Students speak out for fair trade

ISU Dining Services offers Fair Trade coffee products upon request, although many students may be unaware of what a Fair Trade product actually is.

Students were educated about unfair treatment of third-world laborers at an event at the Maintenance Shop on Tuesday.

The lecture was part of the “We’ve Got To Talk” series sponsored by the Student Union Board Awareness Committee. Morgan Dowdall, junior in journalism and mass communication, organized and spoke at the event. Dowdall is a change leader for Oxfam America and the director of the Awareness Committee.

“We serve the university by making students aware of humanitarian issues,” Dowdall said. 

The event focused on the unfair treatment of third-world coffee producers. Dowdall said many of these workers are unable to support their families because they are not paid fair prices for their coffee. He said children as young as six years old are made to lug heavy bags of coffee on their backs for hours that would be unheard of in America.

Dowdall said people are fighting these practices by only buying coffees that are labeled Fair Trade Certified. According to the official Fair Trade Website, a certification label guarantees consumers that strict economic, social and environmental criteria were met in the production and trade of the certified product. Dowdall said ISU Dining Services supports fair trade coffee and even offers it at campus cafes upon request. Fair trade coffees can be found at the Design Café, Bookends Café and the MU Marketplace & Café, he said.

“They do carry it and they’re trying to take those steps forward, so I think we are making progress,” Dowdall said.

Coffee isn’t the only product plagued by unfair practices. Dowdall said chocolate, sugar and banana producers around the world would also benefit from fair trade. He said fair trade problems are most severe in Ethiopia, Guatemala and Colombia, but it is an issue that is affecting people worldwide. 

Ellen Walsh, junior in public service administration in agriculture, was handing out brochures at the lecture about various humanitarian issues. She said she has been volunteering for Oxfam America, a social justice organization, for the last three years. 

She said her job is to reach out to students and citizens of Ames to make them more aware of social justice issues. She said she also communicates regularly with Iowa’s senators when they vote on bills concerning climate change or fair trade.

ISU Dining provided free fair trade coffee for audience members to enjoy during the lecture. Chris Moen, junior in kinesiology and health, enjoyed the coffee and the lecture. He said he had heard of fair trade once before, but he learned a lot more about how he could make a difference at the lecture.

“I didn’t know they carried fair trade coffee on campus,” Moen said. “Next time I get coffee I’ll definitely ask for the fair trade.”