Every pot of coffee brewed in MSU residence halls will soon help Nicaraguan farming communities build bridges and roads, develop health care programs and construct schools.
Beginning next year, the house blend in all MSU residence halls will be fair trade coffee, which is certified to meet certain production standards and to provide fair prices and decent working conditions for the farmers who produce it.
The decision, announced at Wednesday's Residence Halls Association meeting, will make MSU the largest campus food-service program in the country to use fair trade as its primary coffee.
The announcement was greeted with applause by members of The Real Food Group, which has been petitioning for locally grown, organic and fair trade products on campus.
"It caught me completely by surprise," said Shawn Wozniak, an MSU alumnus, a member of The Real Food Group and a former State News columnist. "They didn't have to do it and they did, and it should be recognized."
The Main Library's Cyber Cafe and Sparty's Convenience Stores offer fair trade coffee, and some residence halls offer it on a limited basis.
Angela Brown, director of University Housing, said the university has been looking into switching to fair trade for more than a year, but a steady supply of the coffee only became available recently.
"We're finally in a position where we can get the coffee in the quantities we require," Brown said. "This shows the university's support for the whole issue of fair trade and getting the true cost for labor and production."
Bruce Haskell, food service coordinator for University Housing, said based on current student consumption of 3,000 to 4,000 pounds of coffee a year, the switch to fair trade will cost the university an additional $15,000 a year.
But Haskell said the example the switch will set for students and the community in terms of environmental stewardship will more than outweigh the additional cost.
"Education is important," Haskell said. "We're going to do a marketing blitz like no other."
Wozniak said he agreed, adding that many people still don't understand what "fair trade" means.
"For a lot of people, fair trade coffee is a feel-good thing, but knowing what's going on gets people committed," Wozniak said.
Haskell said the university continues to look into other fair trade opportunities, including selling Rwandan coffee through Project PEARL, a farming aid program founded by MSU Professor Dan Clay.
Wozniak said all these efforts are steps in the right direction.
"As long as people keep asking for it, the impact on people over the world will be really strong, really soon," Wozniak said. "Hopefully this is a trend for the university."
