Nordstrom: University making progress with strong fair trade effort

By Danny Nordstrom

Friday, May 1, 2009

The increasingly globalized world brings with it a strong level of interconnectedness and interdependence among countries. Coffee drinkers in the United States must be aware of the effects of their consumption on coffee producers in the developing world. The fair trade movement helps farmers receive a fairer price for their coffee bean and better the living conditions of the greatly impoverished coffee farming community.The University should be applauded for its awareness and support of the fair trade movement.

Nona Golledge, director of KU Dining Services, said all coffee sold through the University was considered fair trade. Golledge said the University’s coffee came from The Roasterie, a business located in Kansas City, Mo. She said many of the coffees it sold were fair trade certified, and those that aren’t are still considered to be fair trade by the University and Roasterie’s standards.

Golledge said the owner of The Roasterie traveled around the world to hand-select the beans, always making sure the farmers received a fair price.

“They are very aware of the farmers’ needs,” Golledge said. “Not all of their coffees are certified fair trade, but they follow the guidelines. They just have not taken the steps to get them all certified yet.”

Makame Muhajir, geography doctoral student and former director of urban planning for Tanzania, said he thought fair trade was an important issue in the increasingly globalized world.

“I think trade should be advantageous to all the groups involved in the process,” he said. “We are trying to help the people from extreme poverty recover from that level. By having fair trade, you have a balance of economic deals with everyone involved.”

Muhajir explained that fair trade was helping impoverished coffee farmers living in countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya and Columbia organize into unions to make their voices heard.

“Fair trade encourages the farmers to group themselves together with cooperatives,” he said. “These cooperatives create a much stronger and wider voice for negotiation.”

Muhajir went on to say that he thought the University was doing a good job with respect to fair trade. He explained that there were many other products that should be examined with fair trade in mind, such as tea, cocoa, cotton and rubber, but commended the University for its progressive initiatives with coffee.

Golledge commented on the University’s future with fair trade.

“We feel that fair trade is important, especially for coffee,” she said. “We’re always open to other opportunities out there. We are a business and have to do what makes the most business sense to us. We want to do what’s right for everything that we have to take into consideration.”

Overall, the University is making a valid effort in supporting and raising awareness for the fair trade movement. By offering coffee bought from farmers at a fair price, the University is helping to balance the economic relationship with the countries we greatly rely on.

— Nordstrom is a Cedar Rapids, Iowa, sophomore in journalism and economics.

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