Java B & B will no longer be the only entity on campus that serves only Fair Trade coffee, a product that guarantees farmers’ wages.

Fair Trade coffee is expected to be the only coffee available in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union Friday.

Mark Hudson, director of housing and dining, said in addition to Java B & B, the university has been working with a fair trade company to have the coffee available. The university has been waiting for coffee machines to arrive for the union catering area as well as the food court.

Most of the equipment arrived Thursday. The university is still waiting for a piece of equipment for the catering area. It is expected to arrive and be available in a couple of days.

Eastern is not sure how the change to Fair Trade will affect the price of coffee, Hudson said. The cost is determined on the calibration of the coffee, making the coffee with a mixture of liquid concentrate and water and the ratio of a special liquid. The mixing rates cannot be determined until new coffee equipment is set up and used, he said.

The more water used, the less the cost. Fair Trade concentrate is more expensive than the non concentrate, Hudson said.

The cost will be higher, but not significantly higher.

“We anticipate the price going up five cents or less a cup,” Hudson said.

The university has worked with the Fair Trade Coalition on how to present the coffee.

“I hope (the coffee) is well received,” Hudson said. “We hope students respond to it well.”

“We try to provide a good service to our customers and are looking forward to seeing how they like the new coffee,” he said.

To raise awareness, the coalition has been promoting Fair Trade coffee since January 2002.

Jen Price, co-chair of the coalition, said the idea was proposed one week at a Student Senate meeting. A resolution was passed to suggest Eastern carry only Fair Trade coffee brands all over campus.

“It has been a goal of ours since we started,” Price said.

This semester, the coalition is working on raising awareness of the coffee.

“In the past we had a goal to get fair trade coffee served on campus, and now it is, so we are in a transition right now,” she said.

The coalition has worked with Jackson Ave. Coffee since February 2003 and has gotten them to offer some fair trade coffee. Jackson Ave. offers three lines of Fair Trade coffee, and the coalition is working with Jackson Ave. to carry Fair Trade chocolate.

Over the summer, the coalition persuaded County Market to sell Fair Trade coffee in addition to the Millstone coffee they already carried.

The Fair Trade Coalition was formed January 2002. The group has about 10 members that attend meetings regularly.

Price said there are fair trade groups with different names at other schools.

“Fair trade in general is basically a way for consumers to express their values with money,” she said. “It’s about being conscious of what you buy and where your products come from.”

Fair trade certified means farmers are guaranteed $1.26 per pound of coffee instead of less than 50 cents per pound, Price said. If the coffee is organic, farmers are paid $1.41 per pound.

“Basically that money guarantees the farmer is paid a living wage they can support themselves on,” she said.

Fair Trade organizations also work with the farmers to promote sustainable level. That’s using organic farming, which involves composting and using no pesticides, Price said.

The coffee is also shade grown, which means it is grown under the shade of other trees in the rain forest, she said. Commercial coffee cuts down trees to grow coffee in the sun “which is like giving the coffee steroids,” she said.

“It grows trees twice as quick and produces twice as much coffee, but it also dies twice as quickly. It doesn’t have the life span of a coffee plant grown in the shade.”

Roy Lanham, the coalition’s advisor and campus minister of the Newman Catholic Center, said his role is to be a support to the group, give some insight and be a resource.

“I’m excited about what the students do,” he said. “Not so much because of their success they have had, (but) … what really impresses me is there is a group of students that are concerned about issues that go beyond themselves. That’s impressive in this day of age.”

Lanham said the group is coming up with solutions now that “transform minds, heart and attitudes.”

“It’s pretty powerful stuff and is as real as it gets,” he said.

Lanham said the university has been helpful and supportive of the group.

“They are really working on it and wanted it to happen, to become 100 percent fair trade coffee already,” he said. “It’s good for me to see students finally have fire in their belly … it’s a privilege to see the passion they have,” he said.

Some students believe the university should provide a variety of coffee.

“I think they should sell all the brands instead of limiting it to just one type or brand,” said Marquette McClinton, a freshman education major. “Different people prefer different brands and have different tastes.”

Kelly Keyes, a sophomore industrial technology major, said she does not think there is a big difference in taste.

“With the amount of cream and sugar I put in it, you can’t even taste the coffee anyway.

“I don’t feel bad about drinking other coffee. I mean, I still wear Nike clothes even though it’s made in sweat shops,” Keyes said. “I wear whatever’s clean and I drink whatever coffee is available.”

“I don’t know too much about Fair Trade coffee, but it seems like a good idea to me,” said Marcus Alston, a senior history major and Java B&B employee.

For more information on the coalition, or to be added to the mailing list, visit [email protected].

Campus Editor Jennifer Chiariello can be reached at [email protected].