UVic is saying goodbye to a local coffee shop, to bring in a franchise.
The Finnerty Express coffee shop, which is located under the book store next to the bus depot on campus, will be replaced by a Starbucks. But students and staff are opposed to the move.
A group of students have started a petition, called "Stop Starbucks UVic", to oppose the installation of a coffle corporation on campus. The petition has already received 1,800 signatures.
Jessica Schellenberg, a UVic student and member of the group, says there are several issues with bringing in a Starbucks. "The primary goal is to protect our local bakeries and our local coffee producer, because throughout that production chain we have more transparency because it's locally owned and we know where the food is being gown as well. And so something that we're very interested in is keeping control within Uvic's hands and the students' hands to influence the ingredients that are being served within our various facilities. And in the case of a franchise we actually lose that control, because all the ingredients are preset by them." She adds that Starbucks has been criticized for using conflict palm-oil, unsustainable practices, and doesn't uphold the same fair trade standard as the current coffee producer.
Hannah Estabrook is another member of the "Stop Starbucks UVic" group. She decided to move from Halifax to Victoria, because UVic seemed to represent values that align with her own. "When I originally decided to come to UVic as an Environmental Studies student, I was specifically told be a recruiter that UVic is unique in that it has a policy against allowing external food corporations on campus. And this was something that I valued. I value the autonomy and control that that gives students to influence the types of food that is served on campus, and it did actually influence my decision to come to this university in the first place." However, after learning about the move, she worries about the values that the school actually represents. "They have very ambitious and optimistic sustainability goals that are set out on their website. The programs that they have here have a large environmental focus, and I value those progressive values a lot. So then for the university to go against what it promotes, and has implemented in policy in it's sustainability plan, definitely leaves me feeling a bit embarrassed to be part of this institution and be funding it with my money."
Bringing in a Starbucks not only affects students and staff at UVic, it also affects local businesses. The Finnerty Express currently gets it's baked goods from a local bakery based out of Esquimalt. Brie Walsh co-owns the Lone Tree Bakery with her mother, and she says she didn't even hear about bringing in a Starbucks from the school, she found out on Facebook. "I was on Facebook one day, and someone had posted an article written on an online news group, and that was the first I heard about it when I read that article." She says the school still hasn't reached out to her.
Both the group and Walsh point out that there is a Starbucks just 5 minutes down the road, and they say bringing a Starbucks onto campus is unnecessary.
The current plan by the school is to have Starbucks installed by next fall. The "Stop Starbucks UVic" group hopes that doesn't happen, but if it does, they hope the student body will boycott the franchise, and instead choose to support local coffle shops.