I present without commentary this note from today’s Marquette NewsBriefs:
Beginning this month, the Brew Bayou and other campus locations will be serving Stone Creek Coffee.
Stone Creek, headquartered in Milwaukee, is widely known for brewing and selling fair-trade organic coffee. Fair-trade coffee guarantees that farmers and workers in coffee-growing regions receive a fair price for their product, a price that allows them to feed their families and send their children to school.
The lattes, mochas and cappuccinos served on campus will be made from Stone Creek’s Bold No. 5 Espresso Blend, a unique mixture that includes Socially Conscious Coffee from the Vittoria de Conquista region of Brazil. Stone Creek pays a premium on every pound of coffee, enabling Socially Conscious Coffee to provide education, health care and social services to people in the region. All Marquette locations will also sell fair-trade organic coffee.
“Stone Creek’s concern for others, particularly the poor and marginalized, reflects Marquette’s Catholic, Jesuit tradition of service,†says Toby Peters, associate vice president for administration. “Our partnership with Stone Creek not only provides our students, faculty, staff and visitors with excellent coffee, it also gives us the opportunity to explore additional opportunities for community outreach, both here and abroad.â€
Stone Creek, which is incorporated as Giri Corporation, will also present “Giri†Awards each spring to two Marquette students whose service work reflects the values and spirit of both the company and the university. The word “giri†means to live with a sense of social obligation. A monetary stipend that is part of the award will go to a service organization selected by each recipient.
The spin is supposed to make us feel all warm and fuzzy inside about the good deed we are doing. What remains unexplained is why we left Alterra, a well-known fair trade brand, for Stone Creek, also fair trade.
Wouldn’t it be funny if this were just like the Coke/Pepsi deal. Wealth and capitalism are appartently evil and sinful, but if one company offers Marquette more money than the other, we dump the one and grab the cash. (The Coke/Pepsi thing is still a source of bitterness for some – we’ll see if the Alterra/Stone Creek becomes one as well. Some sources indicate the Coke/Pepsi switch was also about social justice, not money, but it remains a festering point of inquiry.).
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I’ll be bitter, but unless something else comes of this I’ll only be extremely bitter about having to drive wayyyy downtown to get the Alterra I know and love…
You make a point, though – I was surprised because Alterra is fair trade and there’s really no social justice-wise differences between Stone Creek and Alterra as far as I know, but I definitely won’t be surprised or happy if it’s all about money.
[...] Daniel, at GOP3.com, brought to my attention news from today’s Marquette NewsBriefs that Marquette will begin selling Stone Creek Coffee instead of Alterra brand coffee. [...]
This move is befuddling on a couple of fronts.
If it’s about “Social Justice” then why not just stick with Alterra?
If it’s about making more money for the University, why not just buy a bunch of cans of Folger’s at Kampus Foods, sell it for the same price, and triple your profits?
I think I might be thinking too capitalistically/logically.
Sever-
It’s obvious. It’s because Folger’s isn’t free trade it’s just a big corporate machine out to hurt everyone else. I ask why not just install 14 more Starbucks on campus, I don’t wanna walk far for it. Am I the only one that thinks Alterra tastes like every other brand? Like coffee?
Kirk is still selling his personal blend of Alterra coffee at Ruby G’s. It’s amazing. Half price for college students on EVERYTHING every Sunday. Try the brownies… they rock.
end of advertisement.
To be fair, not all of Alterra’s coffee is fair trade. But I don’t know if that is the case for Stone Creek or not.
If it’s about fair trade, they should’ve stuck with Alterra. Alterra has more fair trade options than Stone Creek.
[...] McAdams has the latest update on the Altera to Stone Creek, “we say we’re socially concious but we’re really just capitalists” files: The change was accompanied by a lot of politically correct rhetoric, but Altera is as politically correct as Stone Creek. [...]
While I never envisioned myself posting on a conservative blog…I do feel like I’m in a position to clarify some of the fair trade confusion on this issue.
1) MU is not justified in claiming that the switch is fair trade motivated because the switch to Alterra three years ago came about after a student campaign with the specific intent to bring fair trade on campus. The brew was using Sara Lee at the time and the two vendors competing for the contract were Alterra and Seattle’s Best. While I don’t know the exact terms of the agreement, Alterra was chosen in part because they had a more extensive selection of Fair Trade certified coffee.
2) The University is not distinguishing between fair trade and fair trade certified coffee. The term fair trade is vague and can be used by anyone. Loosely interpreted it means that the coffee was bought in a direct as possible relationship between the business and coffee co-op, the coffee was harvested in an environmentally sustainable manner and a “fair,” above market price was paid for the coffee. Both Alterra and Stone Creek (and even Starbucks for that manner) would probably claim all their coffee is “fair trade.” Fair Trade certified coffee is actually audited at every point in the supply chain between grower and seller to ensure that fair prices are paid (minimum $1.26 per pound), fair wages distributed, quality standards met, environmentally sustainable farming practiced enforced, etc. Independent third party organizations perform the audit on both ends. The growers are certified by the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation (www.fairtrade.net) and the roasters are certified by an in country initiative, in our case, TransFair USA (www.transfairusa.org). When one compares the volume of Fair Trade certified coffee offered by Alterra and Stone Creek, MU is actually backsliding on the commitment to fair trade made three years ago. Whereas Alterra was able to offer 16 blends to choose from, making the Brew about 70% fair trade, Stone Creek has 6 blends. This will take the brew down to 10 or 20% fair trade. The “social conscience” espresso advertised by Stone Creek is not certified at this time (though I believe the co-op is in process of applying for certification).
So for what its worth, I agree with most of the sentiment and skepticism expressed thus far. And I should point out that I’m one of the rhetoric spewing liberals you’re so committed to debunking. Perhaps when we see new office furniture rolling (just a speculation) in alongside the new coffee, there may be a bipartisan demand for a more plausible explanation?
I suppose I am long fogotten at MU (having graduated in 2004 and left the country), but I was the guy who spearheaded the Fair Trade coffee campaign that brought Alterra to Marquette. We backed Alterra over other coffee roasters because of its wide selection of fair trade, because of its demonstrated committement in Milwaukee to environmental issues and because Alterra is a local Milwaukee community. Now, 3 years later, it is discouraging to see MU administration making closed-door decisions to reverse its previous support of Alterra, while at the same time claiming its decision is socially motivated. Toby Peters statement citing the values of Marquette is purely propaganda, and I am surprised by his carelessness in making such a claim to the media. I hold Toby in high regards, we always had a good relationship while I was a student at MU and I intend to ask him to clarify the real motivations behind this decision to change coffee roasters. Enough speculation, let’s get the truth and challenge Toby Peters speak the truth to the media. As MU students and Alum, we are just too intelligent and vocal to be spoon fed candy-coated explanations masking the reality that money talks at MU.
My shot out to Melanie, members of JUSTICE and the GOP!
Members of the GOP and other interested parties:
Here is a response from Toby Peters over the switch of coffee vendors. He also sent me some facts on the social responsibility of Stone Creek. What’s done is done, not sure what else to say.
“Chris,
Thanks for your note. First let me say that any inference that reflected negatively on Alterra was completely unintentional. Alterra is a wonderful company and does great things locally and globally. Summarized simply, Eric Resch in addition to offering a quality coffee, a commitment to great service, and very competitive pricing, also offered to provide opportunities for students to participate in community service activities that we thought our students would embrace.
I encourage you to learn more about Stone Creek coffee and Eric Resch. He will change the world.
Take care
Toby
——————————————————————————–
From: Chris Petrauskis [mailto:chrisp@jesuits.org.zm]
Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2006 8:16 AM
To: Peters, Toby
Subject: Switch of Coffee Roaster at MU…
Toby Peters ~
After so many years away from Marquette (since graduating in 2004), I write to you out of curiosity over the recent change of coffee vendors for the MU coffee shops. I hold you in very high regard, and therefore feel obligated to ask for your reaction to the MU News Brief that suggests the move from Alterra Coffee to Stone Creek was socially motivated, based upon Jesuit values. This also suggests that Alterra coffee was failing to live up to the values of Marquette University, which is potentially damaging to the reputation of Alterra Coffee.
The suddenness of the decision, along with the lack of transparency in the decision-making process, has led to widespread speculation from students, alums and other concerned Milwaukee residents that the change of coffee roasters is connected to a monetary contribution from a particular MU alumni, someone connected to Stone Creek coffee. If this is the case, especially if Stone Creek fails to live up to the same committment to fair trade coffee and community involvement as Alterra, then this sudden change of coffee roasters is truly unfortunate and scandalous.
I am asking that you please clarify to the public, either through an email to me (which I will forward on for circulation) or through another Marquette NewsBrief, the full and true reasons for the switch of coffee vendors from Alterra Coffee Roasters to Stone Creek Coffee. We recognise our responsibility to demand accountability from our MU administrators and therefore wait anxiously for your detailed response.
On a personal note, I recently read the book “Heroic Leadership” and refer to it often in my ongoing struggle for self-improvement. Thanks for the encouragement during my days at Marquette! “We are all leaders and we are all leading all the time.”
Many blessings,
Chris
********************************************
Christian Petrauskis
Social Conditions Research Project
Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection
01-290410 / 095-442396
http://www.jctr.org.zm / chrisp@jesuits.org.zm
“Promoting Faith and Justice”