CONSUMERISM with a conscience has just received a huge boost by Sainsbury's announcement that it is now stocking Fairtrade bananas from Caribbean farmers.

The Fairtrade movement aims to ensure farmers and manufacturers in the Third World receive the correct price for their products - often by removing the "middle man".

Sainsbury's move will mean that thousands of banana growers in the Windward Islands, who faced an uncertain future following heavy price cuts from Latin American plantations, will now benefit from guaranteed prices through a fair trade deal.

Fairtrade bananas from the Windward Islands will soon be available also from Co-op and Waitrose - helping to raise the profile of Fairtrade goods.

Many supermarkets already stock a small range of products carrying the Fairtrade mark. To date, only tea, coffee, sugar, honey, cocoa and bananas are available with this mark, which is awarded by the Fairtrade Foundation.

It is a sign that the goods have been produced under good working conditions and that a fair price has been paid for them.

However, Oxfam pioneered the practice and sells a wider range of Fairtrade goods from specialist shops, including one in Low Petergate, York.

Among the goods on sale are chocolate, ceramics and textiles from 140 producer organisations around the world.

Tabitha Wootton-Daw, of Oxfam, said when people bought a Fairtrade product, they were directly helping poor people overseas.

"There is no middlemen. Take the textiles we sell. Often women make textiles on a loom which is owned by a middleman and they don't have control. We knock out the middleman and the women sell the textiles directly to us so they get the benefit."

It is estimated that more than half-a-million farmers around the world benefit from Fairtrade.

Tabitha said while many people in York were now becoming aware of the notion of Fairtrade, it was still something tourists were unsure of.

"When we tell them about it, they think it's a great idea: buying things and yet helping other people."

Simeon Mitchell, development officer for the Fairtrade Foundation and a former volunteer at Oxfam's Fair Trade shop in York, said there was still work to be done in raising the profile nationally of these types of products.

"Awareness is growing, but at the moment it is quite limited. A survey we did last year found that two-thirds of people were supportive of the idea and would like to buy products which were traded fairly, however, only fifteen per cent had ever heard of the Fairtrade mark - so there's still work to do."

He added that Sainsbury's action should help boost awareness.

"Bananas are Britain's favourite fruit and this opens up Fairtrade to bigger audiences."

PICTURE: Comedienne Jo Brand pictured tucking into some fairly-traded chocolate on a vist to York. Sainsbury's has just lent its support to the Fairtrade movement, by stocking bananas which will benefit farmers in the Caribbean directly, by cutting out the middlemen