Purchasing products produced under Fair Trade-certified conditions is growing in popularity and the subject of much media coverage. With such
hype and excitement about this growing industry, many want to get involved.
A group of Capital students is organizing a student-based initiative to promote the sale of Fair Trade products on campus, specifically coffee. This will be primarily aimed at the coffee sold in the Cru Brew and the Cru Club.
The MDR is not included in this campaign because the MDR already serves Fair Trade coffee, as it has for several years.
“In fact, the farm that they purchase from goes above and beyond Fair Trade standards” Mike Converse, director of Parkhurst dining services, said.
The workers who help produce the coffee students drink in the MDR are provided with a clinic, dental coverage, housing, a school, and many other job benefits, as well as higher wages than those of other coffee farms. It is also an environmentally friendly farm, as they do not use harmful pesticides and they have set aside large tracts of forest for a nature refuge.
However, Starbucks in Capital’s main supply for coffee sold in the Crew Brew and Cru Club. While Starbucks advertises as the world’s most active purchaser of Fair Trade coffee, only small percentages of their total coffee purchases come from Fair Trade farms.
In response to finding out how little of Starbucks coffee is Fair Trade certified, some students are working to bring more socially and environmentally friendly coffee to campus. Specifically, a company called Hemisphere Coffee Roasters encompasses several ethical values that Capital advertises as important to the institution.
Hemisphere embraces social justice, environmental protection and conservation. This is an example of a system called Direct Trade, which goes above and beyond the calls of Fair Trade.
Hemisphere also has a roaster located in Mechanicsburg, Ohio. This would make it feasible for Capital to switch to buying Hemisphere coffee if enough students push for this change.
What about the delicious quality of Starbucks coffee that Capital students are accustomed to? It turns out this will not be affected, as Hemisphere coffee beans are some of the highest-rated on the market.
“I want to see Capital embrace our heritage and mission through the way we buy coffee. This is a great opportunity to go beyond saying what we believe as an institution, and to show it with how we choose to do business,” David Pickering, senior environmental science and Spanish major, said.
“Capital’s mission statement calls for its students to be morally reflective, educated for lives of leadership and service, and to be civically engaged critical thinkers. We can’t say those are more than words on paper unless we re-evaluate the way we purchase and drink coffee on Campus,” Pickering said.
Those interested in having a voice in social justice and change on Capital’s campus, further questions can be directed to Pickering at dpickeri@capital.edu.
