Fair Trade labels seen around campus

Students taking a closer look can find Fair Trade logos on products scattered throughout Central Michigan University convenient stores.

“On campus, students can find Fair Trade items at both Java City locations and at all campus convenience stores,” said Greg Hall, retail food service manager, who oversees all convenience stores on campus.

The Fair Trade Certified logo shows the farmers that made the product received a fair wage for their work, as well as a social premium that they can reinvest into community-elected development projects, said Katie Barrow, a TransFair representative in the U.S.

The logo pictures a human silhouette — half-black, half-white — with the opposite-color bowl in either hand. They have been there for about a year.

Barrow said the products were added because it would give the university a good image and benefit the farmers as well.

“The products with these logos are sold and bought at a reasonable price,” said Mount Pleasant sophomore Lauren Waters, a student manager at the Market near the Woldt computer lab.

Fair for farmers

The fair trade products purchased by CMU are more expensive to make it fair for the farmers, however.

Fair Trade has been around since the 1960s. However, the label in its European form began appearing on products in the 1980s, and the label in its U.S. form appeared on products in 1999, according to TransFair’s Web site.

The movement for fair trade began with a multitude of organizations, collectively known as Alternative Trade Organizations, and many people participated in this movement during the 1960s and 1970s, Barrow said.

The first Fair Trade label to appear was the Max Havelaar label in 1988. After that, several European organizations began doing the same thing.

They all finally came together in 1997 under the name, Fair Trade Federation, and started using the Fair Trade Certified label.  

TransFair USA is the certifying body in the United States and is a member of the Fair Trade Federation.

“TransFair USA is in charge of the Fair Trade Certified labeling that is done on products in the United States,” Barrow said.

The logos, or labels, are then put onto the same products on campus that meet the Fair Trade standards.

“The logo/label lets the consumer know that the producer was given a fair wage for making that product,” Barrow said.

Many different types of products have the logo on them, including coffee, tea, honey, sugar, bananas, other types of fruit, spices and herbs, wine and chocolate, according to TransFair’s Web site.