Join the Fairtrade Big Fair Bake Challenge!

We think that baking tastes better when shared, so the Tots100 is challenging our members to inspire the nation and cook for someone else with a Big Fair Bake.

Friends, family, colleagues, whoever you choose, by buying and baking with Fairtrade ingredients, you’re making a big difference to whole farming communities in developing countries too.

We need your help to spread the word.

Why? Because baking with Fairtrade ingredients is one easy way for everyone to make a difference to millions of people who desperately need a better deal from trade. Without a fair price for the crops they grow, many farmers struggle to support their families. Fairtrade offers farmers and workers the safety net of a fair price today and a little extra to invest in projects which benefit the whole community, such as clean water, education and health care.

The Big Fair Bake is part of our year-long Take a Step campaign, which aims to get the UK to take a total of 1.5 million steps for Fairtrade in 2012, a step for every farmer and worker in the Fairtrade system we aim to work with.

A step can be small, like switching your tea to Fairtrade or baking with Fairtrade ingredients or a larger one like holding an event. Every single one counts, because together they lead to life-changing projects in developing countries.

How You Can Get Involved

As part of the campaign, we’re inviting Tots100 bloggers to develop a baking creation inspired by one (or more!) of the following Fairtrade certified ingredients:

• Honey
• Chocolate (or Cocoa Powder)
• Raisins
• Coffee
• Bananas
• Cinnamon
• Apricots
• Ginger
• Brazil Nuts

Fairtrade sugar is not on the list (because that wouldn’t be a challenge!) but obviously if sugar is present we hope you will use readily available Fairtrade certified sugar. You can find out where to buy it, and the other ingredients listed here.

A Fantastic Prize!

The best Fairtrade baking creation from a Tots100 or Foodies100 blogger will win a set of signed celebrity recipe books from chefs such as Levi Roots and Allegra McEvedy, along with £200 worth of Tala baking equipment and a fantastic Big Fair Bake goodie bag packed with Fairtrade baking ingredients including chocolate, nuts and dried fruit, bakeware, cake decorations, and complimentary Fairtrade products to enjoy with your baking, including teas and coffees.

19 lucky runners up will also receive a Big Fair Bake goodie bag.

Your Readers Can Win Too!

As part of the Take a Step campaign, we’re offering everyone who buys and bakes with Fairtrade ingredients a chance of winning a fabulous KitchenAid blender. All they have to do is visit the Fairtrade website and tell us who they’re baking for. Simple!

How to take part in the challenge

All you need to do is get creative and get baking with one or more of the Fairtrade ingredients listed above, then post your recipe online and tweet a link to it using the hashtag #bakeitfair. Make sure you’re following us @foodies100 and @tots100 to see other recipes using Fairtrade ingredients! Posts must be published before 5pm on October8, 2012. 

In your entry, we’d ask you to include a short sentence letting your readers know you’re supporting the Fairtrade cause, perhaps by including a list of the Fairtrade ingredients used in your recipe, along with a link to our website. You may also use the Big Fair Bake logo, which is below! (just right click on the image to save to your computer, and insert the badge into your post)

About Sally

Sally Whittle is founder of the Tots100, Foodies100, BlogSummit and the MAD Blog Awards. When she's not working, she can be found blogging at Who's the Mummy, or having fun with her 7 year old daughter, Flea.