BLOG NEWS - Liberation Nuts

Self-Sufficiency & a Sustainable Future in Nicaragua

Feb 22, 2017

Liberation’s shareholder farmers in Nicaragua are a highly organised and enterprising bunch. Similar to our cashew farmers in Kerala they are especially passionate about organic farming, recognising and strengthening women’s roles in farming and income generation and learning to live with increasingly obvious changes to their climate.

Food security: how Fairtrade helps level the playing field for small producers

Feb 10, 2017

Paradoxically, of the one billion people classified as food insecure by the United Nations, about 500 million are smallholder farmers in developing economies. Some of these producers are exporting luxuries such as coffee, cocoa, exotic fruits and sugar for consumers in developed economies. Due to poor and volatile prices coupled with unfair trade rules, they simply don’t earn enough to feed their families all year round and often experience the problem of seasonal hunger between harvests.

Butcher’s Shop But Not As You Know It

Jan 19, 2017

As ever in January we are swept up on a tide of talk about healthy eating. My modus operandi in January is actually to keep eating up the Christmas cake whilst I read and watch all the interesting stuff about healthy eating…I will reign in the calorie count come early Spring when the weather tells me to come out of comfort eating mode.

Liberation, a Community Interest Company

Jan 12, 2017

Liberation Foods, became a community interest company in 2007. Co-operatives of small-scale nut producers from around the developing world decided to get together to form a UK company through which to market their produce. These co-ops were brought together by Twin, a pioneer of Fair Trade that had founded Cafédirect and Divine Chocolate.

Alternative Proteins Set to Soar – New Report Suggests

Dec 29, 2016

Global demand for alternative proteins is set to double in just eight years– according to a new report by Lux Research. The market for alternative proteins – those beyond fish and meat – is predicted to grow by 14% annually to reach 38 million tonnes by 2024.

Is Cadbury Move the End of Fairtrade? by Kate Gaskell

Dec 15, 2016

I thought I’d be glad to see a headline that wasn’t about Trump or Brexit, but, ‘is Cadbury move the end for Fairtrade?’ provides no light relief – not for me or the small-scale nut farmers who are shareholders of Liberation Foods. To the Liberation nut farmers, Fairtrade certification means a decent price for their crop, a price that covers their costs and enables them to keep farming. It means a Fairtrade premium to invest back into their farms, co-operatives and communities. And it means the assurance of pre-finance to secure their crops. The pre-finance loan comes on the back of the purchase contracts we place with the farmer co-ops each year – well in advance of their harvest season – to enable good planning and reliable supply. Fairtrade certification also requires our farmers to run their co-operatives in a transparent, democratic manner and thus take collective responsibility for dealing with the myriad challenges and issues that their members face.

Midnight Run – not all those that wander are lost…

Jul 17, 2015

Liberation is proud to be feeding the 160 participants (or so) who will be taking part in this year’s Midnight Run on 18 July in London. Founded in 2005 by Inua Ellams, The Midnight Run is a walking, arts-filled, night-time cultural journey through cities. It gathers strangers and local artists/activists to explore, play and create whilst the city sleeps. This year, The Midnight Run celebrates 10 years of growing success and, for the first time, four simultaneous events, launching from the four corners of the capital will be taking place. The Roundhouse (North), The Albany (South), The Almeida (East) and Bush Theatre (West) will be host venues to four individual groups of Midnight Run groups as they begin the artistic walking adventure through London, with the Southbank Centre as a central Hub. The attempt to humanise and make smaller our shared world is the strongest impulse behind the Midnight Run which focuses on human connection, community and creativity – and that has to be a good thing! To find out more... read more

BANANA WARS

Dec 18, 2014

Liberation talks to Harriet Lamb, Chief Executive of Fairtrade International about her newly updated book from Ebury Press: Fighting the Banana Wars and Other Fairtrade Battles What inspired you to update your book now? The book was written in 2008 and it was getting embarrassing given just how out of date so many facts and figures had become. Fairtrade sales have more than doubled since the book first went to press and there are now almost double the numbers of producer organisations in Fairtrade. You have worked with a wide range of Fairtrade producer organisations in your career, can you tell us about tell us about a group that was facing particularly difficult challenges and how they overcame them? I’ve always been most inspired by groups working in conflict zones such as the olive oil farmers in Palestine. The coffee farmers in the Sopacdi Co-operative in The Congo have been supported by Twin in a region once ravaged by conflict and violence where trade had been abandoned. Now numbers of farmers have increased from less than 300 to more than 5,000, with women much more central in the workforce, producing high quality speciality Fairtrade coffee. We are also just starting to work with small-scale artisanal miners in Africa, thanks to a grant from Comic Relief. Last summer I visited the gold miners in Tanzania and I have never in all my time fighting against unfair trade, felt so shocked. The conditions in which the miners work takes your breath away. The miners go down shafts which are just mud so when it rains they collapse. They stay underground for long,... read more

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