The Acadia Environmental Blog

Alan Warner on Fair Trade to Kyle Steele

Dear Kyle

Thank you for your response to my letter.

I am not familiar with your requests for input from students regarding services and coffee in the SUB. I agree with you that the SUB’s services have gone down hill over the last few years and there is a need for development and change. However, I do not see this as a change in a sustainable direction. I was not aware the consultation with students and do not know the details but I will identify several further issues.

• I am guessing that the survey was based on a few simple questions and that if students identified Tim Horton’s as a choice it would have been largely for brand identification and perceived cost. I suspect many would see it as cheaper. I also know that many students would prefer fair trade if it was in a similar cost range. ( would very much appreciate a copy of the survey and the results if you could send it to me. Did you ask students if they preferred fair trade or not? Did you investigate comparative cost possibilities with the fair trade companies in the area? Did you offer students a choice based on actual cost figures, as well as labour and environmental comparisons, rather than just perceptions?

• I have reviewed the Tim Horton’s website on their sustainable coffee. It explicitly states that it is not third party certified with the international fair trade standards. It indicates that Tim Horton’s opposes fair trade certification. It makes no mention of Tim Horton’s paying a higher price for coffee relative to the basic international commodity price which has consistently been shown not to meet the survival needs of poor coffee farmers (http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/coffee/). Tim Horton’s does not disclose where it purchases its coffee from or for how much. It does say it provides some technical training to farmers but it does not say how much and cites a few locales, which is a drop in the bucket for a multinational corporation. There is not broad statistical information about its purchasing habits and we are asked to appreciate the few stories on its websites,. There is no mention on the website of any concern for the type of environmental standards that its coffee is required to adhere to in production. As I said, coffee is the second most sprayed crop in the world and there is no reason to assume that Tim Hortons coffee is not in this category based on their own website. In short the website makes claims about “sustainable” coffee but does not define what that means and asks us to believe that Tim HOrton’s is a good corporate citizen based on a few stories and examples.

• The recent Jantzi major third party ranking of corporate social responsibility among major fast food companies in North America (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060223.rmcsr0224/BNStory/specialROBmagazine/home/?pageRequested=all) gave Wendy’s/Tim Horton’s a grade of E-, whereas Starbucks received a B-, which again would be far lower than our two local, fair trade organic suppliers. A grade of E- will not get you an Acadia degree and I do not feel it should be enough to get a place in the SUB.

• Tim Hortons says it promotes waste reduction, which it may well do in pr campaigns, but its paper coffee cup uses no recycled material and is not recyclable. Coffee cups from at least one of the two fair trade suppliers locally are compostable. Tim Hortons cups are the most common form of litter in Nova Scotia. There is already tension between the University and the community around litter and trash on streets, this is likely to add to that tension.

In summary, many students are not aware of these issues and need education in order to make informed choices. I have not heard of detailed comparative research on the part of the ASU in comparing and offering students detailed options. I find it upsetting that the student union would ignore basic environmental and labour standards based on simple polling of students who have limited or almost no information on the context of options when there are local alternatives that get A or B grading ratings. This is not in line with the values of the University.

I suggest:

• that the ASU halt further negotiations with Tim Hortons and investigate and compare the opportunities with the two local companies. I then suggest that you hold a meeting and consultation with the student body and offer the options and comparisons, on cost, environmental and labour standards such that there could be education and informed choices before proceeding with any decision.

If you are planning to persevere with the current course, I will endeavour to educate the campus about the issues, and I am sure there are numbers of others who will join in such an effort, and controversy is not something the university needs at this point in time.

I would be value caring on this discussion further in the near future but unfortunately will be away as of tomorrow for 3 weeks. I hope you will halt your decision-making process and then I would look forward to a broad university dialogue on this discussion.

Sincerely

Alan Warner

General 9 April 2009 comments [3]

3 comments

annoyed with ignorance posted on April 11, 2009:

Mr Warner,

You have absolutely no say in what goes on in our building and should shut the hell up. Also YOU do not know what you are talking about, the ASU did look at all alternatives and did provide open venues for students to voice their concerns. WE WANT TIM HORTONS AND I DON’T CARE IF IT IS ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY OR NOT.
Neil Young posted on April 11, 2009:

If you don’t care about whether or not it is environmentally friendly then perhaps you should reassess your values. And just because Tim Hortons is the only coffee shop that many people go to and know about, doesn’t mean that it is good coffee. In fact, Tim Hortons’ coffee is disgusting watered-down garbage, and their food is shipped to the store. If you are ok with substandard food quality and crappy coffee, then I feel sorry for you, random angry poster.
Megan posted on April 12, 2009:

Dr Warner,

Thank you for taking the time to inform us on this matter.

I am writing because I would like to apologize.

I apologize that our student body remains apathetic on issues surrounding social welfare.

I apologize that the loudest voices in the student body lack grace in accepting criticism or input.

I apologize that we have come to study at Acadia only to ignore and undermine those we came here to learn from.

My hope on this issue is that the defensively harsh response from the ASU will wear off as they adjust to the idea that this decision is not actually welcomed by 90% of the student body. As was so clearly stated by your compassionate fan, it seems as though the ASU, or rather, student body has the final say in any changes that take place in the SUB. And so I apologize for not having exercised my rights as a student. I did not seek out the survey to become part of the statistic nor did I seek out any student decision making position, I am therefore as much to blame as our student leaders.

I have learned a lot from being part of the Wolfville community but clearly I have more to learn as I have not attempted to see that the same community forms on the Acadia campus.

Please accept my sincere apologies,

Megan Lickley