Rockhurst to go “Fair Trade Official”

Megan Trainor, Staff Writer

For over ten years Voices for Justice, an organization that promotes awareness of social justice issues and ways to solve those issues, has been working its way to one big goal. The goal is to make the Rockhurst campus “Fair Trade official”.

According to the Fair Trade Campaigns website, “when [people] choose to purchase Fair Trade products, [they] are endorsing an economic system that provides opportunities for international farmers, artisans and workers to lift themselves out of poverty”. Fair Trade USA is an organization dedicated to making sure the products and produce comes from farmers who are paid a fair price, and do not contain unnecessary chemicals.

Chanelle Zak, Voices for Justice President, explained why becoming Fair Trade Official was the group’s main goal.

“One reason is because it’s an incredible way for Rockhurst to live out its values more fully,” said Zak.

She then went on to name two of Rockhurst’s values, Cura Personalis, and Contemplation in Action. She explained that Cura Personalis means, “Care for the Whole Person”; Rockhurst’s mission is to help people.

As Voices nears their goal, Bill Kriege, Campus Ministry Assistant Director, expressed his excitement with the prospective of a Fair Trade Campus. He agreed with Zak- that Fair Trade embodies what Rockhurst stands for. Kriege mentioned that it is in the Jesuit tradition to presuppose people are good at heart and therefore use dialogue to spread these ideas.

Fair Trade USA, told Zak that they could have Rockhurst Fair Trade official in a year.

To be fair trade official means that a school has managed five things.

  1. Build a Team. The team is to provide direction and leadership to the campaign. Voices has recently created a committee dedicated to making Rockhurst Fair Trade.
  2. Reach Out to Campus Outlets. In Rockhurst’s case this would mean working to make sure the coffee, chocolate, honey, and other such products used by food services are considered Fair Trade. In order to be considered official, Rockhurst needs at least two in each vendor.
  3. Source Fair Trade at Events and Meetings. By serving Fair Trade coffee and tea at events, Rockhurst would fulfill this requirement.
  4. Commit to Fair Trade Education. Voices has been working to educate the campus in order to reach this goal. This also means that there would need to be at least one education program a semester offered to keep students informed.
  5. Pass a Fair Trade Resolution. The Senators Rockhurst elects to the student government would have to pass a resolution to stay committed to Fair Trade.

 

Turning Rockhurst into an official Fair Trade campus, takes a lot of time and work, but Zak plans on starting small.

“Even if it’s one dollar more, it means that a kid goes to school, or a family is fed,” said Zak. “It’s worth it to me”.

Rockhurst is not alone in its persuit to become a Fair Trade school. Creighton University, John Carroll University, DePaul University, and many others are also in the process or have succeeded in making their campuses Fair Trade.

According to Fair Trade Campaigns there are currently 117 active campuses across the nation and 28 have passed a resolution to be Fair Trade.

Voices for Justice meets on Thursdays at 9pm in the Finucane Center.