Harriet Lamb

Last updated

Harriet Lamb CBE (born 3 June 1961) [1] became CEO of WRAP [2] - a Climate Action NGO - in March 2023. She was formerly the CEO of Ashden and of the peacebuilding organisation International Alert. From 2001 to 2012 she was executive director of the United Kingdom Fairtrade Foundation. Prior to this she was a leading campaigner for fair trade. In September 2012 she became chief executive officer of the global standards, certification and producer development organisation, Fairtrade International. [3]

Contents

Background

Lamb was born in England, lived in India as a child and then grew up and was educated in the UK, taking a first degree in political science at Cambridge University and an MPhil at the Sussex Institute of Development Studies. [4]

She has lived over six years in India including time working with poor landless labourers and with a cooperative of low-caste "untouchable" farmers selling grapes. [4]

Fairtrade global agenda

She joined the Fairtrade Foundation after two years with Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO), the Fairtrade umbrella body with responsibility for Fairtrade standards globally, in Bonn, Germany. [5] Under her leadership, Fairtrade has become one of Britain's most active grassroots social movements. In 2008, sales of Fairtrade topped £700 million, with over 4,500 Fairtrade products available from cotton to coffee, face-cream to ice-cream. Harriet first heard about climate change from Fairtrade farmers who were having to deal with the devastating effects of climate change patterns.

She had become convinced of the importance of Fairtrade while Head of Campaigns at the World Development Movement (WDM). While visiting Costa Rica with WDM in 1997 to investigate local banana plantations' use of the pesticide dibromochloropropane (DBCP), already banned in the US for making farm-workers sterile, she met a woman called Maria whose husband had been exposed to DBCP while working on the plantations. The couple had had a baby boy born with severe developmental abnormalities who died after a short and distressful life.

In her book "Fighting The Banana Wars", Harriet Lamb describes how "As we sat there and she showed me pictures of her baby, rage bubbled up inside me because the companies knew of the dangers of this chemical but they ignored them. I have never, ever forgotten Maria." [6]

Previous campaigning activities include the UK Minimum Wage Campaign at the Low Pay Unit [5] and for refugee rights. She has lived and travelled widely in the developing world. She was appointed a CBE in the 2006 UK New Year's Honours List for her contribution to Fairtrade. [5] Other accolades include Cosmopolitan Eco-Queen 2008 and Orange Businesswoman of the Year 2008.

Personal life

A keen cyclist, she lives in South London.

On Friday 14 January 2011, Harriet appeared for the first time on the BBC Radio 4 programme Any Questions? , alongside Tim Montgomerie, Emily Thornberry MP and Sarah Teather MP.

Books

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naomi Klein</span> Canadian author and activist (born 1970)

Naomi Klein is a Canadian author, social activist, and filmmaker known for her political analyses; support of ecofeminism, organized labour, and leftism; and criticism of corporate globalization, fascism, ecofascism and capitalism. As of 2021, she is an associate professor, and professor of climate justice at the University of British Columbia, co-directing a Centre for Climate Justice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banana</span> Tropical/subtropical edible staple, fruit

A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus Musa. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing them from dessert bananas. The fruit is variable in size, color, and firmness, but is usually elongated and curved, with soft flesh rich in starch covered with a rind, which may have a variety of colors when ripe. The fruits grow upward in clusters near the top of the plant. Almost all modern edible seedless (parthenocarp) bananas come from two wild species – Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana. Most cultivated bananas are M. acuminata, M. balbisiana, or hybrids of the two.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fair trade</span> Sustainable and equitable trade

Fair trade is a term for an arrangement designed to help producers in developing countries achieve sustainable and equitable trade relationships. The fair trade movement combines the payment of higher prices to exporters with improved social and environmental standards. The movement focuses in particular on commodities, or products that are typically exported from developing countries to developed countries but is also used in domestic markets, most notably for handicrafts, coffee, cocoa, wine, sugar, fruit, flowers and gold.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unilever</span> British multinational consumer goods company

Unilever PLC is a British multinational fast-moving consumer goods company founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of British soap maker Lever Brothers and Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie. It is headquartered in London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairtrade International</span> Group promoting a living income for farmers

Fairtrade International, or Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International E.V. is a product-oriented multistakeholder group aimed at promoting the lives of farmers and workers through trade. Fairtrade's work is guided by a global strategy focused on ensuring that all farmers earn a living income, and agricultural workers earn a living wage. Fairtrade works with farmers and workers of more than 300 commodities. The main products promoted under the Fairtrade label are coffee, cocoa, banana, flowers, tea, and sugar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chiquita</span> Banana producer and distributor company

Chiquita Brands International S.à.r.l., formerly known as United Fruit Co., is a Swiss-domiciled American producer and distributor of bananas and other produce. The company operates under a number of subsidiary brand names, including the flagship Chiquita brand and Fresh Express salads. Chiquita is the leading distributor of bananas in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Fairtrade Foundation</span> Charity promoting and licensing Fairtrade certification in the United Kingdom

The Fairtrade Foundation is a charity based in the United Kingdom that aims to help disadvantaged producers in developing countries by tackling injustice in conventional trade, in particular by promoting and licensing the Fairtrade Mark, a guarantee that products retailed in the UK have been produced in accordance with internationally agreed Fairtrade standards. The foundation is the British member of FLO International, which unites FLO-CERT, 25 National Fairtrade Organisations and 3 Producer Networks across Europe, Asia, Latin America, North America, Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Global Justice Now</span> Non-governmental organization

Global Justice Now, formerly known as the World Development Movement (WDM), is a membership organisation based in the United Kingdom which campaigns on issues of global justice and development in the Global South.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banana Wars</span> Series of conflicts in Central America

The Banana Wars were a series of conflicts that consisted of military occupation, police action, and intervention by the United States in Central America and the Caribbean between the end of the Spanish–American War in 1898 and the inception of the Good Neighbor Policy in 1934. The military interventions were primarily carried out by the United States Marine Corps, which also developed a manual, the Small Wars Manual (1921) based on their experiences. On occasion, the United States Navy provided gunfire support and the United States Army also deployed troops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Fairtrade Certification Mark</span> Certification mark

The 'International Fairtrede Certification Mark is an independent certification mark used in over 69 countries. It appears on products as an independent guarantee that a product has been produced according to Fairtrade political standards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1,2-Dibromo-3-chloropropane</span> Chemical compound

1,2-Dibromo-3-chloropropane (dibromochloropropane), better known as DBCP, is the organic compound with the formula BrCH(CH2Br)(CH2Cl). It is a dense colorless liquid although commercial samples often appear amber or even brown. It is the active ingredient in the nematicide Nemagon, also known as Fumazone.

The fair trade movement has undergone several important changes like the operation for ten thousand villages to open their businesses since early days following World War II. Fair trade, first seen as a form of charity advocated by religious organizations, has radically changed in structure, philosophy and approach. The past fifty years have witnessed massive changes in the diversity of fair trade proponents, the products traded and their distribution networks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banana republic</span> Political-science term for a politically unstable country

In political science, the term banana republic describes a politically and economically unstable country with an economy dependent upon the export of natural resources. In 1904, American author O. Henry coined the term to describe Guatemala and Honduras under economic exploitation by U.S. corporations, such as the United Fruit Company. Typically, a banana republic has a society of extremely stratified social classes, usually a large impoverished working class and a ruling class plutocracy, composed of the business, political, and military elites. The ruling class controls the primary sector of the economy by way of exploitation of labour. Therefore, the term banana republic is a pejorative descriptor for a servile oligarchy that abets and supports, for kickbacks, the exploitation of large-scale plantation agriculture, especially banana cultivation.

<i>Bananas Unpeeled</i> 2000 film

Bananas Unpeeled is a 26-minute film shot in Latin America and the Caribbean, investigating the social and environmental issues faced by plantation workers and small farmers in the Caribbean. It examines fair trade policies and labeling as a positive alternative for workers on plantations where harsh working conditions and environmental damage are the norm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fair trade coffee</span> Coffee certified as produced to fair trade standards

Fair trade coffee is coffee that is certified as having been produced to fair trade standards by fair trade organizations, which create trading partnerships that are based on dialogue, transparency and respect, with the goal of achieving greater equity in international trade. These partnerships contribute to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to coffee bean farmers. Fair trade organizations support producers and sustainable environmental farming practices and prohibit child labor or forced labor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuisine of Devon</span>

The cuisine of Devon in England has influenced, and been influenced, by other British cuisine. Its tradition of dairy farming has resulted in several dishes, some of which have made both it and Cornwall famous, such as cream teas and junket. Because Devon is largely a rural county, it likewise has a strong reputation for excellent pasture-raised beef and lamb. Orchard fruits are also important, particularly apples, used both for cider as well as for apple-based desserts. The long coastline supplies the county with a wide variety of fish and seafood.

Sustainability standards and certifications are voluntary guidelines used by producers, manufacturers, traders, retailers, and service providers to demonstrate their commitment to good environmental, social, ethical, and food safety practices. There are over 400 such standards across the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fair trade cocoa</span> Cocoa harvested under a certified process

Fair trade cocoa is an agricultural product harvested from a cocoa tree using a certified process which is followed by cocoa farmers, buyers, and chocolate manufacturers, and is designed to create sustainable incomes for farmers and their families. Companies that use fair trade certified cocoa to create products can advertise that they are contributing to social, economic, and environmental sustainability in agriculture.

Fairtrade bananas was a marketing initiative which focused on increasing the price paid to small banana growers and the wages of agricultural workers. This is not a commercial brand, but a marketing strategy. Fair trade is based on higher prices paid by consumers that allow an equitable distribution of gains from trade over the chain partners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Alert</span> International non-governmental organization

International Alert is a global peacebuilding charity. Established in 1986, it aims to promote dialogue, training, research, policy analysis, advocacy and outreach activities, with the view to address the root causes of conflict.

References

  1. "Birthdays", The Guardian , p. 41, 3 June 2014
  2. "WRAP announces appointment of new CEO". WRAP. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  3. "Fairtrade International (FLO): Fairtrade International".
  4. 1 2 The Independent
  5. 1 2 3 p. i, "Fighting The Banana Wars and other Fairtrade Battles", Harriet Lamb, ISBN   978-1-84604-083-2
  6. pp. 6-7, "Fighting The Banana Wars and other Fairtrade Battles", Harriet Lamb, ISBN   978-1-84604-083-2

Further reading