Editor,
As a student here at UNM and a partner of Starbucks Coffee Company, I was surprised about the assertions made in the Daily Lobo article about Fair Trade Coffee on Tuesday.
This article contained blatantly incorrect information about Starbucks and its alliance with Fair Trade Coffee. I would hope that before you print articles, it would be possible to check to make sure the resources that you get the information from are valid sources. Obviously, the Fair Trade Iniative is not one.
In fact, if they had done their research properly, they would have found that Starbucks already purchases, sells and brews Fair Trade Certified Coffee.
It is simply not accurate when this organization's vice president, Patrick Staib, makes statements like these quoted in Tuesday's article: "If we can get Starbucks to sell Fair Trade Coffee, it will prove that they are going above and beyond corporate policy. . .we would be making change at a small level. From there we can make headway into the community."
Starbucks has already "jumped on the Fair Trade bandwagon" years ago and is one of North America's largest roasters and retailers of Fair Trade Certified Coffee. Since forming an alliance with TransFair USA in April 2000, Starbucks has purchased nearly 2 million pounds of Fair Trade Certified Coffee, including 1.1 million pounds in fiscal 2002.
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The company's purchases have increased steadily. Through the Memorandum of Understanding that the company signed with Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International in fiscal 2002, Starbucks is currently licensed to sell Fair Trade Certified Coffee in 17 countries around the world. Fair Trade Certified Coffee is available and served as the CORE coffee at more than 150 college campuses across America, including our campus-licensed Starbucks.
For more than 30 years, Starbucks has traveled the world to bring you the finest coffee beans available. As Starbucks' business grows, so does the need for these coffees. To ensure long-term supply and fulfill our responsibility as a leader in the worldwide coffee community, Starbucks promotes a better way of life for our coffee farmers and help conserve the environment where coffee is grown. It's an important part of Starbucks guiding principles and the purpose behind Starbucks' Fair Trade Blend, which is available at any corporate store in Albuquerque.
Starbucks tries to make a difference to the people and the places that produce coffee, to the countries that we visit and the families we touch. Unlike what Staib claimed, all Starbucks' company-operated stores in North America offer Fair Trade Certified Coffee once a month as the "coffee of the day" and upon request anytime you would like a cup.
So next time you go into Starbucks to get your cup of coffee, you can also make a difference and help improve the lives of the farmers who grow it. Just ask for Fair Trade. We will gladly brew you a cup as our commitment to improve the lives of coffee growers in origin countries by ensuring that the owners of small family farmers receive a guaranteed fair price for their harvest.
Sarah Ciccotello
UNM student
