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We’ve
been thrilled with the exceptional response to our
Aceh Relief fundraising efforts. With your help,
we’ve already raised $6,000 through the sale of
our Tsunami Relief Roast -- 20% of our $30,000
goal -- so keep it going! Read more about Aceh
relief in this issue of Fair Grounds. Also
in this issue, Andy Lambert reports on his recent
trip to Chiapas, Mexico, Rachel muses about hot
chocolate and we’ve got a Community Caravan
update and Fair Trade Friend profile. You’ll
also find a new recipe, Fair Trade Fact and trivia
question, so grab a mug of Peace Coffee and read
on…
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reported by Thomas Fricke
 Since the week of January 17th, PPKGO and Trimaju have continued to provide emergency relief supplies to the 3,000 families of internally displaced people (IDPs) that have sought refuge in the Gayo Highlands. Many of these people are ethnic Gayos who lost their homes and many family members during the tsunami in Banda Aceh and other coastal areas. Most are still housed in tents, makeshift shelters, and a large meeting hall near the market town of Pondok Baru in the newly-created Kabupaten (district or county) of Bener Meriah. Over the coming months, the IDPs hope to either find lodging with family members or find vacant land to build homes and seek new livelihoods.
more...
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by Andy Lambert, Events and Outreach Coordinator
 From January 31st to February 5th, I had the good fortune to travel to Chiapas, Mexico and meet with Zapatistas, La Abejas, various NGOs, and the incredible people who grow our “Bird Mountain” coffee. Instead of writing this piece as a story of what I experienced, I’d like to offer the readers a look into my journal and read everything I wrote down, verbatim.
Read from Andy’s Chiapas journal
here.
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by Rachel Hiltsley
 Winter is nearing its bitter end. This is great news even without the added bonus of hot chocolate. Yes, rich creamy hot chocolate on a frigid February evening; perhaps with a shot of amaretto and some whipped cream. Sublime. I don’t bring this up without reason as I am now promoting the award winning Dagoba hot chocolate. Divine. Dagoba seems to know something the rest of us mere mortals don’t about chocolate. I’m serious. This chocolate comes in two flavors regular old style “hot chocolate” and
xocolatl.
When I say regular old style hot chocolate I don’t mean that nasty stuff that comes in a foil lined packet that you add water to. This cocoa has a velvety texture that led American culinary institute to the conclusion that this was the best organic hot chocolate in 2004. It’s everything you want a cup of hot chocolate to be -- simple but rich.
The xocolatl contains cinnamon and cayenne and it is so good! No joke, this stuff packs a serious punch, but on a cold February month it’s just the kind of punch you need. Warming like a shot of Glenfiddich 12 year, without the booze. The traditional Mayan chocolate beverage inspired this amazing concoction. We here at Peace Coffee have wondered if perhaps they had visions of our chilly plight here in the great north woods and created this beverage for our benefit. While this is not a discussion we take very seriously, when it’s 20 below out and you’ve got a hot mug of this in your gloved paws you just gotta wonder.
To
order these tasty hot chocolate varieties, go to:
www.peacecoffee.com/order/order.php
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 8th Annual Stupor Bowl
While most Americans were caught up with the Super Bowl the first weekend of February, the Twin Cities was humming with a different sport contest of equal stature, at least in the world of Bike Messaging that is. The Stupor Bowl is a 24 mile bike messenger race that attracts bicyclists from all over the country. Riders bike through the Twin Cities stopping at local bars and cafes. At each stop or check point riders may have a drink (this is optional) but more importantly it is how you earn points. The more points you have, the more likely you’ll take home the title of the Toughest Bicyclist in Town.
 This year the competition was fierce. Over 150 bikers participated. No city streets are blocked off and no permits are given for this race. It is meant to take place while everything is going on around it. Unlike years past the weather was surprisingly beautiful, no snowfall or sleet on the roads, but the ordinary daily bike messenger frustrations of traffic lights, motorized vehicles and pedestrians were unavoidable. We weren’t at the finish line to see who claimed the title but all the riders that passed by our checkpoint looked tough enough to be a Bike Messenger Champion of the streets of Minneapolis & St. Paul.
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| The website
www.thehungersite.com
began offering the Tsunami Relief Roast last month. For three years now they have sold our Guatemalan, Ethiopian and Sumatran coffees. If you have never visited this site, it is a unique online shopping portal that offers a wide variety of cause related products where up to 15% of every purchase goes to charities. It began in 2001 as part of the effort to end world hunger. For example with every purchase of our coffee on this site you are not only supporting fair trade coffee farmers but 25 cups of food will be given to the hungry in countries such as Indonesia, Bosnia, Honduras and Afghanistan. This food is distributed by America's Second Harvest and Mercy Corps. The online shopping portal has since expanded to include
The Breast Cancer Site www.thebreastcancersite.com
where every purchase helps fund free mammograms for underprivileged women, The Rainforest Site
www.therainforestsite.com
helps save endangered rainforest, the Animal Rescue site
www.theanimalrescuesite.com
helps feed abandoned animals and The Child Health site
www.childhealthsite.com
helps to provide critical health services for impoverished children living in developing countries. Visit
www.greatergood.com to read more about how your online purchases can support the causes you care about.
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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
winner of last month’s Coffee Knowledge Question
is Jaime Albee,
Member Information Specialist at the Co-op America
Business Network, of which Peace Coffee is a
member! Jaime knew that darker roasted beans
contain less caffeine and less acidity than
lighter roasted coffee beans (answer was B).
Congratulations, Jaime!
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"When tillage begins, the other arts follow. The farmers are therefore the founders of human civilization."
--
Daniel Webster
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- January
2005 Tragedy's Wake: Update From Sumatra, How I Spent My Floating Holiday by Brad the Bike Messenger, A Coffee Science Experiment by Rachel Hiltsley, Resident Equipment Expert
- December
2004 Great Coffee the French Press Way, The Best Coffee in Town,
Coffee+Beer=Friggin' Good. eh?
- November
2004 My Other Bike is a Biodiesel,
Biodiesel: It's What's Inside
- October
2004 A Peaceful Alternative to Petroleum,
Don't Just Do It. Do It With Justice
- September
2004 Santa Anita de la Union, The Beauty of the St. Paul Classic
- August
2004 Crema Café: Home of Sonny's Ice Cream,
- July
2004 Exploring
Our Origins: Ethiopia
- June
2004 Journey through the Life of a Bean
- May
2004 Report
from Colombia and Brad
's Big Bike
Adventure
- April
2004 Nicaragua:
Coffee and
the Community at CECOCAFEN
- March
2004 Fair Trade Friends: United Students
for Fair Trade
- February
2004 Mut Vitz
and APECAFORMM Trip Reports
- January
2004 10
Good Things about a Bad Year
- December
2003 Global Exchange Fair Trade Challenge
- November
2003 Barriers to Fair Trade: NAFTA on
Steroids
- October
2003 Dia de
Los Muertos
- September
2003 Report
from Cancun: Victory
for Fair Trade
- August
2003 Fair
Trade Friends: Oxfam America
- July
2003 Exploring
Our Origins: Sumatra
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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
suggest ways that we can make it better, let us know.
Our e-mail is info@peacecoffee.com
If
you would like to unsubscribe to the Fair Grounds
E-Newsletter because:
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- or any other reason
simply send an e-mail to: newsletter-off@peacecoffee.com
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Remember,
you are always welcome to visit our website at http://www.peacecoffee.com
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