| Coffee Campus -- BSC It is time for better coffee! James Hayes-Bohanan , Ph.D. Coffee Maven and Geographer Bridgewater State College UPDATED December 2, 2008 |
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I have
expanded this site's information about coffee shops, coffee roasters,
coffee tours, health effects,
and coffee preparation, and have moved that information to other pages. Please explore! |
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Over the past several years, I have
developed a growing reputation as an advocate of fair-trade coffee. I
have been pleased to see many students become passionate about treating
farmes and the land fairly. As of the spring of 2009, I will have
taught well over 100 students in my coffee study tours and seminars,
and they in turn will have shared their learning with hundreds of other
students, faculty, and staff. The excitement has caught the attention of print and broadcast media,
and I have taken my coffee lectures to numerous outside groups.
Somehow, I thought that all of this energy and enthusiasm would translate into an inexorable movement to make Bridgewater State College a fair-trade campus. After all, Sodexo, our exclusive food contractor already provides fair-trade coffee at two sites on campus, at least much of the time. Sodexo has also graciously accomodated my efforts to provide fair-trade coffee for special events. So, it would only be a matter of time before the campus becomes fair-trade, right?
Wrong! Social change does not just happen. People are busy; they have a lot of priorities. Even a great cause like fair trade needs advocates, and I have decided that I need to be a better one.
The impetus for this change of heart was the article College switches to fair trade coffee, about biology professor Richard Niesenbaum, who got Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania to go fair-trade. Interestingly, he was motivated to do so after a family trip to San Ramon, in Matagalpa, Nicaragua -- precisely where I have been taking students.
My intention is to make this web page a resource for those who wish to pursue a fair-trade commitment at BSC. I intend to post links to online communities, to successful campaigns at other colleges, and ot other resources that will support the effort.
Somehow, I thought that all of this energy and enthusiasm would translate into an inexorable movement to make Bridgewater State College a fair-trade campus. After all, Sodexo, our exclusive food contractor already provides fair-trade coffee at two sites on campus, at least much of the time. Sodexo has also graciously accomodated my efforts to provide fair-trade coffee for special events. So, it would only be a matter of time before the campus becomes fair-trade, right?
Wrong! Social change does not just happen. People are busy; they have a lot of priorities. Even a great cause like fair trade needs advocates, and I have decided that I need to be a better one.
The impetus for this change of heart was the article College switches to fair trade coffee, about biology professor Richard Niesenbaum, who got Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania to go fair-trade. Interestingly, he was motivated to do so after a family trip to San Ramon, in Matagalpa, Nicaragua -- precisely where I have been taking students.
My intention is to make this web page a resource for those who wish to pursue a fair-trade commitment at BSC. I intend to post links to online communities, to successful campaigns at other colleges, and ot other resources that will support the effort.