Contact: Margareta Lelea gretagiggles@hypocrisy.org
http://asucd.ucdavis.edu/organizations/other/dwgg/
May 6, 2003
Margareta Lelea of the Geography Graduate Group and Gender and Global Issues will be giving a talk on FAIR TRADE from 6 - 7pm on Thursday, May 15th at the Agrarian Effort Co-op (TB-15) on the UC Davis campus sponsored by the Agrarian Effort Co-op and the UCD chapter of Amnesty International.
April 2002 (Margareta Alela)
I have not been able to do very much fair trade activism because I just started grad studies in geography in January. The Davis Working Group on Globalization has also not been very active since many of the members morphed into other newly formed groups which focus on anti-war activism. So currently there isn't anyone who is focusing on fair trade coffee. I am happy to act to link people who express interest or have questions but I cannot currently be very active despite being passionate about the cause!
April 20, 2001 (Sarah Berkowitz)
Our campus carries three urns of Fair Trade Coffee, and two espresso blends as well from Java City. Although we have pressured our community cafes to also make Fair Trade coffee available, it has been a slow process. One cafe agreed to sell it, but the cafe is currently struglling to stay afloat, and is in the process of selling the business. Therefore, I have found it difficult to constantly be pressuring them to make changes that could be costly. Another cafe carries organic coffee bought from the same coffee cooperatives each time. I understand the argument that organic cafe growers are making more than fair trade non organic growers, therefore i find it hard to convince this small cafe owner to change to F.T. cafe. So as you can see, we are kind of in a place where our efforts, energy, and resources are stunted. We are also putting most of our energy towards the FTAA. Any suggestions or comments would be great. Thanks for all your hard work.
November 6, 2000 April 20, 2001 (Sarah Berkowitz)
We hosted an event with Rosario Castellon from Nicaragua and Deborah James from GX, who spoke about Fair Trade, the global economy and Nicaragua in particular. It was a well-attended event and we hope it will help us re-energize our campaign. So far there are a couple of cafes offering Fair Trade coffee but not all of them yet! Several coffee shop managers came so we feel very positive about that too, since they are going to switch to Fair Trade.
July 6, 2000 (Margareta Alela)
Led by the student and community organization, Davis Working Group on Globalization (DWGG) the students at UC Davis are successfully campaigning for Fair Trade coffee at our university. On June 1, the student government passed a resolution in support of Fair Trade Coffee. The resolution was the result of a substantial process of research, community awareness, negotiation, and revision. In addition, the pressure we put on our own Coffee House caused their coffee bean supplier, Java City, to commit between three and five percent of its sales to Fair Trade certification.
However, the campaign is not over because our Coffee House, in accordance with the resolution, can still improve their support for fairly traded coffee by offering organic and shade grown coffee, offering more than one blend and switching to a company with a greater commitment to fair trade coffee. DWGG was established by students who went to Seattle and its membership was empowered after Fair Trade week was organized on campus.
One of our first goals was to secure the option to purchase Fair Trade coffee at the student run coffee house. This was a good place to start because of the large volume of coffee sold, it would be an example for the community, and as students we felt we had more leverage to initiate change. At any one time, about six of us made up the core coffee group and we worked together by consensus. Individuals would initiate certain projects and then report back to the larger group to confer. We cooperated on all aspects of the campaign and served as a support network for each other. We approached the Coffee House with the idea of Fair Trade coffee in March. They were receptive and contacted their supplier, Java City, about the possibility of including Fair Trade coffee in their order.
However, we wanted the coffee purchases to support a company that has demonstrated a long-term commitment to promotion of social justice, such as a cooperatively owned company that redistributes profits through a progressive mission. Also, we wanted coffee to be organic and shade grown.
In March we began collecting information related to the sale of coffee at the Coffee House---its volume and cost, information on the supplier Java City, and the details of the financial agreement (machines, maintenance, frequency of delivery). Then we researched other Fair Trade companies as a basis for comparison when talking to the Coffee House managers.
We looked primarily at Equal Exchange for a number of reasons. They have been doing business with our local Davis Food Co-op for ten years. They are a large, full-service company with experience in supplying college campuses. (This was meant to appeal to the Coffee House management.) Finally, they are cooperatively-owned and appear to have a good record of responsibility. We determined, with some surprise, that for lesser cost than Java City, Equal Exchange could supply our Coffee House with certified Fair Trade, organic, and shade-grown coffee and provide nearly the same services as Java City (brewers, machine maintenance, etc.).
To generate awareness about Fair Trade and to learn more about Fair Trade cooperatives, we invited Equal Exchange and leaders of one of the cooperatives they work with in Peru to give a public slide show and discussion about the process.
Front page articles in the Davis and UC Davis newspapers covered the event. (http://www.californiaaggie.com/archive/2000/04/20/ca_ coffee_c.html)
In April, with our research complete, we tried talking to the Coffee House managers to present the details of our comparison and have them take a stronger stance. However, communication became difficult because we appeared confrontational. Most of their resistance came from our promotion of a different company, as they did not want to cut their long-term business relations with Java City. So in May, we sought another approach through the channels of the student government, who officially oversee the Coffee House.
We chose to compose a resolution modeled after one passed by the Oakland City Council and to circulate a petition to support our resolution. The resolution creates a precedent for incorporating social and environmental justice into other purchasing decisions. We felt that there was no excuse for failing to support the most responsible company when the business factors were comparable.
The resolution needed to pass through two commissions before proceeding to the Senate floor for a vote. The commission members were mainly concerned that the coffee might not be a sound business decision because of taste and consumer preference and that they might be "micromanaging." We tried to explain that the resolution was worded so that the Fair Trade change would occur only if demonstrated "feasible." Our research showed that it was indeed feasible for coffee. In other words, things like cost and taste would be included in such an evaluation. There was also a sense that the commission members didn't want to pass something against the wishes of the Coffee House management.
It failed to pass the first commission, but passed the second commission with some clarifying language added. We weren't well prepared in the basics of the meeting format and procedures (such as knowing when we were allowed to speak). We recommend trying to familiarize yourselves with the process beforehand so that you can fully voice your position when the time comes. Also, it is worth thinking over the wording of a resolution very carefully early on, and considering how it can be misinterpreted.
If you experience challenges as we did in passing a resolution with strong, powerful language, try using language which is flexible enough to be non-threatening to the administration, and flexible enough to provide you with the potential to make an argument for more radical change at a later time. Before the Senate meeting, we met with the Coffee House director to talk about her objections. It was clear that we needed her approval in order to have it pass in the Senate. We reached a compromise, but eventually reincluded some of the stronger language.
The most contentious point was the word "only" in the line "to purchase [only] coffee that...." This was dropped, but we feel that there is still language in the resolution that can be used to encourage more Fair Trade coffee.
We are very fortunate that a number of ASUCD senators and the ASUCD president are supportive of progressive issues. With the resolution passed, we must now make the Coffee House follow it.
Our position is much stronger because we have the Senate's official, written support for Fair Trade, organic, and shade-grown coffee. There is still need for a general Coffee House "Mission Statement" that would legitimize the consideration of moral responsibility in business decisions. It would make these considerations more routine, if formally written as a purpose.
Some say that Java City's resulting contract with TransFair USA is the greater consequence of our actions. Java City is a sizeable, national business with about forty cafes and hundreds of additional accounts. Honestly though, this was an unintended consequence although quite welcome.
However, we believe that it is important for the Fair Trade investment to be more than nominal. To encourage this, everyone (including our own Coffee House) should support the companies that are most committed to the Fair Trade mission. We plan to continue the Fair Trade coffee campaign by communicating with the Coffee House and the Student Government to get the resolution implemented to its fullest. Also, we plan on boosting education efforts about Fair Trade coffee on campus by inviting another speaker to talk about Fair Trade coffee and to continue student outreach about the issue. If needed, we may start a letter-writing campaign to the Coffee House to get the needed changes made.
Beyond the Coffee House, we want to start working with the Davis community to have Fair Trade coffee sold in local cafes and restaurants. Also, we want to work with the Davis City Council to pass a resolution in favor of Fair Trade Coffee. Step by step, learning as we go along, we are doing our best to promote Fair Trade coffee on campus and in the Davis community.
Please contact us with any questions, comments and suggestions! Thanks to our Coffee Group: Christopher Jerdonek, Lili Crymes, MollyAnne Meyn, Knute Ayhens-Johnson, Julie Colyer, Sarah Cline, Sarah Weidekaehr, and Nik Janos. Thanks to everyone who supported us in this process.
Resolution passed at UC Davis!!!!!!! Presented on the Senate floor on June 1, 2000.
A resolution stating ASUCD's support for the Coffee House to purchase and sell certified, organic fair trade, and shade-grown coffee from a Fair Trade coffee cooperative.
WHEREAS, many students are looking for more socially conscious and environmentally responsible ways to conduct their lives, ways which do not degrade people, animals or the environment; and
WHEREAS, many coffee farmers receive market payments for their coffee which are less than the costs of production, forcing them into a cycle of poverty and debt; and
WHEREAS, intensive coffee farming also leads to environmental problems, such as pesticide pollution, deforestation and the extinction of some bird species through habitat destruction; and
WHEREAS, Fair Trade works to correct these imbalances by guaranteeing a minimum wage for the small producers' harvest, as well as encouraging the cultivation of coffee without the use of pesticides; and
WHEREAS, with the profit generated from receiving a fair wage, coffee growers are able to invest in such areas as health, education, and environmental protection; and
WHEREAS, more than 500,000 farmers in 20 countries produce and sell more than 32 million pounds of coffee each year through the fair trade network; and
WHEREAS, the United States consumes a fifth of all coffee produced in the world, and as a whole consumes the greatest amount of goods and services in the world, invests the most capital, and thus wields tremendous influence in the global economy; and
WHEREAS, cooperatively owned companies are more socially responsible; and
WHEREAS, an current example of a cooperatively owned fair trade supplier is Equal Exchange, which reinvests 80% of its profits in its fair trade mission of supporting small farmers and sustainable agriculture; and
WHEREAS, Equal Exchange is a full-service company which is competitive with the current ASUCD supplier and which has experience with larger institutions; and
WHEREAS, as a purchaser of goods and services, ASUCD has a responsibility to ensure that funds are spent in a manner consistent with decent ethical and labor standards, including assuring that workers are paid a living wage, and purchasing goods made in the most fair manner when possible; and
WHEREAS, a change towards sustainable coffee will bear positively on the University and its students, by setting an example in the community and furthering education about responsible consumer choices;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT, insofar as is judged practical and feasible by the Coffee House management, ASUCD will purchase all its coffee from the most socially and environmentally responsible cooperatives available; and that coffee purchased shall be organic, shade-grown, and Fair Trade certified by a independent certifying agencies; and
THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT, ASUCD purchase this coffee for all ASUCD uses, including but not limited to the Coffee House, by Winter Quarter 2001 and into continuum;
THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT, ASUCD encourages university and community leaders to adopt a similar policy for social and environmental responsibility
THEREFORE BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED THAT, copies of this resolution be sent
To Chancellor Larry ; Sharon Coulson and Alex Park of the Coffee House; Global Exchange; The California Aggie; The Davis Enterprise; The Sacramento Bee; KDVS; La Palabra, Java City, Starbucks, Cafe Roma, Delta of Venus, Mishka's, City of Davis Chamber of Commerce, Davis City Council, Davis City Manager, Marriott Director, CURB Chair, and Oakland City Council Member Nadel.
April 11, 2000 April 20, 2001 (Sarah Berkowitz)
On Tuesday, April 18th, from 7:30 - 9:00 pm in Wellman 26 there will be a presentation and discussion regarding Fair Trade organic coffee. There will be representatives from Equal Exchange, a fair trade coffee importer, who will present a slide show. In addition, there will be a few Peruvian farmers, including an agronomist who specializes in sustainable methods and the president of the CEPICAFE coffee cooperative in Peru, who will both participate in a discussion of sustainable coffee producti