Students for Fair Trade Pursue Official University Certification

STAFF WRITER

Every time students grab a cup of coffee from the cafeteria they support fair trade practices. Some students at Fordham think the school should do even more to support fair trade. Michael Billotti, FCRH ’15 and president of Students for Fair Trade, is one such student. He is currently spearheading the initiative to have Fordham certified as a fair trade school by Fair Trade Colleges and Universities.

“Fair trade tries to make sure the farmer, artisan or worker in a developing country is paid a fair living wage,” Billotti said. “We want the student body to be informed and make smart decisions about the goods they buy.”

Fair trade strives to build sustainable businesses abroad, where workers are often exploited and not properly compensated for their products. The documentary Black Gold reveals how corporations subsidize agricultural products such as coffee beans, bananas, sugar and cocoa. One kilo of coffee earns an Ethiopian coffee farmer 23 cents. The film shows that insufficient pay causes a never-ending spiral of poverty from which workers cannot escape; they maintain long-term dependence on these exploitative corporations.

Before coffee makes it to the grocery store and ends up on the table, the beans often travel from the farm into the hands of up to six different middlemen, decreasing the value of the product each time intervention occurs. Little is left for the workers to receive at the end of this elongated process. Billotti explained that fair trade works exclusively with workers in a simplified, transparent and sustainable method of transporting goods to consumer.

Students for Fair Trade has been an active group in the Fordham community since the beginning of the school year. Though leadership fell by the wayside this past spring, Billotti has successfully built up membership through the successful collaboration between the club and Sodexo’s Sustainability Week. Students were given free pieces of free trade chocolate for signing onto the Students for Fair Trade email list. Now the list has over 100 students.

Along with the growth of Students for Fair Trade, Billotti hopes that through his efforts Fordham can be deemed an official fair trade school. If this goal is realized, Fordham will be at the forefront of this social justice movement, joining a list of just 15 other universities in the country.

“Professor Kate Combellick, who teaches the fair trade classes at Fordham, got me in touch with Parker Townley, who runs Fair Trade Colleges and Universities, a subsidiary of the non-profit group Fair Trade USA,” Billotti said. “This national non-profit evaluates if goods are fair trade or not through super intense bookkeeping and if they provide a true living wage for farmers.”

Fair Trade Colleges and Universities lists five qualifications for a school to be considered fair trade friendly. First, a commitment to fair trade education should be present — this is fulfilled by Combellick’s classes. The second and third requirements mandate a legitimate student-run organization that also maintains successful relations with campus outlets. Students for Fair Trade’s campus presence and events satisfy these requirements. The fourth and fifth steps for eligibility call for each venue on campus to have at least two free trade items and for free trade options at meetings and events. Sodexo’s different eateries on campus do offer fair trade certified products, such as Amani coffee, and they cater a lot of on-campus festivities for faculty and students throughout the year.

After the initial five qualifications are completed, Fordham administrators would have to agree to a resolution that finalizes fair trade status. The resolution is signed by the president of a given university or college, and it promises that the school will commit to fair trade.

Billotti clarified that the resolution merely cements administrative acknowledgement of fair trade on campus grounds. He said that some administrators and campus leaders have reservations about the resolution and are fearful that Fordham will have to compromise non-fair trade products like Coca-Cola and Nike. However, he assures that this is not the case.

“You won’t see any obligatory things on the resolution,” Billotti said while clarifying the final, crucial step that has slowed the proceedings for the past few months. “There is no ‘teeth’ or contractual obligations.”

To build up support for the signing of the resolution, Billotti has begun what he calls a grassroots movement starting with student interaction, leading up to professors, department heads and, finally, all the way to the top of Fordham’s hierarchy. United Student Government issued a statement of support for the Students of Fair Trade’s campaign for the resolution.

Now, Billotti has set his sights on student clubs and organizations to sign onto USG’s statement of support before sending it to Fordham’s upper tier in power. Though the process has been frustrating and difficult, Billotti chalks it up to a learning experience.

“What’s keeping us going is to educate people, make other socially conscious consumers, and realize the goals and merits of fair trade,” he said, “Even if we fail long term, we have achieved educating the populace of Fordham University about the fair trade movement.”

When asked about his interest in advocating for fair trade, Billotti discussed his visits to over 15 countries in his lifetime.

Seeing impoverished nations firsthand is a key motivating factor for Billotti and drives the vision he has for Students for Fair Trade.

“Fair trade is such a sustainable practice. And the psychological impact of allowing workers to have the integrity to work for a fair wage is powerful. This change in mentality ripples outward to their ideas of human rights, and how the nation should be governed,” he said. “It has the chance of offering a bigger change in the geopolitical picture, and has the potential for far reaching impact for communities and countries.”