Contact:
Mark McLaughlin, SFU Ancillary Services, 778.782.3950, mark_mclaughlin@sfu.ca
Sasha Caldera, Fair Trade Vancouver, 604.916.1861, sasha@fairtradevancouver.ca
Dixon Tam, SFU media relations, 778.782.8742, dixont@sfu.ca


Simon Fraser University’s commitment to being a model for sustainable community development has been awarded with an official designation from Fairtrade Canada.

The Fair Trade Campus designation demonstrates SFU adheres to the objectives and practices of fair trade – better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and improved terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world.

“Being designated as a fair trade campus is important for SFU. We are committed to the principles of human rights and have embraced sustainable development,” says Mark McLaughlin, executive director of SFU’s ancillary services. “By supporting fair trade producers for coffee, tea, and chocolate, we are not only playing a leadership role locally and engaging our students in this mission, but SFU is making an impact in far-away communities.”

The university partnered with the Simon Fraser Student Society to work with campus food vendors to change their behaviour and buying habits to promote fair trade practices. They needed to source new products, conduct taste tests, and use up their existing inventory of non-fair trade goods. In the end, vendors discovered the price of fair trade products, such as coffee, was not significantly higher than regular coffee in most cases.

“Our main food service provider on campus is currently Chartwells and much credit goes to them for their efforts in bringing fair trade products to SFU,” says McLaughlin.

SFU has also changed its procurement policies and embedded fair trade standards in the way it does business. For example, all tenders issued by SFU for catering or food services on campus now include a requirement that vendors must provide fair trade coffee and tea.

“We are an excellent model for Canada,” says McLaughlin. “The fact that we are the first university to convince one of the big three national food service providers to make the full switch will make it much easier for those who follow. We have shown that with effort, ways of doing business can be changed, even in large organizations.”

Sasha Caldera, co-founder of Fair Trade Vancouver and also an SFU alumnus, says it’s exciting to see his alma mater receive this designation.

“Hundreds of hours were invested into this process over the past decade. Fair trade directly connects development, social, and environmental issues together with sustainable consumption. In receiving this designation, SFU is leading public institutions across Canada, and that's something which all Metro Vancouver residents can be proud of.”

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