Fighting the Banana Wars and Other Fairtrade Battles - Couverture souple

It started very small and full of hope. But its daring campaigns have placed Fairtrade goods at the heart of the supermarket shelves. From bananas and coffee beans to cotton and chocolate, Fairtrade has grown to become an important global movement that has revolutionised the way we shop.

As Harriet Lamb, Director of the Fairtrade Foundation, explains in this fascinating story, Fairtrade is about a better deal for workers and famers in the developing world. It's about making sure the food on our plates, and shirts on our backs, don't rob people in other countries of the means to feed or clothe themselves. She explores the journey, through an often unjust system, that Fairtrade items make from farm to consumer. And she uncovers the shocking cost of our demand for cheaper food.

There is much still to be done. But by hard work and high ideals, Fairtrade is starting to transform the lives of over 7 million farmers, workers and their families, and is a powerful symbol of how extraordinary change can be achieved against all the odds - by us all.

Harriet Lamb has been Executive Director of the Fairtrade Foundation since 2001, after moving from being the Acting Director at the Fairtrade Labeling Organisations International (FLO) in Bonn - the global umbrella body for Fairtrade. Prior to that she led the campaigning work of the World Development Movement and held a range of other roles, including campaigning for a minimum wage in Britain while at the Low Pay Unit. She has travelled widely in the developing world, including spending 18 months in India working with farmers in rural villages and landless labourer co-operatives. Awarded a CBE in the New Year's Honours List 2006 for her contribution to Fairtrade. She is a highly experienced public speaker and media spokesperson and has written a wide range of publications on development issues.