Britain's top retailers are increasingly responding to customers' demand for products -- tea, coffee and cotton among them -- that guarantee producers in poor countries will get a fair price for their goods. These goods, called Fairtrade products, are certified by the Fairtrade Foundation.
Britain's biggest retailer, Tesco, along with rivals Sainsbury's and Marks and Spencer, are putting Fairtrade products on their shelves, including T-shirts and socks.
"It's purely because of customer demand and (because) customers have been asking us to provide them with more Fairtrade products for the last couple of years," said Olivia Ross, a spokeswoman for Marks and Spencer.
PHOTO: AP
"So many people in the UK are won over by the idea of Fairtrade and want to shop with respect," said Harriet Lamb, executive director of the Fairtrade Foundation.
The Foundation says that sales of Fairtrade products in Britain in 2005 grew 40 percent to ?195 million (NT$11 billion).
The foundation also said that more than 1,500 Fairtrade products are currently on sale in Britain, with products purchased from Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia.
"Fairtrade benefits farmers and workers in developing countries, offering a fair price ... environmental benefits and more secure markets. We want to expand the Fairtrade market in the UK so that still more farmers, workers and their families can benefit," Lamb said.
It seems like stores in Britain are in agreement. Retailers Tesco and Co-op are stocking Fairtrade-certified nuts in British supermarkets for the first time. Britain's third-largest supermarket, Sainsbury's, has meanwhile decided to sell the first baby food to carry the Fairtrade mark -- a banana and mango mix. And it's not just supermarkets. Virgin Trains, run by British tycoon Richard Branson, has announced that it is to offer passengers only Fairtrade hot drinks. (AFP)
為回應消費者需求，英國各大量販店保證茶、咖啡和棉花等產品，在貧窮國家的出產過程均以公平價格交易。這些產品是有公平貿易基金會認證的「公平貿易產品」。
英國最大量販店特易購與幾家競爭大廠 -- 聖柏利和瑪莎百貨，也上架販賣公平貿易產品，如 T-shirts 和襪子等。
瑪莎百貨發言人奧麗薇亞．蘿斯指出：「這完全是因應消費者需求。過去幾年來，消費者不斷要求我們提供更多公平貿易產品。」
公平貿易基金會的執行長哈里特．藍伯指出：「英國有許多民眾贊成公平貿易的作法，希望購物時也能對生產者表示敬意」。
該基金會指出，公平貿易產品在二○○五年的營業額高達一億九千五百萬英鎊（新台幣一百一十億元），相較二○○四年成長四成。
此外，基金會表示，目前有超過一千五百種公平貿易產品在英國出售，這些產品來自非洲、拉丁美洲、加勒比海和亞洲。
藍伯表示：「公平貿易讓開發中國家的農人和工人受惠於公平價格、環境效益和更安定的市場，我們希望在英國拓展公平貿易市場，讓農夫、工人和他們的家人都能從中獲益。」
英國店家似乎有志一同。 特易購和 Co-op 兩家量販店首次在英國超級市場上架販賣有公平貿易認證的堅果類食品。同時，英國第三大超市聖柏利亦決定販賣第一批有公平貿易標誌的嬰兒食品 -- 芒果香蕉口味的果泥。不只超級市場，英國商業大亨 -- 理察．布蘭森旗下經營的維京火車，已宣布只提供乘客有公平貿易標誌的熱飲。 （法新社）
A: It’s a pity that I can’t go to Australian pop diva Kylie Minogue’s concert. B: Why not? A: Hit Japanese singer Kenshi Yonezu is staging two shows at the Taipei Arena this weekend, and I already bought tickets long ago. B: Wow, isn’t he one of the most popular Japanese singers in recent years? A: And Yonezu’s megahit “Lemon” topped the Billboard Japan Hot 100’s year-end chart in 2018 and 2019 consecutively. A: 我不能去澳洲歌后凱莉米諾的演唱會真可惜。 B: 為什麼？ A: 日本人氣歌手米津玄師週末將在小巨蛋熱唱兩場，我早早就買票啦。 B: 哇他可是日本近年來最紅的歌手之一。 A: 米津的神曲《Lemon》甚至還在2018、2019年連續稱霸告示牌日本單曲榜年度冠軍！ (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張迪)
The Lemon Festival is a fun annual celebration in Menton, France. This festival began in 1934 and honors the region’s exceptional lemons. __1__ in February during the lemon season, the festival features beautiful floats and sculptures covered with dazzling lemons and oranges. These citrus creations are on display in the bright sunshine throughout the day, while at night, they are lit up and turn the town into a __2__ spectacle. The festival’s origins can be traced back to the late 19th century, when Menton was a major lemon producer. __3__, hotels would decorate their spaces with lemons and oranges
中國海關總署突然發布通知，指台灣輸入的釋迦及蓮霧檢出介殼蟲「大洋臀紋粉蚧」，決定暫停輸入。 In September 2021, China’s customs administration announced that it would suspend imports of sweetsop and jambu from Taiwan, citing discoveries of Planococcus minor, a type of mealybug. 蓮霧 (jambu/champoo, Syzygium samarangense) ，又名洋蒲桃，是桃金孃科熱帶水果，原產於印尼和馬來西亞，在星、馬稱作水蓊，中、港、澳稱作天桃。 蓮霧學名中的種小名 samarangense，係因模式標本採自印尼的Semarang (三寶瓏) 而得名。 蓮霧馬來語稱為 jambu air，第二個字 air讀作 /?a??(r)/，是水的意思，荷蘭人從印尼引進台灣，台語音譯為蓮霧 ian-b?。 以往蓮霧常見譯為 wax apple，聽起來好像素描靜物用的蠟製水果 (Wax Fruit)，曾有人問美國朋友要不要吃蓮霧? Care for a wax apple? 對方回一句：Why not a real one? 近來美國市場流行泰語的講法 champoo。蓮霧果實長得像鈴鐺，因此又稱為 bell-fruit。 Syzygium samarangense is a tropical fruit in the family Myrtaceae, native to the Greater Sunda Islands and the Malay Peninsula. Common names in English include champoo, jambu, bell fruit, rose apple, Java apple, and wax apple. In Taiwan, the dark red cultivars are nicknamed “Black
There were 127,350 measles cases reported in Europe and Central Asia last year, double the number of cases reported the previous year and the highest number since 1997, an analysis by the WHO and UNICEF showed. Measles outbreaks in West Texas and New Mexico in the US are now up to more than 250 cases, and two unvaccinated people have died from measles-related causes. Measles is caused by a highly contagious virus that is airborne and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs. It is preventable through vaccines, and was considered eliminated from the US since 2000. In the US,
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