Hospital to serve fair trade coffee

By Rachel Makabi
Daily Bruin Contributor

On May 21, UCLA’s Café Med will become the first
hospital in the nation to serve fair trade coffee on all coffees
except specialty drinks.

The regular coffees under the fair trade label will account for
90 percent of the hospital’s total coffee sales, according to
Hospitalities Service Managers Rey Hernandez and Guy Scimenes, who
added that the hospital will absorb all extra costs.

“We plan on raising awareness about our coffee to our
customers without raising our prices,” Hernandez said.

According to Christine Riordan of the Environmental Coalition,
fair trade coffee usually costs 5 cents more than regular coffee
because it ensures that farmers get paid at least $1.26 per pound
of coffee. This amount is substantially greater than the 30 to 50
cents per pound farmers usually make.

Furthermore, fair trade coffee is 80 to 85 percent organic
and/or shade-grown. Under the shade-grown method, coffee is grown
beneath the ground, thereby preventing deforestation while leaving
rainforests intact.

Hernandez said the hospital had no difficulty bringing in fair
trade coffee, and that it will probably offset the extra costs
easily.

“The cost increases for the hospital are minimal, and I
think that the customers will come to the cafeteria more
often,” Hernandez said. “In the long run, the Medical
Plaza is winning.”

But unlike the Medical Plaza, Associated Students of UCLA coffee
shops ““ which include Northern Lights and Kerckhoff Coffee
House ““ do not absorb extra costs, and students must
specifically ask for fair trade coffee.

Currently, fair trade coffee is offered for one out of the six
brews of coffee at campus coffee shops. In an ongoing six-month
trial, ASUCLA officials are comparing the demand for fair trade and
regular coffee to determine whether fair trade coffee will be sold
permanently in campus coffee shops.

Since the debut of fair trade coffee in the UCLA shops in
February, demand has increased slowly.

According to Bob Williams, director of ASUCLA food services, as
of last week fair trade coffee constituted 10.8 percent of coffee
sales for the one brew in which it is offered.

Riordan said she is optimistic that demand will continue to
grow.

“We have had a lot of positive feedback from students,
faculty and administrators,” said Riordan, a third-year
Spanish and international development studies student. “More
people are aware now.”

After nearly 10 months of campaigning for fair trade coffee by
EC and other student organizations, the Sarah Lee Corporation,
which services ASUCLA, certified 5 percent of its gourmet line.

Last week, Sarah Lee also certified fair trade coffee in 350
different Borders Cafes.

“It’s so empowering to see what students can do in
working for social impact,” Riordan said. “Here you
have a group of students who influenced the third largest coffee
corporation in the United States.”

According to Deborah Hirsh of TransFair USA, the organization is
currently negotiating terms of serving fair trade coffee with
Seattle’s Best, the company that supplies coffee to UCLA
residence halls.

TransFair USA is an organization that monitors coffee roasters
to ensure they are following fair trade guidelines.

But Connie Foster, director of dining services, said she’s
not sure if the recent changes will affect the coffee supply in the
residence halls.