The University of Virginia connection to the Honduran farmers through the Moroceli Foundation, started by two alumni who are former Peace Corps volunteers
Helping to make a fair trade
By Kate Andrews / Daily Progress staff writer
April 10, 2004
The almighty bean matters to people in this town - just witness the number of coffee shops, both chain and independent, in Charlottesville.
University of Virginia senior Michael Figura is building on that attachment to caffeine, trying to make people think more about where their coffee’s coming from.
A founder of Students Promoting Fair Trade, Figura is leading an effort this week to raise money for farmers trying to achieve fair-trade status. He and two other club officers sold coffee mugs Friday on the Downtown Mall to help the CORAH cooperative in Honduras.
“We’re raising hopefully $1,400 if we sell all the cups,” Figura said.
The fair-trade movement supports business practices that aim to preserve the environment and establish stable prices for the products of farmers, artists and other workers in developing countries.
For coffee-bean farmers to sell their beans under the fair-trade label, they must give up using pesticides for three years, farm 5 acres or less and follow other regulations. Figura estimated that it will cost the Honduran cooperative $20,000 to make the transition to fair trade.
There is a UVa connection to the Honduran farmers through the Moroceli Foundation, started by two alumni who are former Peace Corps volunteers.
“They came to us for help,” Figura said, just after the club was formed at the start of this academic year. The club sold raffle tickets to help the foundation raise funds for the farmers.
But the group has had its own financial worries, having received no startup money from UVa’s Student Council. The founders were unaware of special rules for fund-raising groups and were expected to raise their own operating money this year. The club, however, will receive university funding in the fall.
In the meantime, the group has held “bar nights” at student watering holes to raise money and awareness of fair-trade issues.
It also scored a victory this fall in persuading UVa’s dining halls to serve only fair-trade coffee, a decision that has cost the university twice the amount it used to pay for cafeteria coffee, Figura said.
“They were looking for an alternative because people were complaining about how horrible the coffee was,” Figura said. Now the coffee, which is grown in Costa Rica, tastes much better, he added.
Some local coffeehouses serve fair-trade coffee as well. Java Java sells only fair-trade products, and Mudhouse sells both fair-trade and non-fair-trade coffee.
Mudhouse buys its coffee from a Lexington roasting company owned by a family that researches its farmers extensively, said Sonya Swiderski, Mudhouse’s director.
Some of the farmers are not labeled fair trade, but do contribute to the well-being of their communities, Swiderski said. Some don’t qualify for the label because, for instance, they farm more than 5 acres of land.
Fair trade “is a wonderful thing,” she said, “but it’s just a step.”
Unlike UVa, Swiderski has found that fair-trade coffee costs about the same as regular coffee, and the quality is about equal as well. She added, however, that there is a significant difference in price between lower-quality coffee and good fair-trade coffee.
“It all depends on the roaster,” she said. “You can take a really good bean and destroy it through roasting.”
Innisfree World Artisans, a nonprofit gift store on the Downtown Mall, sells only fair-trade artwork. Some pieces cost more than non-fair-trade art, said manager Astrid Bailey, but the store tries to keep its prices down. The money benefits Innisfree, a home for mentally disabled adults.
“The difference is, a lot of the money goes straight to the artisans,” Bailey said. “They get a fair amount for what they do.”
Mudhouse and Java Java teamed with two other local coffee shops, Higher Grounds and Java City, to help with the UVa students’ fund-raiser. Each shop will give a free cup of coffee to the holder of a plastic travel mug sold for $10 each.
The 200 cups are available at various locations, including participating coffee shops and three grocery stores: Integral Yoga Natural Foods, Rebecca’s Natural Foods and Whole Foods.
Contact Kate Andrews at (434) 978-7261 or kandrews@
dailyprogress.com.
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