For 50 more cents, shoppers can purchase fair trade bananas, ensuring that the banana farmer who supplied the fruit was justly paid.
A pound of regular bananas costs 49 cents at an East Lansing Kroger supermarket, located at 1550 W. Lake Lansing Road. A pound of fair trade bananas can be purchased for 99 cents at The Better Health Store in the Frandor Shopping Center.
"People would pay a little more if they realized the implications of how it benefits the farmers socially and economically," environmental studies and applications senior Yvonne Wood said. "The price should be higher."
The fair trade system is used globally and strives to produce food that is grown organically from a regional area — such as bananas in Ecuador — as well as emphasizes proper treatment of animals. This campaign is voiced on campus through Students for Fair Trade, an organization seeking change in the global food system.
"I personally have seen what plantations look like in Central America," Wood said. "While they do offer a lot of jobs for people, they are extremely detrimental to the environment."
A member of an association of small-scale banana producers from Ecuador, Jovanny Coronel spoke about the impact fair trade has had on his and other associations in South Kedzie Hall on Tuesday. He was originally scheduled to speak Monday night, but the presentation was postponed due to his plane's delay.
After years of working in harsh conditions and not getting paid what they deserve, Coronel and 14 other farmers from southern Ecuador created the association, called El Guabo, in 1997.
It was created so the farmers could eliminate reliance on the middlemen in the exporting process. Today the group has more than 350 members and employs 2,000 people.
"The impact of fair trade has been quite large in the area I come from in Ecuador," Coronel said. "They're using the fair trade model to show the impact to other area co-ops."
Coronel also spoke about how he hopes to make connections in the United States to help with El Guabo.
Anthropology graduate student Rebecca Meuninck studies fair trade coffee and spent last summer in Nicaragua looking at the system.
"I wanted to see the difference between fair trade coffee and bananas, and see the different experiences of the farmers," Meuninck said.
MSU participates in fair trade as much as they can afford to, dining services coordinator Bruce Haskell said. While MSU offers fair trade coffee, Haskell said the university is not using fair trade bananas because they are too costly at this point.
"It is always something we consider, whether it is locally grown or fair trade," Haskell said. "Whenever we look at products, we will choose a locally grown or fair trade product if the price and quality and consistency of availability is competitive."
Housing & Food Services just started buying locally grown, Michigan apples because they could consistently get the quality and supply they needed from growers, Haskell said.
Wood said fair trade can often be confused with not wanting to support American-produced goods.
"It is not being anti-American," she said. "Part of the fair trade movement is supporting family farms and local farms. In the United States, those farmers are hurting, too. It benefits local farmers as well as those in other countries."
