Students at Holy Cross College are going ‘bananas’ for ethical produce after the college was awarded Fairtrade status.

The college has committed itself to selling items with the Fairtrade mark, such as tea and coffee, confectionery and fruit.

Fairtrade fortnight runs until Sunday, and the school celebrated its achievement with a coffee morning, a raffle of Fairtrade goods and free samples of Fairtrade chocolate.

The focus of this year’s Fairtrade fortnight is making the pricing of bananas fair, as over the last 10 years, the price of a banana in the UK has nearly halved, while the cost of production has doubled. Bec Hyndman, Head of RE at Holy Cross, said: “Supporting Fairtrade is a must for us as a Catholic college as it is an essential part of our ethos that we do all we can to promote ethical trade and raise awareness of the benefits that it brings to producers in developing countries.”

Bury Council has backed the Fairtrade campaign via a formal resolution, and amongst its initiatives serves Fairtrade tea and coffee.

Bernard Emblem, chairman of Bury Fairtrade, said: “Only about 20 per cent of the prices paid by consumers reach exporting countries, and most of the trade is controlled by supermarkets and multi-nationals with few qualms about exploiting poor farmers.

“The Fairtrade system allows small farmers to bypass this exploitation and sell their produce at a fair price — that’s all they ask.”