Oxfam NYU calls for fair trade coffee

NYU is considering a student petition to offer fair trade coffee at more dining locations and may offer the environmentally friendly product soon.

"This is an important issue, which NYU Dining Services is looking at very seriously," NYU Dining Services administrator Eric Silber said.

Certified fair trade coffee is purchased from coffee growers at a fair price to help them preserve the environment and pay their workers minimum wages. The fair trade movement also targets other labeled and unlabeled agricultural goods and handcrafts from developed and developing countries.

Various NYU vendors have been offering fair trade coffee on and off since 2003. Last January, Weinstein residence hall's Java City coffee shop began offering fair trade Eco-Grounds coffee after NYU's branch of Oxfam America, a national organization that advocates free trade as part of its larger mission of ending global poverty, circulated petitions.

Oxfam at NYU has since set its sights on expanding fair trade coffee to all university dining locations. The group posted a petition on its website and has also been working with Aramark, NYU's dining services provider, to switch the coffee in the dining halls.

Amanda White, president of Oxfam America at NYU, said Aramark was cooperating with the organization, but that the initiative requires constant pressure from students.

"I just think the key here is that students feel empowered to do something truly significant," she said, "and that they recognize that they're in an incredibly powerful position at this university."

White said "Make Trade Fair" was a central initiative of Oxfam America, and that more than 300 colleges nationwide now serve fair trade coffee.

Fair trade products must be produced and harvested without using dangerous chemicals, and additionally adhere to certain economic standards.

"For every $3 cup of non-fair trade coffee students buy, farmers receive only three cents in return," freshman and Oxfam NYU member Madeline Kane said. "By continuing to buy non-fair trade joe, we're perpetuating the problems of wealth disparity and environmental crisis instead of trying to solve them."

Kane said some people are reluctant to push for fair trade coffee because it is usually more expensive. But she added that even with fair trade coffee, coffee in the dining halls would still be cheaper than at outside vendors.

"Starbucks hiked up their prices, yet the lines at the campus location are still like Disney World queues," she said. "If NYU students are willing to pay more money for the exact same Starbucks product, then they'll certainly fork over a few more cents for much better coffee on campus."

Silber said NYU has not yet determined whether prices would increase with a change to fair trade.

Students who are interested in getting involved in promoting fair trade coffee on campus could fill out comment sheets for dining services requesting the change, White said.

Java City at Weinstein and Think Coffee on Mercer Street both offer fair trade products. In February 2005, an NYU law student organization, Practice, brought Starbucks Fair Trade certified coffee to the Golding Lounge and Wachtell Cafe in School of Law buildings.