September 24, 2018 | Winnipeg, MB. The University of Manitoba’s Bannatyne campus has marked a milestone as the first university campus in Manitoba to receive the Fair Trade Campus designation from Fairtrade Canada and the Canadian Fair Trade Network (CFTN) for its promotion of social and environmental sustainability and innovation.
“With Fair Trade Campus Week kicking off across the country today, we’re thrilled to welcome the first designated Fair Trade Campus in Manitoba – the University of Manitoba Bannatyne campus! With strong outreach activities for students and a committed steering committee representing all aspects of the campus, Bannatyne is setting a fine example for other campuses in the province to follow. Congratulations to all who worked so hard to become the 33rd Fair Trade Campus in Canada.” – Julie Francoeur, Executive Director, Fairtrade Canada.
The Bannatyne campus, in partnership with Aramark and Dining Services, received the designation for its commitment to ensuring the availability of fair trade products, such as coffee, tea and chocolate, across all campus food service locations. The designation recognizes the University of Manitoba’s and Aramark’s efforts to educate students and staff about these products, including the importance of the fair trade movement.
“Achieving the Fair Trade Campus designation was a campus-wide collaborative effort between Aramark, Dining Services and the Office of Sustainability,” said Leanne Shewchuk, director of the U of M’s Office of Sustainability. “Becoming a Fair Trade Campus shows the university’s commitment to a more sustainable and socially responsible campus community for students, staff and faculty.”
“Universities and colleges are leaders in innovation – they pioneer projects and promote values that eventually get adopted across the country. U of M Bannatyne Campus has shown this in its leadership on the social and environmental justice front by becoming the first Fair Trade Campus in Manitoba, and the 33rd in Canada. We are excited to working with students, faculty and staff to continue the growth of the Fair Trade movement. Congratulations!” – Sean McHugh, Executive Director, Canadian Fair Trade Network.
Becoming a Fair Trade Campus not only means a higher visibility of and education around fair trade for the campus community, but also for all of Manitoba. “It is exciting to see the University embrace such an important social initiative, since their position as a true pillar of the Manitoba community will undoubtedly enable the message to reach well beyond the halls of the institution”, says Michael Yarymowich, Sustainability Manager at Aramark Canada. “We are proud to see Aramark’s U of M Dining Services team and the Office of Sustainability’s efforts come to fruition.”
The fair trade certification is a social and environmental standard to help protect food producers and the environment. Fair trade promotes safe labour practices, ecological and sustainable measures of production, and makes the supply chains clear by building meaningful and fair long-term relationships with farmers and artisans.
To earn the designation, the U of M and Aramark met a variety of requirements for the national program such as:
- All coffee, three teas and one chocolate product must be fair trade certified and provided in all food service locations on campus.
- Educational materials to raise awareness about fair trade must be available.
- A fair trade committee with staff, students and faculty must exist within the University structure.
- There is commitment to continually expand the fair trade product line to include items such as fruit and sugar.
For more information on fair trade or any other questions, please email us at sustainability@umanitoba.ca