A reference for USC fair trade activists. [last updated 7/4/07]
Want to get involved? Join Oxfam-USC and Student Coalition Against Labor Exploitation (SCALE) which I wrote about here.
Most USC coffee locations now serve at least 1 blend of fair trade coffee. The student-run Ground Zero Coffee House serves 100% fair trade organic coffee. Tutor Hall Cyber Cafe, Law School Cafe, and Doheny Tea House offer Peet’s fair trade blend. Cafe 84 and Trojan Grounds offer Cafe Estima, Starbucks’ fair trade blend.
A timeline of what happened
January 2007
Cafe Estima — Starbucks’ blend of fair trade coffee — started brewing at Cafe 84 and Trojan Grounds — albeit with interruptions once in a while. Call or email Lore Oehmichen, Senior Manager of Hospitality Services, at 213.740.1791 or lore@usc.edu whenever you have trouble getting your fair trade cup of coffee.
December 2006
USC students sent letters about the fair trade coffee issue to Hospitality services, and John Thacker, Lore’s boss, said that fair trade coffee will be brewing at Cafe 84 and Trojan Grounds — as of Jan. 8, 2007 — the first day of classes for USC’s spring semester
November 2006
Students met with Lore again to discuss the fact that fair trade coffee was not brewing at Starbucks locations. After some waffling, Lore said that all these locations should have fair trade coffee brewing by the beginning of the Spring 2007 semester.
February 2006
Lore of Hospitality Services said that an order delivery snafu delayed fair trade coffee’s arrival to the Starbucks coffee-serving outlets at USC. However, a special order has now been put in; Cafe Estima, a fair trade coffee, should be brewing at all USC coffee outlets that serve Starbucks coffee by late February.
November 2005
- Lore of Hospitality Services said that fair trade coffee will be one of the options at all SC locations serving Starbucks coffee by the beginning of the Spring 2006 semester!(11/23/05).
- USC students got to sample Starbucks’ certified fair trade offerings (11/11/05).
- Gloria, president of Oxfam-USC, writes a letter to the Daily Trojan arguing for the fair trade movement (11/10/05).
October 2005
- USC Costa Rica members Elise Wach and Sean Carney are featured in A Broad View for their efforts to address environmental and labor policies by championing organic coffee (10/2/05).
September 2005
- USC is added to Global Exchange’s “Campus and Community Activists” list for the fair trade campaign (9/21/05).
- Lore at Hospitality Services agrees to look into switching Starbucks coffee outlets to serve fair trade coffee.
- Oxfam-USC kicks things off with a packed event: A talk by a West African cotton farmer about US agricultural subsidies.
August 2005
- Ground Zero Coffeehouse goes 100% fair trade and adds morning hours.
- Law School Cafe opens, with Peet’s Fair Trade Blend offered as a daily coffee option.
- Tutor Hall Cyber Cafe opens, with Peet’s Fair Trade Blend offered as a daily coffee option.
- Green LA girl discovers USC Costa Rica, who’ve tried to bring fair trade to campus in the past.
Before Fall 2005
- My first brush with fair trade — the USFT conference in February 2005.
- A brief timeline of fair trade activism at USC before I started this blog.
You are doing SUCH a great thing -and doing it so well, to boot. Good for you!
Comment by Andrea — September 21, 2005 @ 6:42 am
You’re up to ten subscribers on my RSS and I’m stuck at two. I’m jealous. Start producing lousier work for my sake:).
Comment by Fletch — September 21, 2005 @ 11:18 pm
You’re so sweet, Andrea :) And happy anniversary —
Fletch — We’re not in competition! My readers are your readers ;)
That said, I’m super happy I’ve hit the double digits on bloglines. Yippee :) I hope they’re all drinking fair trade –
Comment by Siel — September 21, 2005 @ 11:22 pm
Do they make a fair trade French Roast?
Will there come a day when fair trade coffees are so prevalent that their cost becomes lower to non-fair trade coffee?
Comment by Greg — January 30, 2006 @ 5:26 pm
Hey Greg :) Some fair trade certified coffees are already cheaper than some non fair trade certified coffees! :) Even at Starbucks, Cafe Estima — which is the fair trade blend — is one of their cheapest coffees.
And yes! There are some fair trade French Roasts, including the Starbucks owned Seattle’s Best. Not sure if we’ll be getting that on campus though…
Comment by Siel — February 1, 2006 @ 1:22 am