There’s a good chance you missed something on Dec. 2. It was a small but important event on campus. There were stickers, coffee and chocolate, eager students and community members, and handcrafted goods from around the world. Yes, you probably missed it—the Fair Trade Bazaar.

It was held surreptitiously in the Mississippi Lounge of Coffman Memorial Union, and was put on by the University’s MPIRG chapter. Allison Suhan is the co-task force leader for the MPIRG Fair Trade Project, and she — along with many other MPIRG members — has been working hard toward an event like this. Tuesday, Dec. 2 marked the chapter’s first Fair Trade Bazaar, but as Allison says, “It would be great if we could make it an annual thing.”

Several organizations were represented, one of which was University Dining Services. Their booth offered information on UDS’s dedication to sustainability in all of its campus restaurants. As their student representative said, “Fair trade is one of the bigger issues we’re taking part in,” by offering organic menu choices, connecting with the Midwest Food Alliance, the Heartland Food Network, and amplifying composting and biodegradable packaging efforts on campus.

Peace Coffee was also present, encouraging visitors to taste different coffee and chocolate pairings from their repertoire, as well as collect information on where their coffee comes from (from Ethiopia to Guatemala), where it can be bought and what it means to be Fair Trade Certified. All Peace Coffee products are 100% fair trade, and are even delivered in environmentally friendly ways: by bicycle or biodiesel.

The Bazaar included some hidden wonders as well, like the Mother Bear Project (motherbearproject.org) and The Expo Peru Collection (expoperucollection.com), both of which sang softly of our city’s capacity for responsible consumption. At the Bazaar, the Expo Peru Collection displayed gleaming rows of hand-carved gourd containers made by a family in Peru. Besides being an unexpected gift, a gourd from the Expo can help an entire community of artisans in Peru. The Expo focuses on buying goods at fair prices, but it also promotes education and development by encouraging the artisans it hires to keep their children in school and continue learning about what it takes to run a small business. The Expo wants consumers to hear the voice of those behind the products—not the middle man.

These and other organizations at the Bazaar represent just a portion of the work MPIRG students do on campus. Suhan said that in addition to fair trade, students have been lobbying for sweatshop-free products in the University bookstores. But almost more intriguing than the cache of pamphlets and goodies were the faces of students and community members at the Bazaar. Wandering the room, they were quick to answer questions and earnestly discuss ideas. Their dedication to fair and higher standards of living was contagious, and spoke to the importance of our daily decisions. Luckily, whether or not you stopped by the Bazaar last week, the opportunities represented remain available and at our fingertips.

UDS’ booth offered information on its dedication to sustainability in all of its campus restaurants.

Tags: fair trade