A group of gorillas helped staff and students at Kingston University munch through 2,000 Fairtrade bananas last week as part of a world record attempt.

As part of Fairtrade Fortnight, the university teamed up with the Fairtrade Foundation to join in with the record attempt for the largest banana eating event on March 6.

More than 300,000 people across the country signed up for the event and the university now faces an anxious wait as all of the data is collected and the record is verified.

Staff and students across the university’s four campuses completed the mammoth task of eating the 2,000 bananas after their student volunteering charity, Junction 49, donated £360 to buy fruit for the challenge.

The event was supported by the university’s sustainability team and staff and students dressed up as gorillas were on hand throughout the day to encourage people to take part in the challenge.

Hannah Smith, from the sustainability team, said the challenge was part of the university’s efforts to raise awareness about how shoppers could help create equality for farmers and producers worldwide.

“It was great fun but there was also a serious message about where we get our food from and how we can all make choices to help change the way the current system prevents people from non-western nations from pulling themselves out of poverty,” she said.

“Buying Fairtrade products means consumers are paying realistic costs for a product on the global market.”

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