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by Andy Lambert, Peace Coffee Outreach and Donations Coordinator

Saludos compañeros. This is the first piece in a series of trip reports from Peace Coffee’s May visit to Guatemala. We couldn’t have made this trip without the amazing support of our friends and families who made extremely generous financial donations to Habitat for Humanity. Keep your eye on the next few newsletters for in-depth reports from Beth, Ryan and Scott following this introduction to our trip.

Hurricane Stan was the third major natural disaster in less than a year that directly impacted Peace Coffee and our producer partners. Following Hurricane Katrina and the Tsunami of December 26, 2004, we felt that it was time to put our support into action. What we decided to do was an easy decision; we signed on with the Habitat for Humanity office in Xela, Guatemala, and headed south to work on two houses near the city of San Marcos.

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by Anna Canning, Peace Coffee Production Manager

The other day someone asked me a question that I will borrow and make a little more simplistic here: "Why don't we teach them how to farm better?" It's a great question. At stake is what exactly we have in mind when we talk about Fair Trade, empowering farmers, fair wages, etc. It's the clichéd slippery slope: What constitutes useful assistance and what's patronizing?

My first thought was back to my recent visit to East Timor. We spent just a few short days in East Timor; while Peace Coffee does not currently buy coffee from Cafe Cooperativa Timor (CCT), other Cooperative Coffees members do and we were the first to visit the coop, which is the most successful business endeavor in the country.

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The Town Hall Brewery just released its third Peace Coffee beer. This time it is a Mocha Java Double Brown Ale (MJDBA)! Say that a couple of times quickly. 

Here is what Brewmeister Mike Hoops has to say about his new beer: "This is a great big strong brown ale aged on chocolate and coffee made by our favorite roasters...Peace Coffee. They set us up with their Birchwood Breakfast Blend for this beer and I can't wait. This will be a great sipper, dessert beer...I could go on, but really it's beer, chocolate, and coffee -- how can you go wrong with that combo? Cheers!"

Stop by and have a pint of the "MJDBA" on Town Hall’s beautiful patio or pick up a 64 oz. "Howler Growler" and enjoy at home.

Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery is located at 1430 Washington Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55454 and their phone number is (612) 339-8696. Business hours are: M-W 11am to 1am; Th-Fri 11am to 2am; Sat 12pm to 2am and Sun 4pm to 12am.

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by Melanee Meegan, Marketing and Advertising Manager/Food Critic

The surfer burrito is what gets the young folks here, says Jay Randolph, owner of Jay’s Café. The inspiration for this delicious avocado, cheese, egg, homemade chorizo and salsa came from Jay’s own travels to surf beaches along the coast. Each morning he would enjoy a surfer burrito for breakfast. When he decided to open his own place, he knew it had to be on the menu.

Jay has been in the food business for most of his life, and the only thing left for him to try his hand at was his own restaurant. After looking at a lot of different locations, Jay found the perfect spot on Raymond Avenue in St. Paul. The space was a perfect size. It was not too big, not too small and it already had a kitchen set up from the previous business.

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"Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

-- Howard Thurman, American theologian, clergyman and activist (1900-1981)

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• May 2006 Gardening Grounds by Nathan Steigman, Peace Coffee Builds With Habitat, Bike Map Adds New Spin to Art-A-Whirl
• April 2006 Discovering Fair Trade in Guatemala by Keith Tomlinson, Travel Notes from Sumatra, Indonesia by Jamie Schumacher, Birchwood Café Celebrates Earth Day, Birch Clothing Plants Trees, Donates $$
• 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*:
Beth Backen
Anna Canning
Derek De La Paz
Nick Johnson 
Andy Lambert
Melanee Meegan 
Scott Patterson
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

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