by Xochitl Campos
Daily Lobo
Caterers cooked, the wait staff served, flamenco and capoeira dancers performed - and all of it was done for free.
Saturday night at B'nai Israel was a time of celebration for the UNM Fair Trade Initiative, the organizers of the annual Fair Trade Gala. All week long, the students involved in the organization promoted the event. The food, organizations and performers donated their time and money.
The audience was silent during the flamenco presentation when several UNM students performed to the traditional sounds of flamenco guitar.
"I loved them," UNM student Megan Fitzpatrick said. "They were very enjoyable to watch, and it really added to the atmosphere of the gala."
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Fitzpatrick said the dances and music helped set the tone for the night's ambition - to promote fair trade in Third World countries.
"It was just more people coming together for the same cause," Fitzpatrick said. "The dancing helped accentuate the connection of the UNM student body to the Fair Trade cause."
She said the night's entertainment made the evening more personal.
"It really gave a better insight into the Latin American culture and helped bring a connection to those Latin Americans who are being exploited," Fitzpatrick said.
The event was organized to benefit the Iniciativa FomCafÇ in Oaxaca, Mexico, a nongovernmental organization that works to help farmers in Third World countries become Fair Trade certified.
Cooperatives, or campesinos, are the people in need of help.
"They are a group of people who generally live in a poor area that decide to compete in the global market so that they can become Fair Trade certified," said Sara Levin, a member of the UNM Fair Trade Initiative.
Levin explained when farmers are certified, they obtain a guaranteed price for the coffee they grow. These farmers are facing a coffee crisis, she said. Without a guaranteed price, workers' average income is based on the 23 cents they earn from one pound of coffee.
"You can't send your kids to school. You can't have access to health care," she said. "Fair Trade guarantees the farmer will get $1.23 for a pound of coffee."
Without the Fair Trade certification, farmers whose incomes are dependent on their crops are unable to support their families, Levin said.
"When there is not enough money, you are forced to sell your farm and move to a bigger city, and it causes a lot of social problems," she said.
This weekend's event cost $20, and all the proceeds went to this cause.
Among the goals of the UNM Fair Trade Initiative is to have 100 percent of the coffee available on campus be Fair Trade certified.
Levin said that group has a "good-faith agreement" with Aramark, the food provider at the SUB, to eventually move to 100 percent Fair Trade certified coffee in the future.
But she said in order to get Fair Trade coffee, students have to ask for it so Aramark knows there is a demand.
Lawrence Lucero, who works at Higher Grounds in the SUB, said customers frequently ask for Fair Trade coffee.
Lucy Buecking, a student and customer at Higher Grounds, said she was not aware of the Fair Trade Intiative but would be interested in buying Fair Trade certified coffee in the future.
This is a goal met, Levin said.
"Our objective is really to educate people on Fair Trade so that people know what they are drinking," she said.
