By Rachel Hart
Fair Trade fortnight is underway and all Kiwis are being urged to swap to fair trade tea, coffee, bananas, cotton and chocolate.
Among those making the switch are elephants and lemurs at Auckland Zoo.
A group of girls from Auckland Grammar were chosen to give Burma the elephant her first taste of Fair Trade bananas. She seemed to like them.
Sustainability is a key focus of the zoo, so switching to Fair Trade was an easy decision to make.
“We’re always looking at ways we can minimise our impact on the environment,” says spokesperson Jane Healy.
“We jumped at the opportunity. All our primates eat bananas, a number of our exotic birds and, of course, Burma goes through a fair few.”
New Zealand is one of the fastest growing markets in Fair Trade products in the world, with sales reaching more than $17 million each year.
“Fair Trade guarantees benefits to producers, the famers, the growers,” says Steve Knapp of the Australia and NZ Fair Trade Association.
With the zoo getting through between 40 and 80kg of bananas each week, it is good to know Burma’s jumbo appetite is helping support a good cause.
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