Savor coffee more; it’s about Fair Trade

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 Edward Chiao

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All those Bruins who can’t survive the morning ““ or
day, for that matter ““ without a cup of coffee can now
congratulate themselves for supporting human rights.

With help from the UCLA Environmental Coalition, UCLA Dining
Services recently switched the dining hall drip coffee to a Fair
Trade organic blend. Fair Trade Coffee guarantees coffee farmers a
living wage, access to low-interest loans and enables them to grow
their coffee in an environmentally-sustainable way.

It’s encouraging to see the university supporting such a
valuable cause. Distributing Fair Trade coffee means that farmers
in the mostly underdeveloped nations that cultivate coffee can now
sell their product directly to the companies that dispense it,
instead of going through a mediating company that keeps most of the
profits.

This move comes after a switch by campus coffeehouses and also
at the medical center, making UCLA one of few campuses in the
nation to offer Fair Trade coffee at all three locations.

UCLA’s switch to Fair Trade should serve as an example for
the rest of the nation’s universities and places of business.
The more schools and workplaces that incorporate a similar policy,
the less control intermediary companies have on the market, and
more farmers are able to reap the benefits of their hard work.

So, next time you find yourself nodding off to sleep in class,
head to the nearest coffeehouse and promote accessibility to the
free market for all people.