Since we’re on the subject of fair trade, you may well ask: How the heck can buying a banana change the world?

It’s worth finding out in “Fighting the Banana Wars and Other Fair Trade Battles” by Harriet Lamb.

As one reviewer on Amazon UK wrote:

I was inspired by the way that the book illustrates how Fairtrade provides stability to the farmers, and also gives them new power and hope. They decide whether to use the Fairtrade premium to build a school or wells or to provide healthcare. It gives them back their pride and voice – as one banana worker puts it – ‘the banana worker is the poorest person in our society, managed and exploited by multinational corporations… I was someone that took a box and loaded it onto a train…In this new system I have become an international businessman’.

We’ll be exploring these issues in more detail over the coming weeks.