Diana Manasseh, a pineapple grower from Ghana, was in Cambridge today telling us all about fair trade pineapple and mango farming and the tangible differences that the fair trade premium makes to the farmers and their families. It was fascinating to hear how the shopping choices we make in Cambridge affects the people who grow and harvest the crops.

Ghana is a poor country, and its challenges include a lack of basic amenities such as access to water and electricity, as well as health care and education. Fair trade offers producers a guaranteed price for their goods, and the money goes back into the community. Several of us listening were amazed at the sheer number of projects that have come about through the fair trade premium. I am probably missing some out, but for example, at Bomarts it has paid for: boreholes to provide clean drinking water, a toilet block, refurbished medical centres, a maternity wing at a clinic, school meals to encourage the children to stay at school longer (Cambridge’s newest restauranteur Jamie Oliver would surely approve!) and nursery equipment for the smaller children.

Bomart starts harvesting pineapples in March and mangos in May. Fair trade pineapples can be found on the shelves of four major supermarkets: Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Morrisons. My pineapples will taste all the sweeter now that I’ve glimpsed something of the lives of the people who grow them.

Diana’s a Fair Trade Certification Officer at Bomarts Farms and is here on a tour. It’s her first trip to the UK, and she said she was enjoying it, though it is her first experience of snow. She was speaking today at Emmanuel United Reformed Church in Trumpington Street Cambridge, at the invitation of the Cambridge Fairtrade Steering Group.

There was also an exhibition on 30 years of Traidcraft — I didn’t realize it had been around that long. When I first came across fair trade as a university student in 1980, there was only WDM tea and Campaign coffee, which you had to be . . . errr . . . committed to drink, if you know what I mean.

Nowadays the Traidcraft catalogue is a veritable cornucopia of goods, from tea and coffee (VERY nice, I start the day with two cups of their Indian Ocean) to chocolate, wine, cards and giftwrap, clothes, even holidays! And that’s just one fair trade supplier. I use www.ethicalsuperstore.com to find more sorts of product. My current problem is that although I have lots of fair trade clothes, they are nearly all summery and it’s too cold to wear them without something warmer on top. A shopping trip must be in order . . .

Diana is repeating her talk tomorrow night at King’s College, and on Thursday at Bourn Village Hall.

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