Kirsten Bolinger
Public relations assistant
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

Student mission club COSMOS is promoting a campaign called Fairtrade Fortnight as part of its push to make changes to Avondale College’s food purchases.

COSMOS wants Avondale to buy more Fairtrade certified products to sell in the Out of the Box Café on the Lake Macquarie campus. The club and the café have been selling Fairtrade products since Fairtrade Fortnight began on campus on Monday this past week (May 3). COSMOS has also been collecting signatures for a petition it plans to present to Avondale’s administrators.

The promotion seems to be working, with director of food services Nick Hartigan reporting an increase in the sales of hot drinks. Nick is a supporter of the Fairtrade movement, but he is also committed to providing a cost-effective service. He trialled the use of Fairtrade products in the café this past year but received only a lukewarm response. “I can’t afford to stock a product that doesn’t move,” he says.

According to The Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand, Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world. “Fairtrade Fortnight reminds us our purchasing power does make a difference in poor countries,” says Brad Watson, a lecturer in international development studies in the Faculty of Arts and staff adviser for COSMOS.

Brad and the COSMOS team have repositioned the club this year—it now focuses on advocacy, development and sustainability. Says vice-president (public relations and marketing) Anjuli Cruz, “We belong to a Christian college and should all have a vested interest in what is happening in the world around us.”—with Brenton Stacey