The campaign is targeting Asda, a supermarket rarely out of the headlines for problems with sweatshops. Asda lags behind other major supermarkets - the students said, because of its failure to offer Fairtrade cotton uniforms.
Stacey Dooley said, in support of the student's Fairtrade Fortnight action: 'It's not about boycotting high street chains and running about in unflattering rags...it's about voicing your opinion as a consumer, telling your favourite stores you're interested in fairtrade and ethical clothing.'
The students handed over the 'bad school report'to Asda management. They also handed in photos of 2000 students, who each wrote personal messages demanding that Asda switches its uniforms to Fairtrade cotton.
The giant 'bad school report' was handed in during Fairtrade Fortnight, when students across the UK will be asking their schools to switch their own uniforms to Fairtrade cotton.
Fiona Ranford, Fairtrade Campaigner at People & Planet, said: Research we commissioned showed that around 70% of school and college students want their uniforms to be made from Fairtrade cotton. Asda don't sell any Fairtrade cotton uniforms at all, meaning poverty and hardship for the farmers making their school uniforms. That's why students across Britain are targeting the supermarket with this campaign.
Malek Araki, a student at Ealing College says: 'I did some research on Fairtrade and I've realised how big it is and what great things it does for farmers'.
There is also a growing concern amongst parents that the school uniforms they are buying are contributing to the hunger and hardship faced by cotton producers. Anna Heywood, a mother of two from Newcastle says:
'I want to ensure that no one has been exploited in making my children's school uniform but like most parents I haven't got the time or knowledge to start investigating the supply chain of my daughter's school jumper or all the different ethical schemes that the high street stores and supermarkets claim to sign up to. The Fairtrade label is the only guarantee that can instantly assure me that the producers are being treated fairly'.
Online photo petition to Asda can be found at www.peopleandplanet.org/wearfair/shoutout.
