Fairtrade Fortnight is back and this year Myakka are going bananas for Fairtrade! The Fairtrade Foundations is working hard to bring to our attention to the plight of banana farmers all over the world who aren’t getting a fair deal. Only 1 in 3 bananas we buy here in the UK are Fairtrade and the Fairtrade Foundations wants to change this.
In the last 10 years the cost of producing bananas has doubled but the price we pay for them here in the UK has halved – this of course means that the producers are struggling to cover their costs which makes banana farming unsustainable.
To help raise awareness of Fairtrade Fortnight and the plight of the banana farmers we have out together a collection of our favourite banana recipes.
Natalie’s (past their best) Banana Bread
Here in the UK we eat a massive 5 billion bananas a year. In my house there is often a couple of bananas left in the fruit bowl which are a little past they’re best – which means only one thing… banana bread! The recipe I use is taken from Paul Hollywood’s book – How to Bake.
Ingredients –
• 3-4 large Fairtrade bananas, ripe and mashed (I find 2-3 large bananas plenty, a little on the brown side is perfect)
• 250g caster sugar
• 125g soft unsalted butter
• 2 Free Range eggs
• 250g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 120g Fairtrade walnut pieces (If you’re a non-nut eater, swap this for some Fairtrade chocolate chips or some Fairtrade Maltesers)
Method –
• Mash together your bananas along with the sugar
• Beat in the butter until well combined – the is best done with an electric mixer and soft butter
• Whisk in the eggs until mixture is light and fluffy
• Sieve in the flour and baking powder and fold into mixture.
• Add in you chocolate or walnuts (or maybe try both?)
• Tip into a lined loaf tin
• Bake for about 40 minutes at 190˚C until firm to touch and a skewer comes out clean. I have found that the cooking times can vary depending on how big/many bananas are used, the more banana the longer the cooking time. If this is the case cover the top of the cake with some foil to stop it from browning too much.
I love this served warm with custard for pudding or have a slice covered in chocolate spread!
Ali’s Quickest Pancakes in the History of the Universe
Our friend Ali who is our Social Media Superstar shares her recipe for the perfect banana pancakes taken from her blog Kids Chaos http://kidschaos.com/the-quickest-pancakes-in-the-history-of-the-universe/
Ingredients –
• 1 Fairtrade Banana
• 2 Free Range Eggs
• Knob of butter
Method –
• Mash the banana up with a fork
• Add in the eggs and beat vigorously
• Melt a little butter in a small non- stick frying pan
• Pour into banana and egg mix and mix together
• Cook in the frying pan half the mixture at a time in the same way you would a normal pancake.
• If they are taking a while to firm up – put under the grill for a bit before flipping.
Ali likes these served spread with Jam or with the classic lemon and honey. The perfect breakfast!
Another of our favourite Bloggers is Maggie Woodley at Red Ted Art with a lovely and quick recipe for a Very Berry (with brown bananas) Smoothie. This smoothie is perfect for a healthy quick breakfast or as a quick snack. Take a look at the recipe here http://lifeatthezoo.com/2014/01/brown-bananas-recipes-berry-smoothie/
We also have a recipe for Fairtrade Banana Date Flapjack recipe from Domestic Goddesque aka Kelly Innes which can be found by clicking here. http://domesticgoddesque.com/2014/01/fairtrade-banana-date-flapjacks/
And if you ever wondered what else can you do with a banana then check out this blog post from Liz Burton at her blog Me and My Shadow with a fun and practical list of 10 things you can do with a banana – my favourites have to be number 3 and 4 – ice cream and a face mask – perfect!
Don’t forget to support fair trade fortnight this year running from Monday 24th February to Sunday 9th March. There are loads of ways you can get involved to help support banana farmers all over the world. Take a look at the Fairtrade Foundations website which has loads of ways you can get involved and activities all based around banana fun!
Of course the easiest way to help is to buy and eat lots of Fairtrade Bananas!
