Where can I purchase some Fair Trade coffee beans on campus?

Get your Fair Trade coffee!

Q:  Where can I purchase some Fair Trade coffee beans on campus?

Sue Jackels and Quan Le sit atop bags of the Fair Trade coffee they had a hand in developing with colleagues and students.

A:  You may remember that Seattle University became the first Fair Trade university in the Northwest last November. As part of the effort, faculty and students worked with students and colleagues at the Universidad Centroamericana Managua (UCA Managua), SU's Jesuit sister school and farmers in the Nicaraguan coffee farmer cooperative, CECOSEMAC ("Aroma of Coffee" Union of Multiple-service Cooperatives), to develop a new Fair Trade coffee. That coffee is now available on campus. Check out this update from Sue Jackels, professor emerita of chemistry, who has been active on the initiative: 

"I am so happy and proud that the SU students of the Global Business Club, with the leadership of (student) Braden Wild and Associate Professor of Economics Quan Le, have succeeded in importing, roasting and packaging the Fair Trade and Organic coffee of the farmers of CECOSEMAC, Matagalpa, Nicaragua! 

"This coffee is now offered to the campus community for sale in the Campus Store. It is called Café Ambiental and you will find it with the coffee mugs (of course) near the book stacks. The price is $12.95 for 12 oz. (Bonus: faculty and staff get a 20 percent discount at the Campus Store.) 

"Right now there is only whole bean coffee on the shelf, but the students are working on having some ground for sale. This is the first of several rounds of roasting and selling. The proceeds are to go into a fund that will eventually provide children of the coffee farmers with scholarships to continue their education past the sixth grade. 

"Since we are just now figuring out the details of how to offer the coffee, I would appreciate it very much if you could send me any comments about it that you think will help. I will relay the comments to the group. Thanks again to Braden and Quan and all the students from both SU and UCA who were involved in arranging for this great coffee to be made available to us! So get it quick, before it runs out, and we will let you know when future offerings are available. Looking forward to hearing from you."