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This month, all of us at Peace Coffee are thinking about our impact on the Earth. Okay, so maybe it's just because we celebrate Earth Day on April 22nd, but we'd like to think we're conscious about living lightly on the planet every day of the year. Certainly, the Fair Trade movement we support enables farmers to live a more sustainable lifestyle, and many of the coffee-growing cooperatives are also embracing eco-tourism. In this issue, Keith Tomlinson reports on his eye-opening first trip to Guatemala and Jamie Schumacher offers travel notes from her recent journey to Sumatra. We also spotlight Birch Clothing's Earth
"Day" activities and invite you to celebrate Earth Day at the Birchwood Café. All this plus a new recipe, roaster's corner and fabulous Peace Coffee Pride photo make for a tasty issue. Settle back and
enjoy...
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by
Keith Tomlinson, Peace Coffee Biodiesel Van Driver
 I
need to learn two things. I need to learn how to
be patient, and how to let things be imperfect. I
try to make all of the right decisions, in the
purchases I make and do not make, and in the
packaging I choose. I try to support local,
responsible, sustainable businesses when I can and
purchase Fair Trade products when they have to
come from somewhere else. But my yogurt containers
are plastic, my toothpaste company was just bought
by Colgate, and a large portion of my wardrobe
still wears the Gap label. Change takes time, and
the path is not always clear.
I
just learned about the concept of Fair Trade less
than one year ago, and I am just now getting to
the point where I realize I know very little about
it. Partially because it is such a vast and
complicated system, and partially because Fair
Trade itself is a process in progress, always
changing based on the additional information we
gather.
more...
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by Jamie Schumacher, Peace Coffee Office Manager
Feb 10th-Feb 24th, 2006
 I. The bulls
There is an area on the way to Lake Toba with particularly gorgeous architecture. A traditional Batak style house has eaves that curve and taper out to a point. However, in one specific area, the homes also have effigies of bulls at the end of each taper. I asked one of our traveling companions why the buildings in this area have this feature, and she proceeded to tell me the story.
In
Minang, many years ago, a Queen presided over this community. One day came when her land and people were challenged by King and army from another nation. The Queen, having already seen her share of hardship and war, did not want any more bloodshed to come to her people. She proposed a compromise to the invading King. Rather than fight another war, they could have a bullfight between the two
kingdoms...
more...
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| Celebrate Earth Day, Saturday April 22nd, with Peace Coffee at The Birchwood Café
 Celebrate Earth Day and help us reduce waste! Bring in your own travel mug and we'll fill it up with Earth's finest java brew; organic, shade grown, Fair Traded Peace Coffee. Of course the Birchwood Travel Mug is preferred and we'll be selling them all day at the special discounted price of $10, but bring in whatever you have (yes, even if it's a Starbucks mug). And Blue Sky Guides will be available at $5 off all month!
The Birchwood Café is located at 3311 East 25th Street in Minneapolis. See you there!
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Birch Clothing to Plant Trees and Donate Percentage of Sales in Celebration of Earth Day
 Earth
"Day" lasts all month at Birch Clothing with the Minneapolis eco-boutique's
"Buy a Bag, Plant a Tree" promotion going on through April 29. For every handbag, clutch, messenger bag, tote or satchel sold during April, Birch Clothing will, in partnership with Tree Trust of St. Paul, plant a young Pagoda Dogwood, Hawthorn, White Oak or other tree along the Midtown Greenway. The Greenway is a former railroad bed converted into a recreation and transportation corridor paralleling Lake Street between Lake Calhoun and Hiawatha Avenue, with extension to the Mississippi River slated for this summer. Trees are central to environmental stewardship because they filter pollutants from the air and soil, slow storm runoff, fight soil erosion, muffle noise, and serve as summer air conditioners and winter
windbreaks.
more...
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Nan Michaud of Maiden Rock, Wisconsin, sent us this imaginative photo, entitled
Hens on Caffeine. Congratulations, Nan – you're our Peace Coffee Pride winner this month!
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If you're passionate about Peace Coffee, show it! Send us:
— a photo showing your "Peace Coffee Pride"
— a short written testimonial about how much you love us
— an original coffee poem or haiku (three lines, 5 syllables in the first, 7 in the second, 5 in the last)
Each month, we'll choose one entry to appear in the following
Fair Grounds newsletter. If we choose yours, you'll win a pound of your favorite Peace Coffee coffee. Please send your entry to
mel@peacecoffee.com.
Contest ends:
May 8th.
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"Fair Trade supports some of the most bio-diverse farming systems in the world. When you visit a Fair Trade coffee grower's fields, with the forest canopy overhead and the sound of migratory songbirds in the air, it feels like you're standing in the
rainforest."
-- Professor Miguel Altieri, leading expert and author on agroecology
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- March
2006 The Scent of Sumatra by Anna Canning, On the Road at The USFT Convergence by Andy Lambert, Happy 20th! A Big Year for IATP
- February
2006 Tsunami Goal Reached, Fair Trade Fashion Debuts in Hong Kong by Patricia
Jurewicz, Senior Associate, Trade and Global Governance at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, The Red Bull Sky Ride, Cool Opportunities Sustainable Energy in Motion Bike Tour
- January
2006 Peace Coffee and Fair Trade Gain
Ground by Scott Patterson, Coffee Flavored
Beers Grow in Popularity by Andy Lambert, 10
Good Things About Another Bad Year by Medea
Benjamin, Director of Global Exchange &
Co-Founder of Code Pink
- December
2005 Make Peace, Not War, Students Help Grow the Fair Trade Movement by Andy Lambert,
Catching Up With the Crew, Think Tank Going to WTO Ministerial
- December
2005 Make Peace, Not War, Students Help Grow the Fair Trade Movement by Andy Lambert,
Catching Up With the Crew, Think Tank Going to WTO Ministerial
- November
2005 Hurricane Stan Causes Much Devastation by Jeronimo Bollen of Manos
Campesinas, On the Road With Brad...Continued, Winter Biking Tips from Hub Bike Co-op, Show Your Peace Coffee Pride and Win!, Customer Spotlight: Peaceful Valley Greetings, Meet the Queen Bee (and Worker Bees) by Andy Lambert
- October
2005 Coop Coffees Meets in Guatemala by Tripp Pomeroy, Peace Coffee Bike Team Season Wrap-up by Ton Tran, Peace Coffee Bike Grinder, Catching Up With the Crew, Peace Gear: Spiffy Socks
- September
2005 Green Beans Lost in Katrina's Wake by Scott Patterson, The Revolution Will Not Be Motorized by Andy Lambert, The Joy of Stovetop Espresso Machines by Melanee
Meegan, The Wanderlust Returns By Brad the Intrepid Bean Pedaler
- August
2005 A New Buzz...Chain Saw Art, The Valley of the Giant Green Man by Andy Lambert, Peace Coffee Events and Demo Guy, The Annual Milk Carton Boat Race by Melanee
Meegan, Peace Coffee Marketing Manager
- July
2005 Pedal Power: Peace Coffee Bike Team, FT Futures: Living a Fair Trade Life, CAFTA Is Not Done: A Call to Action
- June
2005 Extraordinary Ethiopia by Melanee
Meegan, Peace Coffee Marketing & Advertising Coordinator, Peace Coffee's 2nd Annual Open House, Aceh Tsunami Relief Fund Update
PPKGO, ForesTrade and CV Trimaju, Batter Up! by Monika
Firl, Coop Coffees
- May
2005 Fair Trade in Seattle by Scott Patterson, Brad's Nicaragua Journal by Brad the Bike Messenger
- April
2005 Fair Trade Travels and Other Adventures, Nicaragua Trip Brings Fair Trade to Life by Anneka
Kmiecik, Birchwood Café,
Fair Trade in a Volatile Market by Bill Harris, Cooperative Coffees
- March
2005 Andy's Chiapas Journal (part two) by
Andy Lambert, Converging For Fair Trade
- February
2005 Update On The Aceh Fund, Return To Chiapas (part one) by Andy Lambert, In Praise Of Hot Chocolate
by Rachel Hiltsley
- 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:
Peace Coffee
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
Nick Johnson
Andy Lambert
Melanee Meegan
Scott Patterson
Jamie Schumacher
Ryan Seibold
Nate Stevens
Keith Tomlinson
*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.
Fair
Grounds is designed by:
Starstruck
Design
335 West Gill Road
Gill, MA 01354
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:
- You may have more than one e-mail address on our list.
- Your e-mail address may have changed.
- You're going on a six month visit of Latin American
Coffee Cooperatives (Take us with you).
- 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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