|
|
 |
Scholar Joe Campe leads DU to Fair Trade
Contact Warren Smith 303.871.2660
June 16, 2003 — Coffee lovers who frequent campus cafés
are about to be served a more politically conscious product, thanks
to a student-driven initiative. This fall, DU will begin serving
Green Mountain Coffee, Kaladi Brothers Coffee and Seattle’s
Best (recently purchased by Starbucks), all of which buy Fair Trade
certified coffee beans.
''We sell coffee based on quality, and you can't honestly define
something as top quality if you don’t also take into consideration
the economic and social values,” says Mark Overly, owner of
Kaladi Brothers Coffee.
After oil, coffee is this country’s second largest import,
according to the Global Exchange. During the last decade, coffee
corporations’ revenues have doubled while coffee farmer’s
earnings have been cut by two-thirds. Coffee can be purchased from
farmers for as little as 50 cents a pound, meaning they often earn
less than their production cost. Companies that adopt Fair Trade
practices eliminate middlemen and agree to pay farmers at least $1.26
per pound, thus improving the farmers’standards of living with
a minimal impact on consumer wallets. The increase will be in the
range of three to five cents per cup.
'The university makes decisions every day about what is in the best
interest of our students, faculty and staff,” DU Neighbor Liaison
Neil Krauss says. “It just seemed fair to embrace an idea that
would help coffee farmers earn a living wage without significantly
increasing the cost of coffee on campus.”
Junior biology and computer science major Joe Campe was inspired
by a Fair Trade coffee training session last year in Chicago. After
he returned he teamed up with first-year philosophy major Camille
Decker to start a Fair Trade effort at DU. The two met with faculty
and staff and submitted a proposal to the campus food and beverage
supplier, Sodexho Marriott.
Before agreeing to switch DU’s cafes, cafeterias and restaurants
to Fair Trade coffee, Sodexho requested that Campe and Decker demonstrate
campus-wide support for the change.
In April, Campe and Decker held a Fair Trade teach-in. Spokespersons
from Fair Trade companies highlighted coffee’s effects on the
global economic market. At the event’s conclusion, 367 students
signed a petition in favor of serving only Fair Trade coffee on campus.
Sodexho and university administration accepted their resolution.
''I think it’s important to look at what some of our local
businesses such as Kaladi Brothers Coffee are doing and cooperate
with in their
efforts,” says Glenn Fee, director of DU’s community
action program. “The university is showing a commitment to
an underserved population and is helping with a sustainable solution
for coffee farmers.'
Fair Trade coffee will be available in the Driscoll Center’s
Sidelines Pub and at Pioneer Place, and at the College of Law, Olin
Hall, Daniels College of Business and the Graduate School of International
Studies. Coffee served at the Ritchie Center is privately operated
and is not affected by this university-wide change.
For more information on Fair Trade coffee, visit
globalexchange.org/economy/coffee
or
http://www.transfairusa.org/
|
|
|
