Fair trade coffee trial makes its UCLA debut

By Laura Rico
Daily Bruin Contributor

UCLA will wake up to the smell of fair trade coffee for the
first time today, following a 10-month campaign by the
Environmental Coalition to bring the java to campus.

Jimmy’s Coffeehouse at LuValle Commons, Kerckhoff
Coffeehouse, Northern Lights and Cafe Synapse are offering the
organically-grown coffee on a six-month trial basis, according to
Roy Champawat, operations manager of UCLA Dining Services.

Customers will pay 3, 6 or 8 cents more, respectively, for a
small, medium or grande cup of fair trade as opposed to regular
coffee. Fair trade coffee will be offered only in French roast
brew, which is also used to make cafe au lait. For now, flavored
coffees and cappuccinos won’t be made with fair trade
coffee.

Whether the program becomes permanent depends on the willingness
of the UCLA community to pay extra for coffee bought under a system
that gives farmers in developing nations more earnings per pound of
coffee.

“We’re giving people a choice between two types of
coffee, and either they subscribe to the concept and philosophy of
fair trade coffee or they don’t,” Champawat said.

The Associated Students of UCLA Board of Directors voted on Jan.
26, to offer fair trade coffee on campus, following a presentation
by EC.

The coffee will be advertised on menu boards at the respective
eateries, but customers must ask for the coffee specifically,
Champawat said.

According to Christine Riordan, a member of EC, support for fair
trade coffee has been enthusiastic.

“We’ve collected over a thousand signatures from
students, and our goal is to make fair trade coffee available
beyond ASUCLA operations,” said Riordan, a third-year Spanish
and international development studies student. “We’d
like to see it offered in the dorms as well as the Medical
Center.”

Under the fair trade system, retailers and importers agree to
purchase coffee from certified coffee cooperatives ““ mostly
small farms throughout Latin America, Africa and Asia. The coffee
is bought from the farmers at $1.26 per pound. A dollar goes to the
farmers, and the remaining 26 cents are used by cooperative farming
communities for maintaining roads, developing educational programs
and health care, according to the Fairtrade Labeling Organization,
a non-profit group.

Under the regular system, farmers earn about 30 to 50 cents per
pound of coffee as a result of dealing with middlemen who take the
majority of the profit.

The cooperative farming system is monitored by the FLO.

According to the FLO, 12 billion pounds of coffee are consumed
annually in the United States.

Fair trade coffee is organically grown under the canopy of the
rain forest, eliminating the practice of deforestation. The extra
costs of organic farming result in slightly higher prices for the
coffee.

For some students, the benefits of fair trade coffee are worth
paying the additional price.

“I would buy fair trade coffee as a symbolic gesture,
since I support the idea behind it,” said Gustavo Gutierrez,
a third-year communication studies and sociology student.

ASUCLA will purchase fair trade coffee from the Organic Coffee
Company until its current provider, Superior, finalizes plans to
sell fair trade coffee directly to ASUCLA.

According to Robert Williams, director of food operations for
ASUCLA, sales of fair trade coffee will be closely monitored during
the six month trial period.

“Fair trade coffee sales will be rung up on a separate key
on the cash register, and we will compare its sale to other
products,” Williams said.

The association will also consider comments from customers when
determining whether to continue offering the coffee, Williams
said.