The Wright Times

Student Government Association (SGA) Café, is now in its third semester of operation. An issue that has been of concern for Students for Peace and Justice (SPJ) members is whether or not the coffee is "fair trade." According to the Fair Trade Federation (FTF), most producers sell their coffee to companies (middlemen), who in turn raise the price to inflate competition, promoting higher sales. The majority return on profit for these sales goes back to the middlemen, leaving less profit for coffee producers. An alternative to this is "fair trading." This type of trading enables retail products to remain competitively priced in respect to their conventional counterparts, while allowing coffee producers to gain a larger profit. Producers of the beans are in direct contact with foreign customers cutting out the middleman. The fair trade price per pound of coffee in the U.S. is $1.26. Without the fair trade system, producers usually earn less than 50 cents per pound (FTF). The SGA café currently serves a brand of coffee called Stewart's Private Blend Coffee. The company is located on the West side of Chicago and has been in business since 1913. The brand does not carry the "fair trade certified" label, but according to Ed Fabro (traffic manager at Stewart's) they do deal with some fair trade producers. Wright College, along with Daley, Malcolm X, and Truman Colleges, serve Starbuck's brand coffee in their cafeterias. Printed in Starbuck's "Social Responsibility" pamphlets (which can be found next to coffee machines in the cafeteria) it states, "Starbucks global purchases of Fair Trade Certified™ coffee totaled 18 million pounds in fiscal 2006, representing 6% of Starbucks total coffee purchase". Large and small businesses seem to be taking more interest in fair trade resources. SPJ has been researching and promoting the use of fair trade coffee for some time, asking each individual department at the college to make the change. "We understand that this decision will cost a bit more money, but we are sure that the extra cost well be worth it," said Faculty Advisor for SPJ, Stephanie Wiener. They first brought up the idea of changing Wright to a "fair trade" school with Dr. Guengerich who in-turn supports the change. "I think one of the things that education is supposed to do is promote social justice." If students would like to seek further action on promoting fair trade coffee or other products contact Stephanie Wiener at steph2000@igc.org or go online to transfairusa.org.

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