LET them eat cake – but only if the farmers get a fair price for the ingredients. Huntingdonshire District Council is expected to agree today (Wednesday) to use only Fair Trade products at meetings. The decision comes after a request from a new councillo

LET them eat cake - but only if the farmers get a fair price for the ingredients.

Huntingdonshire District Council is expected to agree today (Wednesday) to use only Fair Trade products at meetings.

The decision comes after a request from a new councillor, Eynesbury member, human rights lawyer Councillor Andrew Gilbert.

He told The Hunts Post: "This year's bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade got me thinking about whether there was anything the council could do in the spirit of the abolitionists like William Wilberforce and Cambridgeshire's Thomas Clarkson.

"When I learned that the council did not have a fair trade policy, I decided to propose that we had one.

"I believe that the Fair Trade movement deserves encouragement and recognition from local councils. Councillors can influence the area they live in. My town of St Neots already has fair-trade status and now is a good time for the district council to get on board with the idea."

Cllr Gilbert said one billion people lived on less than $1 a day and another two billion on less than $2 a day. The roots of the Fair Trade movement went back to 1989, when the bottom fell out of the world coffee market.

INFORMATION: Fair Trade is a strategy for poverty alleviation and sustainable development. The Fair Trade mark guarantees farmers a fair and stable price for their products and extra income (the "Fair Trade premium") for them to improve their community facilities, such as schools and clinics. Fair Trade suppliers are independently audited to ensure that money really goes to those it is intended to benefit.

The range of Fair Trade products is growing and includes tea, coffee, chocolates, fruit, nuts, flowers, wine and clothes. More can be found at www.fairtrade.org.uk.­