ASUO Survival Center encourages Fair Trade
■The Survival Center looks to
start a full-fledged Fair Trade
coffee campaign to raise
student awareness
By Emily Gust
Oregon Daily Emerald
With campaigns across the coun
try calling for an end to the exploita
tion of coffee growers and the begin
ning of a more just system of
distribution, the movement may fi
nally be making its way to the Uni
versity
Deborah James, Fair Trade direc
tor for Global Exchange, is coming
to campus tonight to share her mes
sage of the Fair Trade coffee cam
paign. James’s keynote address is
sponsored by the ASUO Survival
Center and will take place at 7 p.m.
in the Fir Room in the EMU.
Fair Trade “basically means that
farmers get a living wage for their
coffee,” James said. She explained
that most growers currently make
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about 30 cents per pound of coffee
because they sell it to “middlemen”
who then sell it to distributors and
take a chunk of the profits.
But when growers participate in
what James calls “democratic
farmer cooperatives” — groupings
of farmers that skip over the middle
step and sell directly to distributors
— they are able to earn $1.26 per
pound of coffee sold.
This, James said, is the difference
between a living wage and a slave
wage.
“Coffee is the second-largest trad
ed commodity in the world after pe
troleum,” James said, and about a
quarter of the world’s supply is con
sumed in the United States.
Not only that, but many people
who drink coffee have it daily,
which means they have the chance
every day to make a difference.
The huge market means there is a
huge opportunity for change.
“Buying Fair Trade coffee is a sim
ple, easy thing you can do on a daily
i-:
basis to support fairness for farmers
around the world,” James said.
With more than 2,500 retail out
lets offering Fair Trade coffee to con
sumers, and studies showing that
people chose Fair Trade products
instead of traditional ones when
given the choice, it appears the ef
fort is meeting with success.
{ C Buying Fair Trade Cof
fee is a simple, easy thing
you can do on a daily basis
to support fairness for
farmers around the world.
Deborah James
Fair Exchange director
Global Exchange
Starbucks began distributing Fair
Trade coffee in its stores Oct. 4, but
is only providing it in bags of whole
beans that cost $11.45 and not in an
individual cud of coffee.
‘‘We’re excited about the oppor
tunity to bring Fair Trade coffee,”
said Starbucks spokesperson
Megan Behrbaum. “We were in con
versations with TransFair USA and
Global Exchange and we all share a
common view to improving the
lives of farmers in coffee origin
countries.”
James said the price between the
two types is minimal. While the
world price for coffee is $1, buying
Fair Trade coffee is just 26 cents more.
What makes the difference incon
sequential is that the gourmet coffee
focused on by the campaign sells for
well over the world price. The 26
cents become even more insignifi
cant when spread out over 40 cups
of brewed coffee, which is how
many cups a pound of beans gener
ally yields.
More success is seen in the fact
that several cities have already
passed purchasing restrictions, stat
ing they will buy only Fair Trade
coffee. These cities include San
Francisco, Santa Cruz, Berkeley and
Oakland, Calif.
Many colleges, too, have brought
Fair Trade coffee to their campuses,
including University of Califomia
Davis.
And while there is not a full
fledged campaign underway at the
University yet, there are certainly
those students who hope there will
be soon.
Survival Center Co-coordinator
Randy Newnham said initiating a
Fair Trade coffee campaign on cam
pus is his personal crusade for the
year.
Students play an important role in
initiating change, James emphasized.
Not only can they become involved
in the grassroots campaigns, but they
can potentially influence what coffee
is served on their campuses.
James’ visit was meant to be the
kickoff for an entire weekend event
— the “UO Disorientation” — put
on by the Survival Center. Howev
er, organization complications
caused the center to postpone the
rest of the event for a few weeks.
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