Details of the Initiative

When we study global economics and global business, we are keenly aware that we are connected to people all over the world through trade. However, as supply chains are spread around the world, it is difficult to see by whom, where, and how various goods are produced.

Fair trade (FT) is “a trading partnership based on dialogue, transparency and respect” (International Fair Trade Charter). It aims to ensure justice, fairness and sustainability for the world as a whole and to realize human life and work by protecting the lives and rights of producers and workers especially in the South and protecting the global environment.

We are working to make Meiji University into a Fairtrade University in order to inspire people to think about a sustainable world. We hold FT lecture meetings, give classes at elementary and junior high schools, and sell tote bags made of FT certified cotton at Meidai Mart. For a limited time, we have been selling FT coffee and chocolate on campus, and at the Meiji University Festival, we have been selling yakisoba (Japanese stir-fried noodle) and churros using FT certified seasonings or sugar in addition to classroom exhibitions on FT. In academic year 2020, we sold FT chocolate in the original Meiji University package with the cooperation of 12 stores and coffee shops around the university. We will continue to be proactive in our challenge toward a sustainable world.

In July 2019, we sold FT iced coffee and FT tea flavored waffles provided by PARCIC (PARC Interpeoples’ Cooperation) near the campus with the cooperation of Cafe Pensee in the Academy Common. A lot of external customers visited the Academy Common, so we were able to show Meiji University’s FT activities.
In December 2019, we held a study meeting on banana paper certified as FT by the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO). Mr. Peo Ekberg from One Planet Cafe spoke about the importance of fair trade, Zambia, which is a place of production, and the status of SDGs initiatives in Sweden, where he is from.
At the Meiji University Festival in November 2019, we exhibited in a classroom and opened a food booth. We showed exhibits related to FT and the SDGs and sold FT goods in the classroom. In the booth, we use seasonings certified as FT every year, and that year we sold yakisoba using FT pepper and curry powder.
In December 2019, we gave a class on fair trade and a soccer class using FT certified balls at an elementary school in Tokyo. Hand-sewn balls still have the problem of child labor. Parents also tasted FT coffee and tea.
We sold FT goods on the first floor of Liberty Tower in December 2019. As a result of a survey of about 500 students of Meiji University conducted in April, many of them answered that they do not buy FT goods because “they do not know where they are sold”, so we decided to increase number of sales opportunities on campus.
At the online Meiji University Festival in November 2020, we gave a class through ZOOM as a Fair Trade School. The class was in the conversation style of a student seminar, so we got favorable comments such as “Very easy to understand,” “It was easy to listen to, like a radio show” and “I want to watch it again.”
In the fall semester of academic year 2020, we conducted the Meiji University Machi Choco(Town Chocolate) project. We collected the design of the Liberty Tower from the public and carefully selected two wonderful designs to wrap delicious People Tree’s FT chocolate. Twelve shops, including cafes around the Surugadai Campus, accepted their sale.