Fair Grounds - Peace Coffee

Staying Focused, Keeping Cool
Bike Film Festival Rolls Into Minneapolis
Biofuels or Bust by Jim Kleinschmit and Mark Smith
Oxfam Red Cards Adidas
Roaster's Corner: Shout out to Brooklyn! by Melanee Meegan, Marketing and Advertising Manager
Show Your Peace Coffee Pride and WIN!
Quote of the Month
Past Issues of Fair Grounds

A summer heat wave may be gripping the U.S., but it hasn't kept the Peace Coffee crew down! We're staying cool with iced coffee drinks as we diligently work to bring you the Fair Trade beans you love so well. In this issue of Fair Grounds, we offer a short take on the International Bicycle Film Festival, feature a story on biofuels, and with the recent dramatic events at the World Cup final still fresh in our minds, include a story about Oxfam's red carding of Adidas over human rights issues. You'll also find an unusual Roaster's Corner and a new recipe. Grab a tall frosty glass of iced Peace Coffee and read on...

(Back to Headlines)

"Can I park your bike?"

The International Bicycle Film Festival rode through Minneapolis on July 6th through 8th. The festival, which celebrates all styles of bikes and biking, featured short and full-length films about road racing, BMX freestyle, fixed gear riding, surviving as a bicycle messenger, building bikes, Alleycat and more. Ultimately the Fest was about having a good time. And that is just exactly what the folks at Peace Coffee did!

On the opening night of the festival, Ryan (one of our roasters) and his wife Nora got dressed up in fancy prom outfits to ride a tandem bike with the Peace Coffee bike trailer attached (and they didn't fall once!). They pedaled themselves on the catwalk during the “glamour and grease” Bike Fashion Show.

Almost all of the films during the festival were sold out. Outside the movie theatres was a true sight to be seen -- rows of bikes parked in special valet bike parking zones! On the closing day, the Peace Coffee Crew participated in a bike parade around Minneapolis, ending at the Soap Factory for an outdoor screening of Pee Wee's Big Adventure. Bikers drank Peace Coffee and Izzy's Ice Cream Floats to cool off after the hot and humid ride!

The Bike Film Festival pedals it way to more cities across the world throughout the year -- Chicago is next and London after that! There is no stopping this bike train. For places and dates, check out the official website at http://bicyclefilmfestival.com/.

(Back to Headlines)

In June after returning from our annual trek to the Midwest Renewable Energy Fair in Custer, Wisconsin, Peace Coffee is fueled up about smart alternative energy and we are not the only ones. Jim Kleinschmit of Peace Coffee’s parent organization, the Institute of Agriculture and Trade Policy, and Mark Smith of Farm Aid have something to say about the growth of the bioeconomy.

Biofuels or Bust: Making the Bioeconomy Sustainable for Farmers and the Land

Did he say switchgrass?

The mention of this perennial grass and ethanol during President Bush’s State of the Union address points to some of the real opportunities and challenges presented by the emerging bioeconomy for sustainability and for the countryside. A momentous transition is underway from over dependence upon fossil fuel based production of fuel, energy, and plastics to wind, solar and bio-based alternatives. Technologies that allow us to make these products from grasses, residues, and other diverse agricultural and forestry materials offer a chance to revitalize the farming sector, improve and diversify the environment and create new, non-polluting economic opportunities for rural and urban areas alike.

But in the rush to launch and feed the bioeconomy, these multiple goals can be lost if not equally considered and supported. If agricultural and forestry practices used to harvest the needed biomass degrade soil and water quality, rely on high levels of energy, water and other inputs (many fossil-fuel derived), or reduce wildlife habitat and biodiversity, then the potential environmental benefits of this shift will not be achieved. The same will be true if the economic gains of this sector are swallowed up by multinational corporations and are not shared by rural communities, family farmers, and small landowners. Ensuring that the emerging bioeconomy reaches its full potential requires that three critical areas be emphasized: local production of feedstocks and fuels; local ownership of processing plants; and sustainable production practices.

(Back to Headlines)

Sportswear giant Adidas should stop back-pedalling, support human rights and deliver on its promise to insist on the reinstatement of dismissed union leaders at a factory that manufactures its football boots promoted by World Cup stars David Beckham and Zinedine Zidane, says international agency Oxfam.

"Adidas is now the top sportswear sponsor at the World Cup with two teams, Germany and France, getting to the semi-finals," said Kelly Dent of Oxfam International. "But off the field, the company deserves a red card for failing to support the human rights of workers."

In October 2005, 33 trade union leaders at the Panarub factory in Indonesia were sacked after calling for their pay to be raised in line with inflation during a one-day strike. The factory makes Adidas-Predator and +F50.6 TUNIT football boots.

In late May 2006, the Indonesian Human Rights Commission called the dismissals illegal and that the workers' human rights had been violated. Adidas indicated in a June 15 letter to Oxfam that it fully supported the Commission's findings and would insist that its supplier reinstate the dismissed union leaders.

Last week however Adidas reneged and now wants to clarify whether the Commission's findings are legally binding. Adidas also suggests that the workers may need to appeal against their dismissal to the Indonesian Supreme Court.

"We are standing up for what we believe is right, we refuse to give up hope and with support from Oxfam we are campaigning to get our jobs back," said Muhammad Ali, dismissed union leader.

"Adidas' code of conduct is meant to ensure its suppliers respect human rights," said Ms Dent. "But instead of upholding its own code, Adidas is leaving the union leaders to spend months, possibly years fighting the case through the Supreme Court. If Adidas' code of conduct means anything at all then the company should immediately insist its supplier reinstates these union leaders."

Meanwhile there are fears that more workers at the Panarub factory could lose their jobs after Adidas scaled back its orders from the factory claiming it is failing to meet delivery and quality expectations. Oxfam International is concerned that the buying practices of giant sportswear companies provides no incentive for factories to comply with even the most basic of labor rights standards.

"The sportswear industry is a valuable source of jobs in Asia. But consumers and workers alike have the right to expect that global brands will not exploit the people making their goods," concluded Dent.

For more about Oxfam and its Make Trade Fair campaign, visit www.maketradefair.com.

(Back to Headlines)

Shannon McCarville sent us this celebratory photo of the Peace Coffee All Stars. Congratulations, Shannon – you're our Peace Coffee Pride winner this month!

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: August 11

(Back to Headlines)

"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people...They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty."

-- Thomas Jefferson

(Back to Headlines)

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

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