5th annual Fairtrade banana split

Around 200 people filled Ammanford's College Street arcade on Friday for the town's 5th annual Fairtrade banana split. The 30m long Fairtrade feast was built, eaten and cleared away in an hour of Fairtrade Fun, attended by Fairtrade banana farmer Sandra Joseph from St Lucia. She said : "I had heard about this massive Fairtrade banana split and I wanted to come to Ammanford to see it for myself. It was amazing!"

After the Split, Sandra went to i-smooth community cafe to deliver a talk about how the Fairtrade trading system has helped her and other small scale banana farmers in St Lucia by guaranteeing them a fair price for their bananas. She also talked about the help the farmers received from the Fairtrade social premium fund to help rebuild their farms after they were wiped out by a recent hurricane.

Sandra also talked about how she had been given a very warm welcome to Wales, although she would have liked warmer temperatures!

Ammanford Fairtrade Campaigner Phil Broadhurst, who had been escorting Sandra around Carmarthenshire on her visit to Wales, said : "We took her to see the banana trees at The National Botanic Garden, and even in the tropical glass house there it was a lot colder than in St Lucia!"

Assembly member Rhodri Glyn Thomas attended the event and was presented with a copy of a Fairtrade Foundation report on supporting smallholder farmers.

The night was rounded off with Sandra presenting a certificate recognising Ammanford's renewal of Fairtrade Town status to Town and County councillor Deian Harries on behalf of the people of Ammanford. Ammanford was the first Fairtrade Town in Wales and has now been a Fairtrade Town for over ten years.

Phil Broadhurst said : "We have been a Fairtrade Town for a long time now, but we still have a long way to go. There are still a lot of people in the town who need to hear and think about Fairtrade more. Whenever you meet producers directly, you are reminded of the importance of buying goods with the Fairtrade mark, and I hope that will stay with everyone who attended the Banana Split and met Sandra."