Fair Trade Coffee makes a splash on campus
Date 3/17/2005 12:00 AM | Topic: NewsThanks largely to the efforts of Bethel Erickson ('07), Fair Trade Coffee will be a major part of this year's Peace Week, April 17-23. Samples of the coffee will be available in the Union for students to taste-test and Luther faculty will give a brown bag lecture about the benefits of Fair Trade Coffee.
Typically, Fair Trade farmers organize themselves into an ecologically sustainable co-op. Fair Trade distributors give a higher wage to farmers than they would normally receive in the free-trade system by eliminating middlemen.
"More middlemen means more cuts in the profit taken from the coffee," said Erickson. "In the Fair Trade system, less people have to take money away from the farmer."
Erickson learned of the Fair Trade cause at the 2004 Noble Peace Prize Forum. She took "Non-Violent Social Action" from Brett Johnson, visiting assistant professor of sociology, this J-term and it inspired her to start her campaign on campus for the use of Fair Trade Coffee in the cafeteria.
She was inspired because of the assignment in the class where they were to develop a non-violent campaign against an issue they see as an injustice in the world.
"The assignment encouraged students to take something they care about and start to make it more practical," Johnson said.
Another goal of the course was to get students to think more systematically about what they really care about and align their lives to those core principles.
As a social work major, Erickson cares about people in need.
"My draw to social work is to help those in poverty or those who feel unempowered," Erickson said.
When Erickson took the J-term course, it helped her give direction to her energies to empower others, like the farmers in the Fair Trade system who are more involved in their crops.
Erickson has also channeled the huge issue of worldwide poverty into an accessible solution applicable to this college. During Peace Week, she's working with the League of Pissed Off Voters.
"Bethel did everything on her own initiative," Erik Olson ('05), secretary for the League, said. "This is great for an underclassman to do since they get to know deans and administrators."
Erickson used this new network of influential college officials to set the Peace Week activities centered on coffee. Of all the Fair Trade items like cocoa, tea or fruit, Erickson chose coffee to emphasize because so many people on campus drink it. Drinking coffee is a small decision that many people make without thinking about the larger effect of their purchase.
"Little purchases have a great impact," Johnson said.
Sunnyside Café and Marty's serve Fair Trade Coffee. David Lester, cash operations manager in charge of both cafes, made the original decision to introduce the coffee to campus. He saw other campuses making the change over to Fair Trade Coffee. Also, he agrees with the principles behind the coffee.
"As consumers, we make choices with our purchases." Lester said. "I would like to see choices for customers that promote good business in other countries."
Marty Steele, a counselor, and Anne Highum, vice president and dean for Student Life, got to see the Fair Trade coffee business first-hand on a trip to Nicaragua last January with Lutheran World Relief. They gave speeches in area churches about the coffee and will give a brown bag lecture during Peace Week.
"Buying Fair Trade Coffee is a very small, tiny thing," Highum said. "But if in one month we can get 20 more people doing what we do, after a while, we will make a difference."
Steele called the experience "life-changing" and indeed, both women have altered their lives. They never buy Free Trade coffee and began to take Spanish classes.
They work to educate people in their lives about Fair Trade Coffee and next year during J-term, they are planning a trip to Nicaragua and Chile, which, will look at similar coffee farms to the ones they visited.
A drawback to those coffees is that it is more costly than Free Trade Coffee.
"I think the extra cost is worth it," said Suzanne Crumley ('06).
Students can decide for themselves what they think about Fair Trade Coffee and its extra cost during Peace Week.
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Britta Schaffmeyer
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