Since Monday, customers buying a cup o' joe in Loker Commons have been able to do their part to ensure that coffee bean farmers are getting paid adequately for their labor.

The new option is the due to the work of students who are less concerned about whether their coffee cup says Starbucks or Toscanini's than they are with a different type of label-the Fair Trade Certified seal.

The symbol signifies that the farmers who grew the coffee were paid a fair price, currently $1.26 per pound. TransFair USA monitors coffee sales in the United States and allows coffee roasters and retailers who follow their guidelines to use their seal, a black and white figure holding a pot in each hand.

Nine undergraduates, concerned with increasing the presence and awareness on campus of coffee bearing a Fair Trade Certified seal, have joined together to form the Harvard Initiative for Fair Trade (HIFT).

"People just don't know what Fair Trade means," says Jordan A.A. Bar Am '04, the Founder and Director of the HIFT. "If you mention the living wage, at Harvard, everyone knows what it is. But people just haven't heard of fair trade."

Although they are still in the process of applying for official University recognition, in under three months, HIFT has already convinced Harvard University Dining Services (HUDS) to introduce Fair Trade coffee to Loker Commons and the Greenhouse.

They held a teach-in on Tuesday, served free Fair Trade coffee at the beginning of the week, canvassed door-to-door around the yard and postered all over campus to spread the word about their cause.

But members say they still have more work to spread the word about an issue that most undergrads still have never heard of.