Editor,
My name is Patrick Staib and I am the vice president and co-founder of the UNM Fair Trade Initiative (UNM-FTI). I am writing to clear up some confusion brought about from the Tuesday, April 8 article entitled "Campus to be pouring Fair Trade Coffee soon."
While I appreciate the effort and feel Jodi Hunley did an excellent job relaying many facts about the positive direction in which our organization headed one point was misrepresented.
I was cited as having stated, "if we can get Starbucks to sell Fair Trade Coffee, it will prove that they are going above and beyond corporate policy." I stand by that statement, but readers should understand that Starbucks' corporate policy is to sell Fair Trade Certified Coffee by the bag, brew it in a French press by request and brew Fair Trade Coffee on one specific day per month
By no means do we intend to portray an incorrect image of the Starbucks Corporation as not promoting Fair Trade.
In actuality, Starbucks' volume and sales make them one of, if not the largest suppliers, roasters and retailers of Fair Trade Certified Coffee in this country. The message to be understood from my statement is that we are striving for the UNM Starbucks to brew Fair Trade Certified Coffee on a daily basis, not just "on demand," as an option for its customers, just as we've urged the rest of the campus venues to do.
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It is easy to misconstrue my statement out of its original context. In no way did I, or the UNM-FTI, intend to imply that we were planning or in the process of negotiating with the Starbucks Corporation.
The UNM Starbucks, a separate entity operating under contract with Aramark, offered to supercede Starbucks corporate policy, to which I assume they are not beholden and offer Fair Trade Certified Coffee daily and upon demand in the UNM Bookstore.
Without deciphering the semantics of their offer, readers should know that our organization is still negotiating our position vis a vis the UNM Starbucks and we will push to make Fair Trade commodities a common option here on campus and in our community.
In closing, I apologize if my statement offended those who work or sympathize with Starbucks. However, it is important to note that for all the good that Starbucks Corporation and the UNM Starbucks purport to do for farmers and coffee communities, it is still not enough.
As a researcher who works with Fair Trade Coffee cooperatives in Nicaragua, I have seen firsthand the direct relationship between plummeting international coffee prices and the rise of malnutrition, unsanitary shantytowns and unemployment in the coffee regions.
All the while, Starbucks Corporation reports a gain at every quarter. It causes one to wonder whether the little brown people painted on Starbucks' walls are really as happy as Starbucks would like you to believe?
If anyone is interested in further discussion contact me at pwstaib@unm.edu.
Patrick W. Staib
UNM student
