"Forty per cent of households in Britain bought a Fairtrade product in the past year. Fifteen years ago very few did. What's behind this extraordinary trend? What difference does Fairtrade actually make for the poor farmers it aims to help? And are big companies really changing the way they do business because of Fairtrade? In Fighting the Banana WARs and Other Fairtrade Battles, international activist Harriet Lamb gives a revealing insider's account of the Fairtrade global movement. From bananas and coffee beans to cotton and footballs, Lamb describes the daring campaigns that have placed Fairtrade goods in the middle of the supermarket shelf, forcing retailing giants to change their policies. She explores the journey that the goods in our shopping trolleys make through an unjust system stacked against people in third-world countries. And she uncovers the shocking cost of our demand for cheaper and ever more 'perfect' food. iscover how Fairtrade has transformed the lives of over 1 million farmers, workers and their dependants, and what you can do to make the Fairtrade vision of a better world into a reality."

Author Biography

"Harriet Lamb has been Executive Director of the Fairtrade Foundation since 2001, after moving from being the Acting Director at the Fairtrade Labeling Organisations International (FLO) in Bonn - the global umbrella body for Fairtrade. Prior to that she led the campaigning work of the World Development Movement and held a range of other roles, including campaigning for a minimum wage in Britain while at the Low Pay Unit. She has travelled widely in the developing world, including spending 18 months in India working with farmers in rural villages and landless labourer co-operatives. Awarded a CBE in the New Year's Honours List 2006 for her contribution to Fairtrade. She is a highly experienced public speaker and media spokesperson and has written a wide range of publications on development issues."