Helping heavy-eyed students stay awake this spring is the brand-new, 100 percent organic, Fair Trade coffee now being served all over campus.

Through Jordano’s Food Service Program, Green Star Coffee has taken over the coffee program at City College.

During the first day of school, Green Star and Jordano’s representative set up a booth on campus to let passers-by have a taste, and student Austin Brenner did.

“This is really good,” he said.

Under the original name Santa Barbara Coffee, locals Daniel Randall and Kevin Donnelly founded the small company in 2003. Randall is the coffee bean roaster and works at the Santa Barbara roastery.

In 2008, the pair went on to exclusively produce fully organic coffee and tea with the mission to support environmental sustainability through organic, Fair Trade, shade-grown coffees.

Organic coffee is better for farmers’ health, because there is no use of pesticides or contact with other chemicals, Randall said. Also, the fair trade helps supporting farmers’ health by requiring fair working conditions.

“Coffee is a perishable product,” Randall said. “And to make the difference taste-wise, Green Star roasts its beans very close to the actual brewing process with its local roastery.”

The cafeteria’s new coffee machines are making a great improvement in taste and the staff is pleased to serve Green Star products, said Cafeteria manager Enrique Valladares.

To insure the farmers’ working conditions make proper health requirements, Green Star Coffee uses the organization TransFair USA. This is why the coffee deserves to be labeled with the Fair Trade mark.

“We actually have an employer who is from Guatemala, and when he visits his family he also checks out the plantations,” Randall said.

Randall said that when students and teachers on campus buy the organic coffee, they support Fair Trade programs. The more interest and awareness it raises, the more resources will it acquire for further development.

Students who prefer tea to coffee can buy Green Star Coffee’s organic tea. No matter what your poison, the campus caffeine should help students stay bright-eyed and focused, the organic way.