A box of tea that is sold at Roscoes coffee shop in Cate Center displays the fair trade logo in the bottom left hand corner. The logo lets customers know that the farmers that made the product they are buying were paid a fair wage.

Petitioning for Injustice

Students gathered in The Oklahoma Memorial Union to watch a documentary called ‘Black Gold,’ which discussed the fair trade movement; OU is currently a 50% fair trade campus. Fair trade is a worldwide movement that advocates farmers getting paid fair wages for their labor.

The student organization for fair trade or SOFT, has a mission to educate the OU campus about the fair trade movement. In the past the group petitioned president Boren to acquire fair trade products on campus, which got the campus up to its current fair trade status. The group is currently working on another petition to make the entire campus fair trade. This petition was started in the spring of 2007 and currently has over 1,000 signatures.

“Oklahoma is a really progressive university, for example the wind energy contract and the crimson and green campaign, so I know that if students are made aware then they will want to do something. When you buy a cup or bag of coffee you are voting with your dollars and you are saying that you support what the providers of the product do,” said Cindy Woods, SOFT president.

SOFT will present the petition to President Boren during the first week of December.

Click here to listen to Woods discuss what supporting fair trade means to her and why she got involved on campus.