Fair Trade to have seminar

By: Daniel Divine

Posted: 1/29/08

Fair Trade, the social movement which promotes a "fair" price for goods produced by farmers in Third World countries, came to A&M in the form of Pura Vida coffee. Many students aren't familiar with the concepts involved in Fair Trade, or the impact it has on poor workers and students' wallets.

The Association of Social Entrepreneurs will have a seminar at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday in 510 Rudder to educate about and discuss Fair Trade.

ASE President Andrew Pittz, a junior sociology major, said the seminar will explore different facets of Fair Trade, including the historical context, the environmental justice and social justice implications, global current events and what consumers can do at home.

"With Fair Trade, we can literally lift people off their economic knees," Pittz said. "The seminar will be structured as a dialogue exploring student, local business and international perspectives."

Senior anthropology major Annie Behrman will be representing the students, and the international perspective will be represented by recently displaced Kenya Peace Corps volunteer and A&M graduate James Cypert, who worked with HIV/AIDS issues and Fair Trade development before civil war broke out in Kenya.

"[I expect] a powerful dialogue on an important topic," Pittz said.

Pittz, and several other students who started ASE summer 2007, defined a social entrepreneur as someone who sees a need and fills it using entrepreneurial principles to produce results that are to be measured in social change, not in dollars and cents. So far, ASE has had several teach-ins on global topics, started a community garden in Bryan, engaged in serving displaced persons and traveled to see Nobel Prize-winner Muhammad Yunus speak in Austin.