Pura Vida coffee - K-State Student Union

Pura Vida Coffee is a U.S. nonprofit organization that sells Fair Trade shade-grown organic coffee. Pura Vida coffee is available in the food court in the K-State Student Union until about 5 p.m. and costs less than $2 for a regular 12 oz. cup. Pura Vida coffee is available through Pura Vida's partnership with Compass Group, the leading food management company in the U.S., and Compass Group's affiliation with Chartwells, which provide food service to K-State.

Pura Vida coffee is one of the most ethically sound choice for students interested in Fair Trade. In addition to being certified through Fair Trade USA, Pura Vida Coffee contributes hundreds of thousands of dollars to developing coffee-growing companies through its nonprofit Create Good Foundation. The Compass Group - and by extension, Chartwells - contributes 25 cents per pound of coffee to the Create Good Foundation, which gives the money back to farmers in rural communities by building latrines, digging wells, and providing water filters to communities in need of safe water and sanitary waste facilities. 25 cents might not sound like much, but according to greenamerica.org, the market price for most farmers, who sell through middlemen, is only 30 to 50 cents per pound, while Fair Trade organic farmers earn a floor price of $1.51. If these Nicaraguan or Guatemalan farmers grew coffee outside the Fair Trade system, they would not receive much more than 25 cents per pound.

For these reasons, we give Pura Vida coffee in the K-State Student Union food court an A grade.

For more on the Create Good Foundation's projects, visit http://creategood.org/cgf_index.php/projects. For more on Pura Vida, see http://puravidacreategood.com.

-Katie