Monday, May 13, 2013

Fair Trade retail grows 18% at Keene State College


When not fair Trading, researching and writing, I teach introduction to Quantitative Literacy (IQL), part of the core curriculum at Keene State College (KSC).  The course objective is to teach students to develop proper analytical skills when researching, examining, and presenting numerical data.  Applying basic statistics to data helps to create greater meaning.  Supplementing these stats with researched background information creates a context in which the data can be understood.  The following is a summary of  findings from the latest KSC Anual Fair Trade Report which was developed as a dual-class group project where all students participated in teams to research and measure Fair Trade on the KSC campus.  We used Canvas and in-class meeting time to organize our data, store our work, and coordinate the development and editing of multiple drafts.  

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR

·      Total suggested retail value of Fair Trade products sold on campus: $493,050, an 18% increase over the 2011 figures.
·      Total number of Fair Trade presentations and events: 11 delivered to or participated in by a total audience of approximately 2,504 people. Though there were 15% less events, there was 72% more total attendance.
·      Total number of KSC professors using Fair Trade in the classroom: 14
·      Total number of courses where Fair Trade is mentioned: 13

     A Brief History of Fair Trade at KSC

Fair Trade had become a big part of KSC.  The first Fair Trade product on the KSC campus was Green Mountain coffee in 2008.  In early 2010, Sodexo began carrying Equal Exchange chocolate and tea in response to student requests.  Sodexo also began offering the Aspretto Fair Trade coffee line that they had developed themselves at the Dining Commons later that same year.  The next year, the Bookstore stocked Fair Trade t-shirts for the first time.  Fair Trade was an idea that was spreading through-out the student body, and it was enough of one to have motivated students to form a Fair Trade Club. By 2012 Fair Trade retail value had topped $500,000. The year 2013 saw the introduction of two new Fair Trade products, Numi Tea and Maine Root Soda, with Fair Trade apparel soon to come as well.

Here's some visual highlights:



 

      For a full copy of the 17-page report (in a dpf file).  Please contact Professor Tamara Stenn at: tstenn(at)keene.edu.



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