MICHAEL Lever (Your Letters, May 13) questioned the ethics of Fair Trade in selling foods containing sugar, salt and caffeine, but apart from snacks, tea and coffee there are over 830 Fair Trade products.

Shoppers can be confident that buying Fair Trade goods really does make a difference to people's lives and treats the environment with more respect. Producers are paid a fair and stable price, which enables them to educate their children and plan for the family's future.

Ledbury Town Council understood that Fair Trade is a good way of tackling poverty when it agreed to work towards becoming a Fair Trade town. Five ambitious goals were met, involving local businesses, community groups, schools and the media. Ledbury can now be proud of the fact that it has joined around 100 Fair Trade towns, cities and villages - including Malvern and Hereford, with Herefordshire Council planning to become the first Fair Trade county in the country.

JENNY FAIZE, Ledbury Fair Trade Town Steering Group, Ledbury.