Year 3 ask 'is it Fair?'

We have been tackling the very emotive subject of Fair Trade in humanities, through a study of a banana plantation worker called Mareya. The children each had a role -Mareya, Plantation owner, importer, shipper, supermarket buyer -and first had to understand the role they played in the supply chain for a banana in order to empathise with their character. Next, came the challenging task of allocating the 15 p (which a customer pays for a single banana) to each role. The debate and argument was ferocious, passionately argued and with nobody really wanting to concede ground. Mediation was required! Agreement was not reached in every case! There were so many factors to consider and so many people’s needs to discuss.

How much money would you give to each person in the chain? Would you pay more for food to ensure the farmer has a fair deal?

Next time you shop, ask your children to find the Fair Trade symbol and find the countries that the products are from. Where in the world are they?