Beginning on May 9, Dining Services at Carleton began serving Fair Trade Certified Organic Bananas and Fair Trade Certified Tea on campus in all three dining facilities, Burton, East, and Sayles Café. Fair Trade Certified Peace Coffee has been available at all locations for several years and students have been recently asking to expand this to tea and bananas. By combining the purchasing power between its Carleton and St. Olaf accounts, Bon Appétit was able to make this happen.
This is a good move for the earth and for banana farmers. Workers at conventional banana farms are exposed to high levels of pesticides, they are underpaid for the number of hours they work, and there is gender discrimination for women workers. Bananas grown using organic practices improves the land and workers producing crops that are Fair Trade Certified are paid a living wage, treated with respect, and given the resources to empower and enrich their local communities.