Campus News
UWO first in U.S. to become a Fair Trade University
The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh is the first university in the U.S. to become a Fair Trade University by making a commitment to do its part toward ending trade injustices that result in millions of people living in poverty.
Fair trade products have been produced providing artisans and farmers with a living wage for their work and humane working conditions, while also protecting the environment. About 70 universities in Europe have Fair Trade University status, including the University of Birmingham and the University of Edinburgh, but UW Oshkosh is the first American university to do so.
To become a Fair Trade University, UW Oshkosh’s four governing bodies endorsed a resolution outlining its commitment to: selling Fair Trade Certified coffee, tea and chocolate in dining establishments, at catered functions and in department offices whenever feasible and within the confines of its food service contract; offering Fair Trade Certified food products and handicrafts at University stores whenever possible; and identifying and acknowledging Fair Trade Certified products and encouraging their purchase by students, faculty and staff. The Fair Trade program will be overseen by the newly formed Campus Sustainability Council.
“Sustainability goes well beyond being ‘green’,” said Chancellor Richard H. Wells. “It includes social justice as well. By becoming a Fair Trade University, UW Oshkosh is making a commitment to do our part toward helping workers around the world get a livable wage and humane working conditions. As a large institution, UW Oshkosh can play an important part in shaping the future and in supporting green practices on all levels.”
Becoming a Fair Trade University is not the first step UW Oshkosh has taken toward becoming more sustainable. The University is a member of the Fair Labor Association, and only works with vendors who have been inspected by the organization and certified as not subjecting employees to sweatshop conditions.
“Becoming a Fair Trade University is a natural next step for us,” said Petra Roter, vice chancellor for student affairs. “This is part of who we are and demonstrates what we believe.”
In 2002 the University became one of the first to endorse the Earth Charter — an international declaration of interdependence that outlines fundamental principles for building a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society for the 21st century.
In 2003, UW Oshkosh became the first Wisconsin university to join the Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership by agreeing to purchase at least 3 percent of its energy from renewable sources, making it at the time the largest purchaser of green energy in Wisconsin. As a result, the University won an EPA Green Power Purchase Award and was listed by the EPA as an Energy Star Case Study.
The University also received the 2003 EPA Leadership Award — the 11th U.S. university to receive the EPA’s highest leadership award. In 2004, UW Oshkosh won a National Wildlife Federation Campus Ecology Recognition Award for its campus environmental audit and in 2005, the university received a second Energy Star Award from the EPA.
In 2008, the University adopted a policy to purchase cage-free eggs and unveiled its Campus Sustainability Plan, which guides its efforts to continue as a national leader in responsible environmental stewardship, education, outreach and research.
Additionally, UW Oshkosh is one of only 41 universities in the United States listed on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Web site as a large purchaser of renewable energy.
The University will also be announcing this month the results of a carbon footprint study, conducted in collaboration with Johnson Controls.
“Sustainability is a long-term commitment and an important one for higher education. Fair trade is particularly important because it is focused on both social justice and environmental responsibility,” said David Barnhill, chair of UW Oshkosh’s environmental studies program. “One of the most important features of fair trade is that, unlike free trade, it empowers growers and workers in developing countries and provides economic security.”
Barnhill added that he expects that UW Oshkosh’s declaration will result in other universities in the U.S. seeking Fair Trade University status, leading to the formation of a formal organization to monitor and support their efforts.
While there are no other Fair Trade Universities in the U.S., there are Fair Trade Towns. Milwaukee was one of the first cities in the U.S. to become a Fair Trade Town.
- For more information about the sustainability initiatives at UW Oshkosh, visit www.uwosh.edu/sustainability.
- For more information about Fair Trade Universities in Europe, visit www.fairtrade.org.uk.
- For more information about Fair Trade Towns, visit www.fairtradetownsusa.org.
Yay — I am proud to be a student here as social conciousness is demonstrated as more than a nice idea…it’s about taking action. Congrats to the University system on these steps toward real progress regarding humanity and the environment.
Good for us. This is a great way for students to gain awareness and personally answer their own calling in regards to social and environmental concerns.
FANTASTIC!! UWO is a university of firsts, and this latest made our entire community all that more sustainable! I’m proud to call myself an environmental studies alum! ‘97
Its really interesting and exciting to know that The University of Wisconsin Oshkos is recognised as the first Fair Trade University.I really hope students will gain an opportunity to be aware about social and environmental concerns.
Gabish
Congratulations!
We are really happy to know that UWO is the first Fair trade university of US.
DEW is a southren Fair Trade organization working in Bangladesh to promote art and crafts of the country and to promote poor and distress artisan groups of DEW.
You all are welcome to visit our web site to promote our producers product to help their livelihoods.
Thanks,
Salam
Congratulations to the activists who worked hard to create a more socially just university! I am very glad to hear of the certification of Oskosh as a “Fair Trade University.” It is exciting to see how Fair Trade is becoming a part of the U.S.’s dialogue in terms of economics and its effects on people.
However, as a fellow Fair Trade activist myself, I must write that I do not quite understand how Oshkosh is stating they are the “first” such university.
The fair trade movement has developed over the years and the certification of “Fair Trade Universities” arose out of a larger movement, including many schools in the U.S.
Many other universities have pledged to use fair trade products and have gone through their student/university governments to do so, as well. United Students for Fair Trade (USFT) includes great examples of schools that use fairly traded products. Before even USFT, other schools developed legislation they passed through their student governments to have their universities use fairly traded coffee and then other FT products as they became available. I know this from first-hand experience. When I was a student at Xavier University in Cincinnati (2002-2006), the Fair Traders Club looked at other universities’ legislation that dated as far back as 2002, at least, to see the possibilities for our own school. We eventually passed Student Government legislation requiring and encouraging the use of fair trade coffee and other products as they arose and became feasible. Before passing the legislation, we ensured we had the university body’s support (including students, faculty, and food managers) to lay the framework to work within. This process took place over years for Xavier.
Looking at the texts over the past eight years or so of various schools’ fair trade legislation shows the development of thought, new fair trade products, and the movement itself.
By Oshkosh naming itself the first FT university, doesn’t that make the movement sound much smaller than it is/has been?
Has Oshkosh done so because the term “Fair Trade University” has simply now been coined? Or because of the breadth of their support at their university?
I greatly appreciate the students and campus’ dedication and hard work, I just would like to see it considered as a part of the larger context it is working within.
Esther raises some important issues. Whenever there is a declaration like this or a certification, it is essential that people ask pointed questions and demand accountability (something that is institutionalized here in the Campus Sustainability Council and an annual report on Fair Trade at UWO).
Let me offer this response. A declaration of being a Fair Trade University (FTU), with clearly stated criteria, has many advantages:
* it is a public statement to the campus, publicizing Fair Trade and the university’s commitment to it (important because most students, faculty, & staff have not heard of Fair Trade);
* a public statement of commitment to itself—something it now has to live up to and it can be judged by;
* a way of integrating and systematizing various Fair Trade initiatives on campus, by mandating a committee or other group to coordinate and promote efforts;
* a statement of commitment and values to other universities, which encourages them to do the same;
* a statement to the broader public about Fair Trade and the university’s commitment;
* a public notice to Fair Trade vendors, who learn that the university will be interested in their products;
Because of these benefits, at this point there are some 60 universities in the United Kingdom that have declared themselves a FTU. Similarly, European cities have been declaring themselves Fair Trade Towns, a movement that has recently begun in the U.S.
In all cases, there is a recognized need to go beyond selling Fair Trade products. Of course, selling Fair Trade products is essential and is the ultimate goal. But the declaration of being a FTU or a Fair Trade Town has been recognized as an important way for institutions to support the Fair Trade movement.
Although a number of campuses in the U.S. have been promoting and selling Fair Trade products, until a month ago no university had taken the step to publicly declare itself a FTU. One of the chief goals in making this declaration was to jump start a national FTU movement in this country. I hope and expect that other universities will make this declaration and a national organization for FTU will develop.
Before the declaration was made, we contacted the Fair Trade Town organization, and they contacted USFT. We were encouraged to proceed with our plans because it was recognized that this would catalyze a new dimension in the Fair Trade movement in this country. The declaration does not make that movement smaller, it helps strengthen it.