Some Boston University administrators have proven they can react to student activism. Starting tomorrow, the BU Consumer Education Group’s efforts to allow students the option of drinking Fair Trade coffee, rather than coffee harvested with less satisfactory labor practices, will get its first fair chance. Administrators in the Office of Dining Services should be commended for reacting to the CEG’s efforts and, in at least a limited way, giving their demands a test. Now it is students’ jobs to give the coffee a try.
Dining Services will be offering the Fair Trade coffee at campus Starbucks in the George Sherman Union and School of Management every Friday and every day at Java City in the GSU. Though Fair Trade coffee costs $1.40 more per pound than normal coffee, Dining Services will pick up the extra tab for BU students, at least during the product’s trial run. Many Fair Trade coffee products are the result of coffee farmer co-ops, which own their own means of production and reap a greater share of the product’s profits. According to Oxfam, coffee farmers normally earn about $.01 per cup of coffee sold.
Dining Services’ commitment to not passing the extra cost of Fair Trade coffee on to students is an important step toward allowing students to sample the product and discover if the movement is something they can support. Fair Trade coffee will be put on level footing with other coffee products on Fridays, allowing students to ask for coffee made by better paid workers without considering increased consumer costs. The fair price will also allow students to see if Fair Trade coffee is as good as other coffee products and may help pro-Fair Trade coffee activists dispel negative rumors about the products.
There is no reason for students not to try Fair Trade coffee. Because it will be equally priced, all students should at least give it a chance and see if the coffee meets their quality standards. Dining Services has given students an opportunity to be both socially conscious and financially sensible. If the coffee is not of significantly lower quality, students should take advantage of the opportunity to better the lives of low-paid workers.
The CEG’s efforts show that student activism combined with persistence can have an effect at BU. Their efforts and Dining Services’ good reaction are both commendable.
