She joined the Fairtrade Foundation after two years with Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO), the Fairtrade umbrella body with responsibility for Fairtrade standards globally, in Bonn, Germany.[5] Under her leadership, Fairtrade has become one of Britain's most active grassroots social movements. In 2008, sales of Fairtrade topped £700 million, with over 4,500 Fairtrade products available from cotton to coffee, face-cream to ice-cream. Harriet first heard about climate change from Fairtrade farmers who were having to deal with the devastating effects of climate change patterns.
She had become convinced of the importance of Fairtrade while Head of Campaigns at the World Development Movement (WDM). While visiting Costa Rica with WDM in 1997 to investigate local banana plantations' use of the pesticide dibromochloropropane (DBCP), already banned in the US for making farm-workers sterile, she met a woman called Maria whose husband had been exposed to DBCP while working on the plantations. The couple had had a baby boy born with severe developmental abnormalities who died after a short and distressful life.
In her book "Fighting The Banana Wars", Harriet Lamb describes how "As we sat there and she showed me pictures of her baby, rage bubbled up inside me because the companies knew of the dangers of this chemical but they ignored them. I have never, ever forgotten Maria."[6]
Previous campaigning activities include the UK Minimum Wage Campaign at the Low Pay Unit[5] and for refugee rights. She has lived and travelled widely in the developing world. She was appointed a CBE in the 2006 UK New Year's Honours List for her contribution to Fairtrade.[5] Other accolades include Cosmopolitan Eco-Queen 2008 and Orange Businesswoman of the Year 2008.