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By Rachel Makabi

Daily Bruin Contributor

On May 21, UCLA’s Café Med will become the first hospital in the nation to serve fair trade coffee on all coffees except specialty drinks.

The regular coffees under the fair trade label will account for 90 percent of the hospital’s total coffee sales, according to Hospitalities Service Managers Rey Hernandez and Guy Scimenes, who added that the hospital will absorb all extra costs.

“We plan on raising awareness about our coffee to our customers without raising our prices,” Hernandez said.

According to Christine Riordan of the Environmental Coalition, fair trade coffee usually costs 5 cents more than regular coffee because it ensures that farmers get paid at least $1.26 per pound of coffee. This amount is substantially greater than the 30 to 50 cents per pound farmers usually make.

Furthermore, fair trade coffee is 80 to 85 percent organic and/or shade-grown. Under the shade-grown method, coffee is grown beneath the ground, thereby preventing deforestation while leaving rainforests intact.

Hernandez said the hospital had no difficulty bringing in fair trade coffee, and that it will probably offset the extra costs easily.

“The cost increases for the hospital are minimal, and I think that the customers will come to the cafeteria more often,” Hernandez said. “In the long run, the Medical Plaza is winning.”

But unlike the Medical Plaza, Associated Students of UCLA coffee shops – which include Northern Lights and Kerckhoff Coffee House – do not absorb extra costs, and students must specifically ask for fair trade coffee.

Currently, fair trade coffee is offered for one out of the six brews of coffee at campus coffee shops. In an ongoing six-month trial, ASUCLA officials are comparing the demand for fair trade and regular coffee to determine whether fair trade coffee will be sold permanently in campus coffee shops.

Since the debut of fair trade coffee in the UCLA shops in February, demand has increased slowly.

According to Bob Williams, director of ASUCLA food services, as of last week fair trade coffee constituted 10.8 percent of coffee sales for the one brew in which it is offered.

Riordan said she is optimistic that demand will continue to grow.

“We have had a lot of positive feedback from students, faculty and administrators,” said Riordan, a third-year Spanish and international development studies student. “More people are aware now.”

After nearly 10 months of campaigning for fair trade coffee by EC and other student organizations, the Sarah Lee Corporation, which services ASUCLA, certified 5 percent of its gourmet line.

Last week, Sarah Lee also certified fair trade coffee in 350 different Borders Cafes.

“It’s so empowering to see what students can do in working for social impact,” Riordan said. “Here you have a group of students who influenced the third largest coffee corporation in the United States.”

According to Deborah Hirsh of TransFair USA, the organization is currently negotiating terms of serving fair trade coffee with Seattle’s Best, the company that supplies coffee to UCLA residence halls.

TransFair USA is an organization that monitors coffee roasters to ensure they are following fair trade guidelines.

But Connie Foster, director of dining services, said she’s not sure if the recent changes will affect the coffee supply in the residence halls.

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