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Autumn
always seems to bring with it a breath of fresh
air and a renewed energy and this Fall is no
exception. Both at home and in the community, the
Peace Coffee crew is busy finding new ways to
promote Fair Trade coffee and keep you, our
customers, buzzing along. In this month's issue of
Fair Grounds, you'll find a story about a
farmer visit from Guatemala, another episode in
the continuing adventures of Brad the Bike
Messenger, an introduction from our newest crew
member, a community caravan update on our recent
activities plus a new trivia question, recipe and
Dr. Coffee. Grab a big ol' mug of your favorite
brew and read on…
(Back
to Headlines)
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 Peace
Coffee was thrilled to welcome two members of the
Guatemalan coffee cooperative Santa Anita de la Union to
Minneapolis this month. Santa Anita de la Union is our
second Guatemalan coffee partner along with
APECAFORMM.
The Santa Anita cooperative is
made up of 33 families of ex-combatants from the
Guatemalan Revolutionary Unity (or URNG), a resistance
movement that forced the Guatemalan army to negotiate an
end to the country’s 36-year civil war. After the civil
war, Santa Anita members obtained land through a
government land fund program. Fortunately, the mountainous
land they were granted was at the perfect altitude for
growing coffee.
Read
more…
(Back
to Headlines)
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by
Brad, the Bike Messenger
 As
someone who will use a bicycle some 360 days a year on
the frenzied streets of the Twin Cities, often hauling
over two-hundred pounds of coffee to this place and that,
it’s no surprise that modern-day luxuries are generally
lost on me. It’s not that I am an ascetic trying to find
greater meaning in life through denial of television
privileges and red meat. It’s just that the temporal
stimulation such things bring is fleeting and leaves the
mind longing for more of the same.
I’m
going somewhere with this so bear with me as I set the
scene.
September
12th was about as easy a Sunday morning as any we’ve had
in Minnesota all year. The sun was bright, the sky
cloudless and open for business. All that was on my
personal agenda was the St. Paul Classic Bicycle Tour. I
threw some stuff into my backpack and set out for the St.
Thomas campus on my fixie to meet up with the rest of the
Peace Coffee crew.
Read
on…
(Back
to Headlines)
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by
Andy Lambert
I
grew up on a skateboard and ice skates in Rochester,
MN - learning to walk and learning to ice skate go
hand-in-hand for many youngsters growing up in
Minnesota. After high school, I embarked on a 5 year
journey at the University of Minnesota where I
studied Political Science and Environmental Science.
I spent my last 9 months as a college student
living, working and studying in Merida, Venezuela.
This was an experience that completely changed my
life and world philosophy so I urge everyone to
travel outside the United States as soon as they
can.
Shortly
after graduation, I was offered a position with a
Minneapolis-based non-profit organization called the
Green Institute. For three profoundly influential
years with this organization, I managed an energy
conservation program that targets low-income
residents, renters, and small businesses in the
state's most poverty stricken and marginalized
neighborhood. The project is the first of its kind
in the country, an urban energy cooperative. This is
where I became convinced that co-ops truly have the
power to change the world for the better.
Upon
learning about the incredible job opportunity to
work for Peace Coffee, I quickly filled out an
application and anxiously waited for the phone to
ring. Four weeks and three interviews later, Jupiter
aligned with Mars, and I was offered the Outreach
and Event Coordinator position with the best damn
coffee company in the world! I couldn't be happier
than I am right now.
(Back
to Headlines)
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 The
First Fair Trade Soccer Team
Peace
Coffee’s addition of Fair Trade soccer balls to
our line up provoked our recent sponsorship of a
Peace Coffee soccer team. The co-ed team stars the
newest member to the Peace Coffee Crew, Andy
Lambert, as goalie. So far the team’s record is
1-3-1. The team looks great out on the field
wearing our organic cotton, cooperatively sewn
Peace Coffee shirts. Hopefully they will win a few
more games this season!
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 Labor
Day Picnic with a Political Twist
This
year's Annual Labor Day Event was the largest one
in which Peace Coffee has ever participated.
Twelve thousand people were in attendance. It was
a perfect day for a picnic with clear skies and
warm sun above. The beautiful weather calmed the
crowd as we waited for vice presidential candidate
John Edwards. Unfortunately, his landing at the
Minneapolis airport was delayed for over an hour
due to Dick Cheney, who was also in town that day.
Once Edwards appeared, the large crowd of union
members and labor activists began cheering and
listened attentively to his speech. With fewer
than 40 days until the election, Minnesota and
other battle ground states will continue to see
all the presidential candidates many more times.
If you are looking to get involved in the upcoming
election check out these great websites for ways
to participate: www.nationalvoice.org.
www.november2.org,
www.indyvoter.org.
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 Dinner
along the Greenway
The
Midtown Greenway Coalition hosted a well-attended
progressive dinner on Friday, August 27th. The
dinner started at the home of the Coalition's
board president, Bob Corrick, where we were served
an impressive menu of hors d’ouevres, along with
beer and wine. After an hour of enjoying the food
and admiring the beautiful gardens at the Corrick
residence, the group of 50 or so people mounted
their bikes and rode to the Bryant Lake Bowl (BLB)
for some delicious tacos, bowling and more
socializing. The dinner group seemed to grow a bit
at the second stop as we completely took over the
bowling lanes at BLB. The tacos were amazing and
Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin
joined the fun (although he didn't bowl). After
the entire Peace Crew (Anna, Beth, Andy and Brad)
unsuccessfully broke 100, the party moved on to
Council Member Robert Lilligren's beautiful home
on 3rd Ave. and 29th Street. By this time, the
group had grown to nearly 100 community leaders,
activists, elected officials and Greenway
supporters (many of whom found the free Peace
Coffee available in the kitchen and helped
themselves). All in all, the event was a complete
success. Kudos to the Midtown Greenway Coalition
for organizing this fun event and to Mother Nature
for providing us all with cool breezes and a
starry sky.
(Back
to Headlines)
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| We're
giving away coffee!
Think
you know a lot about coffee? Then enter our Fair
Grounds Trivia Contest. Click
here for our question of the month. Entering is easy
and it's FUN!
The
Coffee Knowledge winner for last month is Dan Flo of Minneapolis,
MN, who correctly guessed that 80% of the
world’s vanilla bean used for ice cream is grown
in Madagascar (D). Congratulations, Dan!
(Back
to Headlines)
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A
new poll showed that if the election was held
today, people would be confused because it is
normally held in November.
--Kevin
Nealon |
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Fair
Grounds is produced by:
Cooperative
Coffees
Contact
Information:
Orders
and General Information
Phone - 612.870.3440 or 1.888.324.7872
Fax - 612-677-3989
E-Mail - info@peacecoffee.com
Web - http://www.peacecoffee.com
Peace
Coffee Crew*:
Anna
Canning
Beth Backen
Rachel Hiltsley
Andy
Lambert
Melanee Meegan
Michelle Ramier
Jamie
Schumacher
TJ Semanchin
Scott Patterson
*We
work together to get the coffee out to our customers.
Although we have specific job titles, we all take turns
switching roles and putting in time where it's needed
most.
Peace
Coffee Bikers*:
Brad
Wilson
*Our bikers pack a mean trailer full of coffee. They are
speedy as speedy gets. Watch out, when they are on the
street, they mean business!
Fair
Grounds is designed by:
Starstruck
Design
335 West Gill Road
Gill, MA 01376
Contact
Information:
Don Kruger
Lynn Nichols
Phone - 413.863.7752
Fax - 413-863-7752
Web -
http://www.starstruckdesign.com
You
are receiving your Fair Grounds e-newsletter
because you told us you wanted to get it, or a good
friend of yours suggested to us that you would like to
get it. If you like it, let us know. If you want to
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Our e-mail is info@peacecoffee.com
If
you would like to unsubscribe to the Fair Grounds
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- or any other reason
simply send an e-mail to: newsletter-off@peacecoffee.com
and put your e-mail address in the subject line.
Remember,
you are always welcome to visit our website at http://www.peacecoffee.com
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