Harriet Lamb
Encyclopedia
Harriet Lamb is a leading campaigner for fair trade
and has been Executive Director of the United Kingdom
Fairtrade Foundation since 2001. She 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.
She has lived over six year in India including time working with poor landless labourers and with a cooperative
of low-caste "untouchable" farmers selling grapes.
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. Under her leadership, Fairtrade has become one of Britain's most active grassroots
social movement
s. In 2008, sales of Fairtrade topped £700 million, with over 4,500 Fairtrade products available from cotton to coffee, face-cream to ice-cream.
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."
Previous campaigning activities include the UK Minimum Wage Campaign at the Low Pay Unit and for refugee rights. She has lived and travelled widely in the developing world. She was awarded a CBE in the 2006 UK New Year's Honours List for her contribution to Fairtrade. Other accolades include Cosmopolitan Eco-Queen 2008 and Orange Businesswoman of the Year 2008.
A keen cyclist, she lives in South London with her partner and two children.
Harriet Lamb is the author of Fighting The Banana Wars and other Fairtrade Battles, pub. 2008 by Rider Books, ISBN 978-1-84-604083-2
On Friday 14 January 2011, Harriet appeared for the first time on BBC Radio 4 programme Any Questions, alongside Tim Montgomerie, Emily Thornberry MP and Sarah Teather MP.
Fair trade
Fair trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries make better trading conditions and promote sustainability. The movement advocates the payment of a higher price to producers as well as higher social and environmental standards...
and has been Executive Director of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Fairtrade Foundation since 2001. She 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.
She has lived over six year in India including time working with poor landless labourers and with a cooperative
Cooperative
A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
of low-caste "untouchable" farmers selling grapes.
She joined the Fairtrade Foundation after two years with Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International
Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International
Fairtrade International was established in 1997, and is an association of 3 producer networks, 19 national labelling initiatives and 3 marketing organizations that promote and market the Fairtrade Certification Mark in their countries Fairtrade labelling organizations exist in 18 European...
(FLO), the Fairtrade umbrella body with responsibility for Fairtrade standards globally, in Bonn, Germany. Under her leadership, Fairtrade has become one of Britain's most active grassroots
Grassroots
A grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures...
social movement
Social movement
Social movements are a type of group action. They are large informal groupings of individuals or organizations focused on specific political or social issues, in other words, on carrying out, resisting or undoing a social change....
s. In 2008, sales of Fairtrade topped £700 million, with over 4,500 Fairtrade products available from cotton to coffee, face-cream to ice-cream.
She had become convinced of the importance of Fairtrade while Head of Campaigns at the World Development Movement
World Development Movement
The World Development Movement is a membership organisation in the United Kingdom which campaigns on issues of global justice and development in the Global South....
(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."
Previous campaigning activities include the UK Minimum Wage Campaign at the Low Pay Unit and for refugee rights. She has lived and travelled widely in the developing world. She was awarded a CBE in the 2006 UK New Year's Honours List for her contribution to Fairtrade. Other accolades include Cosmopolitan Eco-Queen 2008 and Orange Businesswoman of the Year 2008.
A keen cyclist, she lives in South London with her partner and two children.
Harriet Lamb is the author of Fighting The Banana Wars and other Fairtrade Battles, pub. 2008 by Rider Books, ISBN 978-1-84-604083-2
On Friday 14 January 2011, Harriet appeared for the first time on BBC Radio 4 programme Any Questions, alongside Tim Montgomerie, Emily Thornberry MP and Sarah Teather MP.
Further reading
- "Fighting The Banana Wars and other Fairtrade Battles", Harriet Lamb, pub. Rider Books, 2008. ISBN 978-1-84-604083-2
- "On the road with the queen of fairtrade", The Independent, 28.2.2009