Notting Hill & Ealing High School in west London is the first UK school to offer Fairtrade bananas to pupils, while the Low Sizergh Barn farm shop in Kendal will be the first farm shop to stock the line.

Fairtrade bananas have been made available to the school and farm shop courtesy of Fairtrade supplier AgroFair UK and banana ripener Fyffes. The two companies have been working closely to enable independent stores and smaller enterprises to support Fairtrade when buying bananas. Previously Fairtrade bananas were only available in the major retailers.

The school's headteacher Susan Whitfield said: 'We are delighted to be offering our pupils fruit which we know is both nutritious and the product of a fair trading system.' While Jan Castle, sales and marketing manager of AgroFair UK, added: 'We are delighted that Notting Hill & Ealing High School and Low Sizergh Barn are joining the Fairtrade banana family, and would encourage other businesses and organisations to do the same. If banana lovers in the UK buy Fairtrade, farmers and their families on the other side of the world can build better lives for themselves.'

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