The canteen at St Monica’s College in Epping serves a great Fair Trade cafe latte.
The students kick around Fair Trade soccer balls on the oval, and the next cohort of year 12s is planning to buy Fair Trade hoodies.
The school is one of a handful of Fair Trade schools in Victoria.
That means it’s committed to supporting decent working conditions, better prices, local sustainability and fair trade terms for farmers and workers in developing countries.
Fadi Elbarbar, St Monica’s College’s social justice co-ordinator, embraced the Fair Trade movement years ago and quietly went about helping the plight of the less fortunate when he started at the school in 2009.
The teacher introduced a six-week crash course, part of the geography syllabus, about the benefits of Fair Trade.
Last month, Mr Elbarbar travelled to Costa Rica to meet Fair Trade coffee and sugar farmers.
The aim was to foster a physical connection between farmers on coffee plantations in the South American tropics and high school students sitting in classrooms in Epping.
“It’s easy to say that Fair Trade is a better deal for farmers, but it’s important to be able to put a name to the face,” Mr Elbarbar said.
He said the buyers of Fair Trade products were required to pay prices that covered the costs of sustainable production.
The premium prices also funded investment in social, environmental and economic development projects in producer communities.
While in Costa Rica, Mr Elbarbar organised for the local Fair Trade co-ordinator to Skype St Monica’s Spanish classes. He will incorporate research done on the trip into a revised syllabus.
“The trip has given me more drive to make sure other people are more consumer conscious,” Mr Elbarbar said.
He said the school’s social justice group had 80 members, demonstrating how keen students were to support the initiative.
Mr Elbarbar’s trip to Costa Rica was funded by Fairtrade Australia and New Zealand.
