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Opinion

Help coffee trade taste a little less bitter

Martha Dew 
Guest Columnist

The University of Houston is going Fair Trade. Yes, you can now get a Fair Trade coffee blend at Java City, Starbucks and Einstein Bros. Bagels. And, there is a growing movement for all coffee served on campus to be Fair Trade certified.

We should be impressed that the University of Houston will be among those leading the way. If we choose to switch to 100 percent Fair Trade certified coffee we will be joining Yale University, Loyola University of Chicago, University of New Mexico and Brandeis University campuses -- just a few of the universities whose students, staff and faculty have all passed a resolution to serve only Fair Trade coffee. 

UH moving in the same direction should come as no surprise. After all, UH is one of the most diverse campuses in the United States. It welcomes students and faculty from all over the world, as well as many native Houstonians and U.S. citizens who have family ties and heritage overseas. It is a university with a truly global outlook. 

Many of the universities that have gone fully Fair Trade have food service contracts with Aramark, which owns and manages the franchises serving food and beverages on UH's campus. It is up to the University's administration, staff, faculty and student body to decide on the products and services sold on the campus. 

It is important to note that serving 100 percent Fair Trade certified coffee will not have any financial consequences for students, staff or faculty. The price will remain the same. Aramark will absorb the few pennies per pound more that fair trade coffee costs. There is also the option of purchasing Fair Trade coffee from a local wholesaler who sells fair trade certified coffee for the same price as non-fair trade. 

In a nutshell, the purpose of the fair trade movement is to pay people a fair, living wage for the work they do, the crops they grow and the goods they produce. 

Coffee is the second most traded commodity after oil. According to Transfair USA, which monitors and certifies Fair Trade goods, Americans consume 2.3 billion pounds of coffee a year. Coffee is mostly grown in Latin America, the Caribbean and its native Africa and Asia. For each $3 latte, the coffee grower earns approximately 2 to 4 cents. 

Farmers in a Fair Trade cooperative are guaranteed a fair price for the coffee they produce and fair labor conditions. They are helped to understand international markets and fund schools and basic medical care for their families. Fair Trade cooperatives also enable farmers to invest in the quality of their produce and obtain credit for technical investment or in case of hardship. It provides a significant level of social and economic protection.

At the same time, the Fair Trade movement relies on you and me: our rights and responsibilities, both as global citizens and as ordinary folk going about our daily lives. We cannot turn a blind eye, but should reclaim our power as consumers. 

This means deciding what we want and asking for it. By creating a market for Fair Trade coffee and not settling for second best we are empowering ourselves. If the products we ask for are Fair Trade we are also saying no to slavery, exploitation and racism on a local and global scale. 

What's great about the campaign to go 100 percent Fair Trade at UH is that everyone on campus can be involved. All we need to do is ask for Fair Trade when we buy our coffee. If the drink you want isn't available in Fair Trade, politely ask why not. If you're asked to sign a petition, do it.

This movement isn't only the domain of the middle classes who can afford to buy organic. We all need to take ownership and become aware of our rights, responsibilities and power as global citizens. We need to avoid elitism, shame and apathy in order to get there. And we are going to need to pull together with resilience to keep the faith that both as individuals and as a collective we do have the power to make a difference.

Whatever our role on the UH campus is, each of us has the right and the power to demand the opportunity to purchase, consume and work with produce that is responsibly and ethically sourced. Likewise, each of us has the responsibility to exercise this right and this power in some way. Asking for Fair Trade coffee could be the first step and a tool we can all use to stand up to the global inequalities taking place today.

Dew, an MSW student of the Graduate College of Social Work, 
can be reached at martha_dew@hotmail.com.