Justice in Your Cup

Harvard University Dining Services (HUDS) Executive Director Ted A. Mayer has announced that starting next year, all campus dining halls will exclusively serve Fair Trade coffee. More than just benefiting students with better tasting brew, these changes help to strengthen the fair trade movement. Increasing the College’s consumption of fairly traded coffee is a socially-responsible action for which the dining services should be commended.

Coffee is the second largest import to the U.S. after oil, and the country consumes one-fifth of all the coffee produced worldwide—making it the largest consumer in the world. Yet despite our surmountable influence in the market, few Americans realize that their consumer choices can adversely affect coffee farmers who often go underpaid for their work. Many small coffee farmers rely on intermediates to buy and bundle their individual crops to sell to larger corporations. But these middlemen pay farmers incredibly low rates for their harvests—at prices that are often less than the costs of production.

Coffee prices have plummeted to all-time lows in recent months and are currently less than 50 cents per pound. But while purchasing prices have decreased, coffee companies have not lowered consumer prices—they are pocketing the difference. According to Nestor Osorio, the executive director of the International Coffee Organization, in the last decade, the major coffee companies’ revenues have doubled, while the earnings of ordinary coffee farmers have been slashed by two-thirds. This drastic fall in prices has hurt thousands of small coffee producers in Latin America and has perpetuated poverty and hardship among the farmers and their families.

Fair Trade certification ensures consumers that their coffee importer meets a strict list of criteria aimed at protecting the individual farmers. The mark ensures that farmers received competitive prices for their product. An importer must pay a minimum $1.26 per pound—a price that guarantees farmers a decent living wage. Fair Trade programs are able to pay the higher rate by reducing the market role played by the intermediary—essentially cutting out the abusive middleman.

Last Spring, at the urging of Harvard Fair Trade Initiative (HFTI), HUDS polled 1,300 students on their preference for Fair Trade coffee compared to the regular dining hall fare. HUDS concluded from the survey that, despite its higher price, the Fair Trade coffee was popular enough to be introduced to the dining halls on several days each week.

By bringing Fair Trade coffee to the dining halls seven days a week, HUDS is both appealing to the tastes of students and acting in a socially responsible way. As Harvard helps to lead the way in promoting fair market trades, we hope that other college campuses will be encouraged to follow suit.