Harry's Nuts! declared elephant friendly
5 March 2012
Harry’s Nuts!, the Fairtrade salted nuts from Harry Hill,
have been declared ‘Elephant Friendly’ thanks to the work of Fairtrade cashew
farmers in India in protecting an endangered species.
The snacks are available in Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and other
outlets and the packs of cashews have an extra environmental boast with each
munch.
The cashew farmers have used some of the extra money which
comes with Fairtrade to protect wild Indian elephants which had been
trespassing on their farms from the local forests. Farmers had found trees they
had been growing for twenty years felled by the power of these elephants.
Wanting to protect their crops, farmers often fought back,
risking both injury to themselves and the elephants.
The farming organision Fair Trade Alliance Kerala (FTAK)
decided the farmers, their trees and the elephants needed to be protected and
studied ways of keeping the animals at bay without hurting them. FTAK came up
with the idea of investing the Fairtrade premium on solar panels to power electrified fencing around the
farms. This provides a very mild shock.
“The shock deters but does not injure the elephants, so
these cashews are now lephant-friendly,” explains FTAK’s Tomy Mathews.
Dan Bucknell, Head of Conservation and Campaigns of the
charity Elephant Family, says:
"With the Asian elephant suffering from massive habitat
loss and persecution where it feeds on crops, it is refreshing that Harry's
Nuts! are grown in such a responsible way that works for both the farmers and
the elephants."
The 3,200 cashew nut farmers are all part of an organic
conversion programme and 45% of them have already achieved this certification.
Organic methods are seen by the farmers as the best way of protecting their
crops while protecting biodiversity. The farmers are operating in a 'biosphere'
of exceptional biodiversity and take protecting this environment extremely seriously.
There is also a focus on replanting indigenous breeds of cashew trees which
produce a better crop.
The farmers were also concerned that an indigenous breed of
goat, the ‘Malabari’, was becoming extinct – a breed which has far greater
immunity to disease than crossbreeds, eats less fodder and is much cheaper to rear
for milk and meat. They have started a breeding programme which sees a farmer being
given a male and female goat and then passing on the offspring to another
farmer.
Harry Hill works with Fairtrade nut company Liberation Foods
on Harry’s Nuts!, currently available in two varieties – salted peanuts and
salted cashews. Liberation’s biggest
shareholder is a co-operative of nut farming and gathering organisations
including FTAK. Managing Director Kate Gaskell says: "All of the nuts in
Harry’s Nuts! are transporteded to the UK
Harry’s Nuts! are popular for their taste – they are cooked
for longer than other salted peanuts and cashews to give them an extra
crunchiness and deeper flavour. They have been backed by celebrity food writer
Sophie Grigson who says: "The peanuts have a very appealing creamy texture
and a delicious sweet, rounded flavour enhanced by just the right degree of
salt."
Harry launched the products after travelling to Malawi
Fairtrade Fortnight this year (February 27 - March 11) has
the theme Take A Step For Fairtrade http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/step This is the latest step from Harry's Nuts!
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