is history.
The Taste the Difference Fairtrade Chenin Blanc has 25 per cent off until March 4th. It was £7.99 now £5.99 and even though free things taste nicer, it is lovely. Crisp and fresh. I was very impressed with it.
I haven’t tried the Taste the Difference Fairtrade Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot yet as I am dieting and don’t want to drink too much. If it is anything like the white thought, I am really looking forward to it.
Both wines are from South Africa so I know, by drinking these wines, I am helping farmers across the world. Do you need a better excuse to pour yourself a glass?

To find out more about Fairtrade fortnight, go to: http://foncho.fairtrade.org.uk/ and help even more people in their plight to earn a safe living-including Foncho, a banana farmer from Columbia.

To see the full range of Fairtrade products at Sainsburys, visit: http://www.sainsburys-live-well-for-less.co.uk/products-values/responsible-sourcing/fairtrade/

Please remember, it is only at Sainsburys, Co-operative Food and Waitrose that all your bananas are guaranteed to be Fairtrade.

I was planning to write this post anyway but the lovely free wine from Sainsburys was such a great added bonus. Thank you so much Sainsburys.