This Fairtrade Fortnight, February 29 - March 13, the Fairtrade Foundation are inviting individuals, schools, churches and groups to sit down for a Big Fairtrade Breakfast to highlight the severe lack of food security faced by farmers around the world.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, yet millions of farmers and workers in developing countries do not earn enough to know where their next meal is coming from.

About 795 million people are undernourished globally, and half of the world’s hungry people, nearly 400 million, are estimated to live on small farms, despite them working hard to grow the food we eat every day.

Fairtrade means workers are able put enough food on the table all year round. The Fairtrade Foundation invite Pembrokeshire individuals and groups to organise a Big Fairtrade Breakfast event to help make a real change for farming communities in developing countries. There are lots of educational and decorative resources available.

Sharron Hardwick, Fair Trade Wales schools speaker, said: “Tavernspite CP and Tenby Juniors are planning their Big Fairtrade Breakfasts, with other schools showing interest. It is not too late to plan your own event. Enjoy some Fairtrade muesli, breakfast bars, nuts, fruit, tea, coffee, sugar, spreads and fruit juice, or be creative and make your own breakfast treats using Fairtrade ingredients. Please remember to support our local farmers, too, by using local produce, and milk which is fair to farmers.”

Food security is linked closely to economic growth, stable incomes and reduced risk and vulnerability. A better income means more money to buy food and the ability to invest in generating other food sources, such as growing new crops.

Fairtrade works with 1.5 million farmers and workers in parts of Africa, Asia and Latin and Central America, enabling them to earn a sustainable income and the Fairtrade Premium that they can invest in vital community, business and environmental projects.

Rachael Sweet, communities campaigns manager for the Fairtrade Foundation, said: “Farming is the backbone of the world. It’s simply wrong that the people who produce what we eat go hungry themselves. Shoppers in the UK can change this by harnessing the power of a Fairtrade breakfast - so that farmers and workers behind our products can feel secure, knowing they can feed their families every day. And so we hope that as many people as possible will hold their own Big Fairtrade Breakfast and ensure food security for the world’s most vulnerable farming communities.”

You can find out more about Fairtrade Fortnight, and how to get involved in your local area, at fairtrade.org.uk/breakfast 020 7405 5942 or email Sharron Hardwick: [email protected].