July 2010 – Delegation to Fondo Paez
Cafe Campesino Delegation & Fondo Paez' Chimicueto Coffee Farmers
Last Thursday, July 22nd, our delegation headed out to spend the day with the Fondo Paez producer group at Chimicueto, which is located in the Jambalo reserve in the Cordillera Central of southern Colombia. Read more…
Community Caravan
Tis the season… for coffee-related events:
Nov. 7th – Habitat for Humanity ReStore Grand Re-Opening – Jason served up lots of coffee samples at our neighbor’s unveiling of a newly remodeled store for recycled and reclaimed building materials. Thanks for inviting us and hats off to their new digs.
Tripp visits Univ. of Florida (again) – Tripp has been enjoying multiple invitations to speak with groups at UF. Most recently, he participated in a panel discussion regarding sustainability practices and also spoke with a group of graduate students at The Poe Center for Business Ethics Education and Research.
Visitors from Atlanta area – Our friend and Program Officer at Catholic Relief Services Southeast, Simone Blanchard, recently brought an interfaith group comprised of Christians, Muslims, and Jews to Americus. Their stops included a visit to our coffee house, a tour of Habitat for Humanity’s Global Village, and a stayover at Koinonia Farm where they learned some of the civil rights history of our area. We hope to see them again.
Nov. 14th – Our Café Campesino Grand Opening celebration was a hit. Thanks to everyone who showed up to support us! We had more than 50 people stop by our new coffee shop in the Sweet Auburn Curb Market to sample some of our favorite coffees and Maria’s signature cookies, scones and muffins. Our Atlanta crew is also selling holiday gift baskets and 1-pound bags of coffee for take home, so put it on your list of places to shop over the next few weeks. It is open Monday-Friday 6:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m.- 5 p.m., and parking is free with validation. Also, if you are in Atlanta, check out the Sweet Auburn Curb Market’s Holiday Tree Decorating Contest, which donates decorated trees to needy families in the Atlanta area. First place winners of the contest get a FREE beer tasting for 20 people at Five Seasons Brewing Co. in Atlanta. Learn more online.
Café Campesino Atlanta, inside the Sweet Auburn Curb Market, 209 Edgewood Ave. SE, Atlanta 30303. (404) 254-2029.
Nov. 18th – a live music event – Information Superhighway, from Chicago, Ill., warmed up the coffee house and warehouse on a chilly night with their super music that included many tracks from their latest album “First Morning”. The night was a hit and we hope to see them back here at the roastery sometime in Spring 2010. In the meantime, you can check out their MySpace page:myspace.com/informationsuperhighwaychicago
Nov. 21st and 22nd – Geoffrey, Bill, Dave, and a group of fair trading partners from Eastern Illinois University brewed and served more than 240 gallons (that’s right, I said GALLONS!) of coffee to many of the thousands who attended the School of the Americas Vigil at Ft. Benning in Columbus, GA. It was a bit cool and rainy but that didn’t keep the vigilers away and it certainly didn’t slow down coffee sales. Café Campesino is proud to donate all profits from this event to SOA Watch each time we attend (now in our 11th year). To learn more about SOA Watch and the annual vigil, visitwww.soaw.org.
Group from Eastern Illinois University that handled serving the bulk of the 240 gallons of coffee to the thousands of thirsty vigilers. We couldn’t have done it without their help!
Nov. 30th – El Salvador – Tripp just headed down to El Salvador with Cooperative Coffee’s producer relations manager Monika Firl to meet with our friends at ACOES as well as a number of other coffee cooperatives in the country. Tripp and Monika will be there for an action-packed week of meetings and producer visits. Stay tuned for updates as they become available.
Dec. 11th – Our Annual Holiday Open House – Join us from 7pm to 9pm at the roastery and coffee house for fun, food, coffee, and conversation at this Friday night event. We’ll also have some gift items and ideas available for your shopping pleasure. We welcome you to come and hang out with us to celebrate the season.
Dec. 12th- Café Campesino Atlanta hosts a Holiday Open House Extravaganza! The day includes a free Candy House Decorating Party- Café Campesino Atlanta provides edible houses and supplies and you do the decorating; Holiday Harp Music from 2-4 pm and a 10% Discount all day long on holiday gift baskets and whole bean coffee. Join them for the fun!
Dec. 19th – Café Campesino Atlanta will be celebrating the Sweet Auburn Curb Market’s Christmas Holiday Fest. Winners for the Holiday Tree Decorating Contest will be announced at 1 p.m. Learn more at sweetauburncurbmarket.com
***Holiday schedules for Americus and Atlanta***
Café Campesino Atlanta will be closed Friday, Dec. 25, Saturday, Dec. 26. and Friday, Jan. 1. Regular store hours are Monday-Friday, 6:30am-5:30pm and Saturday from 8am-5pm.
Our Roastery and Coffee House in Americus will be closed Dec. 24,25,26,31 and Jan. 1. Regular hours are Monday-Friday, 7:30am-5:30pm and Saturday 9am-1pm.
Fair Trade Friends: Fuller Center for Housing
Fuller Center for Housing
Café Campesino has welcomed the chance to be a sponsor of the 2009 Fuller Center for Housing Bicycle Adventure, a 1300 mile bike ride from Michigan to Florida. The ride will raise awareness and funds (the goal is $200,000) to further the good work of The Fuller Center: to provide simple, decent housing around the world for those in need.
As you might know, The Fuller Center for Housing was formed here in Americus, GA, by Millard Fuller and his wife, Linda, the founders of Habitat for Humanity. Millard passed away earlier this year and we know he’ll be missed as a cheerleader for this event. But his enthusiasm lives on and Linda’s work continues. We’re glad to pitch in some help and we encourage you to follow the bike adventure atwww.fullercenterbiketrip.com.
The ride begins on July 10th in St. Joseph, Michigan, and concludes on August 16th at Shell Pt. Beach, Florida. 1300 miles of adventure. Ride on!
Friends and supporters gather on the morning of July 8th as the bike trip van and trailer prepares to leave for the starting line in Michigan
Introduction
May brings significant transition for Café Campesino, with expansion around the bend, the commencement of a ten year anniversary that coincides with World Fair Trade Day, and a fresh newsletter team. Yet while steady growth helps expand our scope, we remain committed to maintaining the identity and principles of Fair Trade upon which we were founded.
This issue of Fair Grounds marks the first created by our new in-house editorial team, Jimmy Foglio and Stephanie Banas.
Jimmy grew up in New Jersey and attended Michigan State University. After earning a MA in American History from Rutgers, he worked as a journalist for two years, and eventually returned to school for a MA in Education. While teaching in Colorado, he continued to write freelance and published a memoir titled “Travels With Aspen.” Upon meeting his future wife, Tamara, they moved to Americus where she works for Habitat for Humanity International and he teaches.
Jimmy became interested in Fair Trade after meeting Bill and Tripp, where he found it was everything he had ever believed in, but until that point could never put into words. The goal is to blend his training as a social and cultural historian with a journalistic voice to diversify and transcend our audience and promote the growth of Fair Trade.
Originally from Chicago, Stephanie received a degree in Creative Writing from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. She has held jobs ranging from hairdresser to farmer, and currently works for Habitat for Humanity International. While working with Habitat in Guatemala, she became fluent in Spanish, and continues to collaborate most specifically with the Latin America and Caribbean region.
Stephanie appreciates Café Campesino’s drive to make Fair Trade ‘tocable’; that is to say, to make it something we can wrap our hands around. She’s impressed with Bill and Tripp’s passion for genuine conversation, and their steep commitment towards relationships surrounding coffee. From producing partners to fellow roasters to those of us that drink it, their choices constantly prove that coffee can be a catalyst for positive and creative change.
Reality hits us broadside when we choose to live with integrity, and Fair Trade asks that we make that choice. Stephanie finds that Café Campesino has done that, and looks forward to sharing part of their story.
We would like to thank our good friends Lynn and Don at Starstruck Design for all they have done over the years to produce our newsletter and for their unwavering support of Cafe Campesino and the Fair Trade movement. Thank you Lynn and Don!
Article: Building Community Right Here at Home
Koinonia and Café Campesino are good neighbors and friends. I thank the folks at Café Campesino for giving me this opportunity to shine a spotlight on our farm. We are located seven miles in one direction from Jimmy Carter’s hometown of Plains and seven miles in the other direction from Bill, Lee, Tripp and all the good people at Café Campesino in Americus.
Koinonia is a Greek word meaning “community” or “fellowship.” The word is oft repeated in the Christian scripture in reference to the fledgling church. What is the connection between the definition of the word and Café Campesino’s neighbor bearing the same name?
Koinonia is a Christian community with a very dramatic history. To this community of believers, following the teachings of Jesus means treating neighbors equally, loving their enemies as well as their friends, and living a simple, shared life. Established in 1942, Koinonia’s very presence challenged materialism, militarism and racism. In the 1950s and ‘60s, the community endured bullets, bombs and boycotts, but survived. Koinonia has gone on to give birth to many outstanding organizations including Habitat for Humanity International. Today Koinonia remains committed to living in community, providing hospitality to visitors and neighbors and working for social justice around the globe. We still get into plenty of trouble though!
The community supports itself by selling homegrown pecans and all sorts of delicious treats made in our on-site bakery. We also sell organic goods, fair-trade and community-made arts and crafts, and an excellent selection of books. A popular set of books are the Cotton Patch Version of the Gospels by Clarence Jordan, one of the co-founders of the community. We support our ministries through donations.
Hundreds of visitors come through Koinonia each year. We are a working farm with beautiful pecan orchards and a peace trail to walk. We are also a Georgia historic site with a unique museum exhibiting Koinonia history as well as the history of African Americans in Sumter County. As a place of spiritual renewal, we host all sorts of retreats, including private retreats and service retreats for both groups and individuals. Visitors are welcome to help us both with daily chores on the farm and with the work of our ministries. Housing and an RV park are available for guests. Community members, guests and neighbors gather at noon on weekdays for a community meal. You may also bring a dish and join the Sunday night potluck at 6:00 p.m.
Koinonia has inspired a much performed off-Broadway musical, Cotton Patch Gospel, and an Emmy Award winning documentary, Briars in the Cotton Patch. To find out more about us or to order our products, please visit our website at www.koinoniapartners.org or give us a call at 229 924-0391. Come see us. Everybody’s welcome!
Bren Dubay has been director at Koinonia since May 1, 2004. She and others are available to speak to groups or to help you give a presentation about Koinonia. You can reach her via e-mail at dubay@koinoniapartners.org, by mail at 1324 GA Hwy 49 S, Americus, GA 31719 or by phone at (229) 924-0391 or (877) 738-1741.
Community Caravan
On May 15th, Lee and Tripp traveled to Atlanta to celebrate World Fair Trade Day with our friends at Ten Thousand Villages, sampling Café Campesino coffee and talking Fair Trade with Ten Thousand Villages’ customers.
Reports have been circulating that while Lee and Tripp were in Atlanta, Bill was actually seen running in this year’s Run Americus, which benefits the New Horizons Habitat for Humanity. Bill and our loyal friend (and customer) Bonnie Sullivan served Café Campesino for the event, donating all proceeds to this great cause, though we’re still waiting for photographic proof of Bill’s run – we’ll keep you posted!
The weekend of May 21-22 is going to be a busy one for Los Tres Amigos – Lee, Bill and Tripp. On Saturday, May 21st, Café Campesino will be served at the Georgia Organics’ Savannah Organic Weekend Saturday morning brunch at the Starfish Cafe.
Later that day, Café Campesino will be at its longtime customer and dedicated Fair Trade advocate The Sentient Bean in Savannah from 3 to 6 PM, sampling our Fair Trade, organic coffee and talking Fair Trade with the customers of Savannah’s biggest and best coffee house. Just around the corner, Georgia Organics will be hosting an inspiring talk at the main branch of the Chatham County Library by Peter Broadhead, owner of Brighter Day Market, about organic foods and farming.
On Sunday, May 22nd, Café Campesino will be served at the Georgia Organics’ Savannah Organic Weekend Sunday Organic Dinner at one of Savannah’s finest restaurants – Gottlieb’s.
From 5 to 7 PM on Wednesday evening, the 25th of May, Tripp, Lee and Bill will be sampling Café Campesino coffee and talking about Fair Trade with our local friends at The Maze’s Casa de Caffe coffee shop, a new partnership of ours to move the beans out of the bag and into the cups of our fellow citizens in Americus.
Community Caravan
First of all, kudos to Geoffrey and “J” who pulled off another record-setting BRAG (Bike Ride Across Georgia) event. Besides the quantity of coffee they served, Geoffrey and “J” were impressed by the number of people who participated this year and the warm hospitality they received from the folks in Madison, Georgia…thanks to all for another great BRAG gathering…see you this summer at BRAG 2005 from June 11th to the 19th!
Lee returned from the SCAA in Seattle on a Sunday night “red eye”, spending all of his waking in-flight hours dreaming of a new 30 Kilo roaster to help him keep up with Café Campesino’s growth.
On Friday, April 22nd, Lee and Tripp make a short journey down to Albany to serve samples and talk Fair Trade at Tommy Mac’s Country Store…one of the best natural foods markets in the state of Georgia.
On Saturday April 30th, Tripp and Lee will be at Manna Grocery & Deli (featured in this month’s Customer Spotlight) to participate in their 25th anniversary celebration, serve samples of Café Campesino coffee and, of course, talk fair trade with the good people of Tuscaloosa, Alabama!
Tripp will be peeling off on the return leg of the journey to Manna Grocery & Deli to attend the All Things Organic show in Chicago on May 1-2, where he will contemplate the possibility of a Café Campesino presence at next year’s show.
Café Campesino will be serving coffee on May 14th at this year’s Run Americus 5K & 1 Mile races to benefit New Horizons – Habitat for Humanity of Greater Sumter County. Some say that Bill will actually be seen running in this race, with Tripp trailing behind if he can break away from serving coffee long enough!
Community Caravan
The grueling pace continues (but we love it!). While Bill plugs away at his Spanish in Guatemala…Spanish with a drawl…Lee and Tripp have been on the road quite a bit and will be heading out for more events in early April.
Their visits to the beautiful and inspiring Mayflower Coffee Company in Washington, Georgia, and Buck’s (Great!) Coffee Café in Highlands, North Carolina, provided valuable opportunities to talk Fair Trade with a variety of folks who clearly appreciate the movement’s principles, not to mention great coffee! Lee and Tripp also journeyed up to the Southface Energy Institute in Atlanta on March 4th to attend the organization’s monthly roundtable, where, of course, Café Campesino coffee is served!
Tripp will be traveling to Kennesaw, Georgia, on April 8th to participate in the Inaugural Student Peace Leadership Training & Symposium at Kennesaw University.
On Saturday, April 9th, Geoffrey will be representing us at Habitat’s Global Village for their annual festival.
On the following Wednesday, Lee will jet out to Seattle to attend the SCAA Annual Expo, as well as represent Café Campesino as a new partner in the Catholic Relief Services Fair Trade Program, which will be covered in our next issue of Fair Grounds.
Finally, Geoffrey will once again lead the charge to set up camp for this year’s BRAG Spring Tune-Up, scheduled for April 15 – 17.
Community Caravan
The last four weeks have been busy!
On Thursday, November 11th, Café Campesino hosted our annual open house…and what an event it was! This year, more than 200 folks stopped by the roastery, where Lee demonstrated his coffee-craft and the rest of us mingled with local customers, future local customers and those who were just plain interested! Thank you to all of you who took the time to see what we do despite the miserable weather. We look forward to continuing the tradition next year and maybe adding a BBQ or two next Spring!
On Thursday, November 17, our roving coffee bar traveled to Koinonia Farm to serve coffee at an evening seminar titled Human Rights, Globalization and Militarization: An Educational Experience on Injustice in Latin America. Clare Hanrahan from Asheville, NC, discussed her personal experiences and her latest book: Conscience and Consequences: A Prison Memoir. Tom Hanson, National Coordinator for the Mexico Solidarity Network, shared thoughts concerning the School of the Americas, the impact of NAFTA on the indigenous people of Mexico and the importance of fair trade.
On November 18-19, over 16,000 people attend the annual School of the Americas Watch Vigil in Columbus, GA. Each year, with the help of volunteers from Koinonia Partners and Eastern Illinois Newman Catholic Center, we serve coffee to thousands who attend this peaceful gathering. Funds raised by the coffee service are donated to SOAW. Thanks to all of our friends and supporters who attended the vigil, stopped by the booth for coffee and help raise over $1,000 for SOAW.
On December 1, we joined many other local volunteers at Habitat for Humanity’s Clarence Jordan Center to observe World AIDS Day. Proceeds from coffee sales were donated to The Bridge, a regional non-profit organization working on AIDS education and prevention programs.
Article: Staff Notes: Goodbye Sam, Hello Tripp
After a year with us, Samantha has decided to make a major life change–at the end of June she will be moving from the sunny south to the frigid north! Well, not exactly the frigid north, but we’re told Boston gets pretty cold, and that’s where she’s going!
“I’m going to miss Americus,” she said, “but I’m really looking forward to this move. I’ve been here for seven years and I’m ready to be back in a big city. I’m definitely excited but I’m also a bit nervous.”
Samantha will be looking for a position with a company that is involved in social progress and humanitarian ventures, much like Café Campesino. And, of course, she’s already planning to be at Boston’s famous fireworks on the Fourth of July!
We’ll certainly miss Samantha’s enthusiasm, wit and interesting choices of office music, but don’t worry that her absence will affect the running of Café Campesino. Lee and Bill’s longtime friend Tripp Pomeroy, whom they met while he was volunteering with Habitat in 1989-1990, has joined the Café Campesino team as a partner and general manager/director of business development.
He and his family recently moved to Americus, and in his short time with us, he’s already proven his immense value to the team, with his friendly demeanor and ability to put anyone at ease. In addition, he is thrilled that he can now commute to work by foot! We’re very excited to have him with us to help lead our team as we continue to grow. Check out a more detailed bio at the end of his article, located above.