Fair Grounds - Peace Coffee

Fall's Here - How Cool is That?
Hangin' at the Roaster's Guild Retreat by Keith Tomlinson, Head Peace Coffee Roaster
Gearing Up For Fair Trade Month by Liz Wawrzonek, Events & Outreach Coordinator
What People Love About Minnesota
Book Review: Brewing Justice by Heather Putnam, USFT Coordinating Committee Member at the University of Kansas
Roaster's Corner: The Joy of the New Coffee Harvest by Keith Tomlinson, Head Peace Coffee Roaster
Show Your Peace Coffee Pride and WIN!
Quote of the Month
Past Issues of Fair Grounds

September in Minnesota is one of the freshest, most beautiful times of the year. The early mornings and evenings have a tinge of the autumn crispness to come, but the days are still warm. It's great bike riding and hiking weather and the Peace Coffee crew is making the most of it! In this issue of Fair Grounds, Keith talks about his experiences at the Roaster's Guild Retreat, we divulge the results of the informal poll we took at the Minnesota State Fair, we offer a review of a great new book on Fair Trade, and we present tips for celebrating the upcoming Fair Trade Month in style. Grab a steaming mug of liquid happiness and read on...

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by Keith Tomlinson, Head Peace Coffee Roaster

The Roaster's Guild Retreat takes place over four days of August in Grand Rapids, Minnesota at the Sugar Lake Lodge. About an hour and a half north of Mille Lacs, the Sugar Lodge has been hosting the Roaster's Guild retreat for several years in a row. Last year was my first time and I was the lone roaster to go from Peace Coffee. This year Derek and Ryan accompanied me. We rented a car and, as I nervously survived my first time behind a wheel and traveling above 30 miles an hour in about six months, we discussed the various ways in which we could bike up the retreat next year. As it turns out, we weren't the only ones with alternative modes of transportation on our minds. The two women who run Gorilla Coffee in Brooklyn, NY spent a week traveling over 1300 miles via Vespas. You can read more about their visit to Peace Coffee on our blog. I spent part of the drive up from the Twin Cities trying to give some sage advice based on my experience from last year, but as it turns out the retreat is something you learn how to navigate on your own terms as the weekend reveals itself.

More...

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by Liz Wawrzonek, Events & Outreach Coordinator

This October, we can't wait to spread the good news that Fair Trade is not just a flavor of the month for us…although we do it all year long, Fair Trade Month is an excuse to pull out the stops to get coffee drinkers excited about the origins of their coffee. As you're riding that coffee high through your work or school day this fall, you might find yourself wondering: Who grew the exquisite Arabica beans that went into this delicious cuppa java? What exactly is fair trade? How do I know that it's actually fair? How can I let others know how to vote with their dollar and impact the fair trade economy? Hopefully these FAIR TRADE MONTH EVENTS will help you to answer those questions and get as excited about October as we are.

Oct 1 Morning Rush Hour Fair Trade Month Kick-Off Look for Peace Coffee's fair trade guerrillas as they serve the streets of Minneapolis and raise awareness about Fair Trade. Contact us if you'd like to be a part of our Kick-Off street team at 612.870.3440 and ask for Liz.

More Events...

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Peace Coffee served samples of hot and iced coffee for six days straight at the "Great Minnesota Get Together," otherwise known as the Minnesota State Fair! We asked people at the fair who entered a raffle for a Peace Coffee Summer Survival Kit to answer the question:

"What do you love most about Minnesota?"

Here's what the "nice" people of Minnesota said make our home state so great!

The Outdoors
The Great Lakes
The Smell of Pine Trees
The People
The Commitment to the Arts
You get to experience every season!
The Bike Trails
It's undiscovered
The Music Scene
The Promise of Snow
Food on a Stick at the State Fair
So Many Green Spaces
You don't have to look far to find ways to live in an eco-friendly lifestyle!
Minnesota Nice -- Go Somewhere else for a year, you'll find that it's real.
It's home

To read more about our adventures at the Minnesota State Fair check out the Wedge Coop State Fair Blog! Thanks to everyone who stopped by our table to show their support for fair trade and small family farmers.

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by Heather Putnam, USFT Coordinating Committee Member at the University of Kansas

It is not often that a researcher presents a study so complete as to reveal the complexities and possibilities of a social movement without obscuring its problems, as Dan Jaffee has done for Fair Trade in Brewing justice: fair trade coffee, sustainability, and survival. This book is a valuable contribution to a body of literature that tends to deal with its subject in a diffuse manner. Jaffee engages with Fair Trade holistically as both a market and a movement, with all of the inherent contradictions that go with that combination. In the background of Jaffee's narrative is Karl Polanyi's assertion that "the very idea of the self-regulating market is a fiction," a framework that provides a refreshingly straightforward starting point for evaluating what Fair Trade really achieves and what it does not. I recommend this book as a valuable tool to both Fair Trade experts and newcomers to the movement. Experts will know many of the discussions presented all too well, but will benefit from Jaffee's bird's-eye view analysis. Newcomers will gain an understanding that will hopefully permit them from falling into the trap of oversimplifying the issue.

More...

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This summer Gus Liepitz and Jane Gravender, being the super cool couple that they are, gave out samples of 'Jane and Gus Blend' (really it's MPR Blend as Gus works for MPR!) at their wedding this summer. From what they told us the coffee was a big hit. Congrats to them both! They're our Peace Pride winners 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: October 10th

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"The world is not respectable; it is mortal, tormented, confused, deluded forever; but it is shot through with beauty, with love, with glints of courage and laughter; and in these, the spirit blooms timidly, and struggles to the light amid the thorns."

~ George Santayana

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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*:
Stacy Adrianson
Anna Canning
Derek De La Paz
Kyle Feldman
Tom Hudson
Andy Lambert
Josh Lavelle
Melanee Meegan
Joe Moskowitz
Natalie Ryno
Ryan Seibold
Megan Tardiff
Keith Tomlinson
Lee Wallace
Liz Wawrzonek

*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

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