With Renovations Put Off, Quincy Gets Fairer Coffee

In a bid to mollify Quincy House residents peeved over the postponed renovation of their dining hall, Harvard University Dining Services (HUDS) has decided to provide fair trade coffee there daily.

Previously, fair trade coffee was served at Quincy only on Sundays and Thursdays.

Quincy is now the first House to serve fair trade coffee daily.

HUDS Executive Director Ted A. Mayer agreed to the change at a March 17 meeting with the Quincy House Committee and the House masters.

“We only asked for one extra day a week,” Ansel A. Payne ’04, Quincy’s Resource Efficiency Program representative. “Within a week or two, we had fair trade coffee every day.”

Quincy dining hall renovations slated to happen this summer have been postponed until the summer of 2004.

“We know that students are frustrated over the fact that their dining halls haven’t been renovated yet, so we’re taking steps to ameliorate that,” said HUDS communications director Alix McNitt.

“We were able to use our renovation status as leverage to increase the fair trade opportunities,” Payne said.

Quincy House co-Master Jayne Loader noted that fair trade coffee was not the only concession Mayer made to Quincy diners.

Other changes include cosmetic enhancements to the salad bar and steam table displays, as well as a reorganization of the serving line.

“[Mayer] was very enthusiastic,” said Loader, “He was hoping to give us some things that would make the dining experience more pleasant.”

Payne emphasized that the fair trade coffee did not come at the cost of renovations.

“It’s not a zero-sum game,” he said. “The renovations will still happen, but in the meantime, we’re just trying to make it a little easier to deal with dining here.”

HUDS purchases fair trade coffee from a worker-owned cooperative that trades organic coffee grown in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

Annenberg and all of the House dining halls have served fair trade coffee on Sundays and Thursdays since last September. All the coffee currently served in Quincy, with the exception of a few flavored coffees, is fair trade certified, according to Mark Petrino, Quincy dining hall general manager.

Members of the Harvard Fair Trade Initiative (HFTI), an organization that has advocated for fair trade coffee since February 2001, also expressed surprise at HUDS’ decision.

“HUDS made this decision somewhat unilaterally,” said Jordan A. A. Bar Am ’04, the co-director of HFTI. “We didn’t know they were going to do it, but we’re happy about it. HUDS has been very responsive to fair trade coffee, and we’ve had a very, very positive relationship with them.”

McNitt said that while HUDS is trying to serve fair trade coffee as frequently as possible, “significant cost differences” make it difficult to serve fair trade coffee daily in all the Houses.

McNitt said she did not have a specific dollar amount immediately available.

“It’s a worthy cause to support,” said Quincy resident Rio G. Bennin ’04, who noted that he does not drink coffee.

Quincy resident Kristina N. Vetter ’04 said, “All of a sudden, I noticed the coffee was tasting better. I only drink fair trade coffee now.”

Quincy resident Ali B. Sulzer ’03 said, “We’re sending a message out that we’re going to watch out for people’s salaries.”

While fair trade coffee is not being served daily in Dunster and Mather Houses, which also await renovation, HUDS has implemented other changes for those dining halls.

All three Houses have received George Foreman grills. Dunster residents now have Belgian waffle stations three times a week, and Mather’s kitchen now has new grills and fryers.

—Staff writer Mandy H. Hu can be reached at mhu@fas.harvard.edu