April 24, 2001
Still waiting for Fair Traded Coffee to be offered as an option at Trinity. Currently, the director of our dining services has agreed to bring a Fair Traded option to campus, and did promise it with the next order. Right now however, we have only seen an organic option offered. We have contacted him again and are waiting for a response.
February 6, 2001 As of February 6th the director of dining services at Trinity has agreed to order a Fair Traded option in two of the three dining areas. It will be available within the next order.
December 12, 2000 An interest in bringing Fair Traded coffee to Trinity College was sparked when Deborah James and Rosario Castellon came to talk at our school. Last semester Kate studied abroad in Costa Rica and did a lot of research on the coffee industry and the opportunity for fair trade. Having met with multiple coffee farmers, government agencies etc. in Costa Rica, she feels like it would be really important to bring back some of that experience and knowledge to the Trinity community. Mara and Kate are currently enrolled in class on the International Political Economy in which they are engaging in community projects. In conjunction with this project they are hoping to bring fair traded coffee to Trinity's campus.
As of yet they have contacted the Sodexho Marriot dining service campus director with information on fair traded coffee. They demonstrated that the prices are indeed the same and that the distributer 'Green Mountain' that Trinity buys from, does provide a fair traded option. The director is 'looking into it'. In the meantime, Kate and Mara will bring student awareness by posting informational flyers by all coffee machines, writing the school newspaper and website, and attempting to coordinate with local activist groups on campus.
25 October, 2000 Rosario Castellon and Deborah James spoke at Trinity hosted by Professor Brigitte Schultz. We had a dinner beforehand to talk individually with the activists and then a well-attended public event that we hope will spark interest.
