A group of students is calling for Victoria University to become the first fair trade campus in the country.

The Victoria International Development Society (VicIDS) will be holding a Fairtrade Fortnight in May to promote fair trade ideals on campus.

Fair trade aims to produce goods more sustainably and distribute them in a way which sees producers in developing countries receive a more equitable share of the profit created.

To become a Fairtrade University Victoria would have to enact policy changes to show it embraces these principles.

VicIDS President Sarah Mead suggests the change would be a natural progression, and that Oxfam’s recent granting of “Fairtrade City” status to Wellington shows there is support for the movement in the broader community.

She says many steps towards becoming a Fairtrade University have already been achieved.

“It is notable that many of the cafes on campus offer Fairtrade options, and many other on-campus retail outlets (such as VicBooks) have Fairtrade products available,” she points out.

On May 9th from 5:30pm the group will host a presentation by a fair trade coffee producer from Papua New Guinea, followed by free fair trade desserts Students will be able to purchase a cup of Fairtrade coffee for a gold coin donation as part of Oxfam’s Biggest Coffee Break on May 18th in the Kirk Foyer. There will also be a petition available to sign.

VicIDS ran a Make Vic Uni Fair Trade campaign in 2010 in which they sent a petition to Vice-Chancellor Pat Walsh, but never received a response.

Mead says the group hopes many students will get on board to send the University a strong message.

For more information on the events, and how to get involved with the campaign see vicids.org.nz.