Wake Up and Smell the (Fair Trade, Organic) Coffee!

Since returning for J-term you might have noticed that your dining hall coffee is better than usual. But you may not know just how much better it is. Dining Service’s recent switch to Vermont Coffee Company represents more than an improvement in taste. Your new morning brew also happens to be fair trade, certified organic and locally sourced from Middlebury. Doesn’t it taste better already?

Amidst this change, we encourage the Middlebury community to recognize the purchasing power we have as a residential college that feeds thousands of people multiple meals a day. It’s easy to forget the flaws inherent in our modern food system when we only see the food that magically appears in our buffets every day.

Vermont Coffee Company prides itself on being fair trade and certified organic, rare claims in an industry notorious for its exploitation of labor. Most coffee laborers work on plantations under slave-like conditions, earning less than a living wage and living on-site in dismal conditions. In order to compensate for the low wages, workers often illegally enlist their children, violating child-labor laws and thus excluding them from other labor protections.

While the plantation owners may seem like the villains in this situation, they generally resort to such measures because purchasers favor the growers with the lowest prices. Fair trade certification works to combat this phenomenon by recognizing growers and purchasers who endorse working conditions such as living wages, as well as the rights to organize, have a grievance process and equal opportunity for employment.

Companies like Vermont Coffee Company operate under the belief that customers would be willing to pay more for ethically-produced goods. “With fair trade, we are part of a new model where commerce is also an exchange of values,” states the company’s website under the outline of its Organic, Fair Trade Policy.

The organic certification helps mitigate environmental impacts and improves worker conditions by saving both the soil and workers from regular exposure to harmful chemicals involved in most industrial agriculture. In order to be certified organic, growers have to comply with regulations limiting the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. Vermont Coffee Company possesses certification from both Vermont Certified Organic and USDA Organic.

These environmental factors and labor ethics are two of the most pressing issues of the food system – especially the coffee industry – that we influence with our food choices. Furthermore, our dining halls’ investment in Vermont Coffee Company keeps dollars in the local economy. Based on these criteria, switching to Vermont Coffee Company has pushed the dining halls’ percentage of dollars spent on ‘real food’ over 30 percent, surpassing the agreement signed by former president Ron Liebowitz in 2014 to reach this number by 2016.

Real food, as defined by the national organization The Real Food Challenge, is any food product that falls under the categories of local, humane, fair trade and ecologically sound. The real food movement on campus, started by EatReal, has been embraced by dining services and the administration in order to support a more sustainable food system. Current interns are researching pathways to achieving 50 percent real food by 2020 through product switches and greater institutional change.

While we are excited by Dining Service’s commitment to supporting real food and the values real food represents, we also hope that individuals in the Middlebury community similarly take up this responsibility in their personal choices. Even with something as seemingly simple as your daily cup(s) of coffee, you can endorse positive change in the world far beyond Middlebury.

For more information, please visit go/eatreal.