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At the Univ. of Houston, Library Coffee Enters Fair-Trade Debate

June 18, 2008

Coffee in the library is generally considered a good thing, right? Well, according to students at the University of Houston, the provision of coffee, not the coffee provider, is at issue. Chancellor Renu Khator's office was “stormed” on Monday, according to the Houston Chronicle, by students who want the university to make sure that a fair-trade coffee purveyor, not a Starbucks (which offers some fair-trade coffee), would be selling coffee at a library kiosk.

The group Students for Fair Trade is targeting concessionaire Aramark, which manages food and drink outlets at the university and many other venues around the country. Students say that Aramark would install a Starbucks kiosk with $60,000 in student fees, while university administrators say the funds would come from other sources. Starbucks offers some fair-trade coffee

For now, the plan is on hold. Jim McShan, the university’s associate vice president for finance and administration, told the newspaper that other outlets on campus do offer fair-trade coffee, though only one meets the students’ request for exclusivity. "We've tried as hard as we can to comply with the spirit" of the demands, he said.

Will such protests proliferate? Given that Students for Fair Traide is an affiliate student group of the national United Students for Fair Trade, I wouldn't rule it out.

Posted by Norman Oder on June 18, 2008 | Comments (0)