IF YOU prefer to buy food that you know has helped give farmers a fair wage then you needn’t look further than your own high street.

Shops in Wotton-under-Edge stock a range of Fairtrade produce and a committee of dedicated Fairtrade buyers are trying to encourage more shops to sell the ethical products and more people to buy them.

As part of World Fairtrade Day last Friday, the Wotton Fairtrade Steering Committee helped launch a new product in the town’s Co-op supermarket.

Wotton’s Co-op was one of a handful chosen to launch a Fairtrade Palestinian Olive Oil, which helps Palestinian farmers in Gaza and the West Bank in Israel earn a decent living – something that is increasingly difficult with strict border control onto their farm land.

Member of the Wotton Fairtrade Committee, Dr Cathy Curtis-Hayward, said Wotton was the perfect place to launch such a product because there was a great deal of interest and support for Fairtrade products among local shoppers.

"There are a number of shops in Wotton that stock Fairtrade products and serve Fairtrade tea and coffee and I think there is a lot of people interested in seeking out these products for their own peace of mind that they are giving farmers around the world an honest living," she said.

Dr Curtis-Hayward continued: "Some products, like the Palestinian olive oil, are a bit more expensive than your average supermarket product but it is about much more than the food itself.

"When you buy the product you are buying into the idea of Fairtrade and you are making a statement that you want the person who produced it to be given a fair wage.

"I have suggested to people that they could perhaps buy the olive oil as a gift for someone and then they can explain the story behind it – it is more of a luxury item."

The Fairtrade movement has grown in strength over the last five years and you can now get a huge range of Fairtrade products from tea, coffee and sugar to cards, jewellery and clothes.

The Fairtrade mark is an independent consumer certification label, which ensures the product has been produced to certain social, economic and environmental standards and that a fair price is paid to the farmer or producer.