Few students think about the farmers who harvest coffee beans for their daily café mocha.

Most coffee sold at Penn State is grown by farmers who do not make enough money from selling the coffee to cover the cost of production.

But a new movement toward fair trade coffee is sweeping across campus.

Fair trade coffee aims to improve the living and working conditions of coffee growers by paying them more for the product.

While fair trade coffee, purchased directly from farmers at a higher price, is available on campus, this farmer-friendly alternative is seldom requested at Penn State.

Dave Gingher, assistant director of Food Services, said fair trade coffee is not a top seller. He said Chat's and Higher Grounds, located in the HUB-Robeson Center, brew fair trade, organic coffee daily, but regular coffee still outsells fair-trade coffee by 10-to-1.

Still, more than 200 college campuses nationwide offer fair trade coffee, said Valerie Orth, fair trade organizer for Global Exchange, an international human rights organization.

Farmers selling fair trade certified coffee get paid a minimum of $1.26 a pound, Orth said. The free trade market coffee is currently at 50 cents a pound, which is far below the cost of production.

"One of the main causes of poverty is free trade and fair trade is a positive solution to free trade," Orth said. "It is the only way to guarantee that farmers are making a living wage."

Dan Griswold, associate director of the Center for Trade Policy Studies at the CATO Institute, said the fair trade movement would not help coffee growers facing economic problems. He said the increase in supply and decrease in demand has driven down global prices.

"By raising the cost of coffee, all the movement does is further discourage consumption and reduce the market potential for coffee producers," he said.

Griswold said the only solution to the "coffee crisis" is for marginal producers to get out of the business.

The fair trade option is not only available by the cup. Students can also buy retail bags of fair trade coffee in the HUB. Although fair trade coffee costs more to purchase, it is sold in the HUB for the same price as regular coffee, Gingher said.

The fair trade option is not available in residence halls, and no plans are being made to bring fair trade to other locations on campus, said Barry Scerbo, director of Food Services.

"It's a cost factor," Scerbo said. "If my customer demands it, I'll do it."

Mary Peterson (senior-public relations), a member of Eco-Action, said the organization plans to focus this semester on informing students about fair trade coffee and making it available all over campus.

"Our dream would be to have only fair trade coffee on campus, but we would have to get more support if we want to do that," she said.

The group wants to organize a coffee tasting session in the HUB this semester to promote fair trade coffee.

Peterson said she believes most students will choose fair trade coffee if they are informed about the issue.

Alissa Davies (sophomore-nutrition) drinks about two to three cups of coffee a day and said she will definitely look for the fair trade option now that she knows it exists. She would be willing to pay extra money to support farmers by buying fair trade.

"If it's gaining a better life for the farmers and its just a little extra, it's not that big of a deal for students," Davies said.

A 16-ounce cup of Seattle's Best regular coffee costs $1.39, while a cup of fair trade coffee at Webster's Bookstore Café, 128 S. Allen St., costs $1.51.

However, not all students shared Davies' newly found desire to help poverty-stricken farmers despite an additional cost.

"It would depend on my financial situation," Jennifer Kelley (senior-landscaping contracting) said. "Being a college student, I can't afford to pay the extra money."

Elaine Meder, co-owner of Webster's Bookstore Café, believes that if you do not sell fair trade coffee exclusively, you are part of the problem.

"We are making a stand," Meder said. "We like to know that we are supporting the farmer's directly rather than making the importers rich."