By Erik Morrison — Economics & Business Editor

On Nov. 9, 2022, Bishop’s University received the official Fair Trade designation to become Canada’s 43rd Fair Trade Campus. This movement was a part of the actions being taken within the Bishop’s University 2020-2024 Sustainable Development Plan. This plan of action involves many different objectives to create a more sustainable campus, including reducing car traffic on campus, campus carbon neutrality by 2030 and reduction of waste going to landfills. 

The process of becoming a designated Fair Trade campus took about a year. A steering committee was formed by staff, directors, students, and faculty. Through frequent meetings, they discussed the steps required to obtain a designation. Many of the changes they had to complete revolved around the food services at Bishop’s. A main ally was Deborah Langford, director of ancillary services at Bishop’s University. Langford is the person who is responsible for the contract with the food service providers on campus, such as Sodexo. With her help and discussions with the managers at Sodexo, the team reached the point where all coffee served on campus is now Fair Trade. 

Another requirement of the designation was that at every service point where chocolate and tea are sold on campus, there had to be Fair Trade options available for purchase. For chocolate, there is a minimum of one Fair Trade option, and for tea, there is a minimum requirement of three options. Bishop’s exceeds this at all points of sale, including Doolittle’s Co-op and Sodexo. 

When asked why this matters to students, Danielle Storey, one of the sustainable development student interns stated, “I think it’s important because it promotes sustainability on campus and it also promotes small-scale organic farms to be producing at a less corporate level.” 

One of the challenges in becoming a Fair Trade designated campus was to find providers that fit with Sodexo’s procurement system and adapt to how their logistical sourcing system works. Since the coffee on campus is sourced from a local roaster, Faro, the process involved having Sodexo approve Faro as a provider to Bishop’s. 

From an economic view, this new Fair Trade designation has a positive impact on farmers and other food producers. It is normalized in our society not to fully understand the value of food. The low-priced chocolate bar you can buy at most checkouts may be a good price, but this fails to consider the non-economic costs of human resources, natural resources, transportation, and other factors. Laurence Williams, the sustainable development advisor at Bishop’s University, mentions how people are used to buying cheap and industrialized foods. As a society, people have lost the concept of what food is worth.

The changes in price to offer a FairTrade cup of coffee, as opposed to uncertified coffee, are usually insignificant to the consumer here in North America. However, this small increase makes a big difference for coffee producers, commonly located in South America. Fair Trade producers are required to prevent exploitative labor and environmental harm, among other issues they must monitor for, such as gender inequality and poor working conditions. Exporting services must have no history of human rights abuses or violation of land rights to be considered for certification. Consumers have a responsibility to use our buying power to encourage more sustainable systems wherever we can.