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Rick Peyser, Director of Social Advocacy Coffee-Community Outreach is currently traveling in Guatemala. Rick works and travels around the globe, visiting coffee farms where have outreach programs. Rick’s work specifically addresses poverty and hunger in the coffee-growing regions where we source our coffee.

Here is an update from the ground in Guatemala:

San Miguel Pochutla is separated by one volcano from the communities along Guatemala’s picturesque Lake Atitlan.  Nestled in the mountains above Pochutla is a small hamlet known as Candelaria, that is home to ASOCAMPO, a Fair Trade cooperative that produces high quality coffee for GMCR.
The co-op was founded in 2002, on what was a large coffee estate known as Finca La Florida.  The owner abandoned the farm following the coffee price crisis in 2001.  Many of the farm’s workers purchased the farm with the help of the Guatemalan government. Today over 100 families produce just over one container of coffee.  This is double their production from last year, and the co-op is planning on serious growth, hoping to produce 5 containers within the coming years.

The photo shows a coffee plant nursery that currently is home to 40,000 young coffee plants that will be used to renovate and expand current coffee parcels.  In the coming months this nursery will be expanded to support 100,000 young plants.

Thanks to the support GMCR is providing through Catholic Relief Services, the farmers and their families are now diversifying the use of their land, and in addition to growing coffee are growing food to eat and to sell, as an additional source of income.
The co-op has recently built a green bean packing plant, with the assistance of the Guatemalan government.  Green beans grown by the farmers will be sorted and packed by 37 employees (new jobs!) in the community starting before Easter this year. The project is being facilitated by Cuatro Pinos, supplier of French green beans to COSTCO.
ASOCAMPO is developing rapidly, yet is on a path that is supporting sustainable livelihoods for its family members.

Try some of our coffee that might contain ASOCAMPO’s beans.

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The President’s Day holiday weekend is typically one of the busiest skiing and riding weekends at resorts across Vermont.  This year proved to be no different, as thousands of visitors chose to learn what those of us who live here have known for generations — for winter sports in the East, you just can’t beat what Vermont has to offer.  We’ve been a little light on the white stuff so far this season, but all the ski areas were geared up, groomed, and ready to go nonetheless.

To join in the fun, we had a sampling team take to the slopes at Killington, where they dispensed hundreds of samples of, among other offerings, our delicious Fair Trade Winter seasonals — Wicked Winter Blend and Golden French Toast.  Many of the samples came from K-Cups, brewed on the spot using Keurig B60 Special Edition Brewers.

Many more samples were distributed by mobile brand ambassadors, armed with special beverage-dispensing backpacks.  This intrepid coffee infantry was able to bring fresh, hot Green Mountain Coffee right to folks in lift lines and around the base lodges…right where people needed it most.

You know what they say about Vermont — it’s ten months of winter and two months of really poor sledding.  So don’t worry if you haven’t made it up here to frolic in nature’s playground yet this winter, there’s still plenty of time to do so.

See you on the slopes….

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The snow is falling and we can’t deny it anymorel: Fair Trade Month has ended. But you know what that means? Time for the the Fairest Prize Drawing!  All participants who answered a question correctly in our Fair Trade Month Quiz were entered into our grand prize drawing. Through our super-randomized drawing system, our grand prize winner has been selected:

Congratulations Becke from Iowa!

Becke will receive a 12-month supply of Green Mountain Coffee Fair Trade Certified™ coffees.

Thank you to all who participated!  It was such a fair month  – see for yourself:

-Sandy

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Fair Trade Month Quiz:

Question 31: Name one way to support Fair Trade?

Answer: You tell us.

Haven’t answered our Fair Trade Quiz question of the day, yet? Well, why not? The answer’s right there! If that isn’t enough for you, the first 100 participants* get a sample of Green Mountain Coffee’s Fair Trade Certified™ Organic House Blend and all answers get entered to the grand prize drawing of 12-months of Green Mountain Coffee Fair Trade Certified™ Coffees. Go here to enter: http://www.eatdrinkandbefair.com/quiz.php.

*Sorry, employees and their immediate family members of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. are not eligible. But keep an eye out for our internal Fair Trade quiz.

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Now that you know what Fair Trade is all about, what can you do about supporting fair trade in your daily life? Yes, daily life: the time when Fair Trade blogs, quizzes, and month long celebrations are not running rampant on your computer screen.

You can start with food items, since that’s a habit that’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Many fair trade foods available these days in your grocery store – just look for the Fair Trade Certified™ label. Coffee of course is at the top of the list as well as tea. For those with a sweet tooth (AKA me) there are quite a few fair trade options for chocolate bars and cocoa. In general, healthy food markets and Coop’s will have a wider range of Fair Trade food products including rice, sugar, and fruit in addition to coffee, tea and cocoa. Check out TransFair USA’s Where to Buy section to search out the closest Fair Trade food items in your area. There you can find listings for local grocery stores as well as large national retailers who carry fair trade items.

Then you can just to other, non-edible products that carry the Fair Trade label. Some are more readily available than others but you can find Fair Trade versions of apparel, accessories, furniture, bedding, toys, arts, and crafts at retailers and websites, like http://www.wftomarket.com/. With holiday gift giving season just around the corner it’s a great time to commit to purchasing Fair Trade products – think of it as doubling your giving: once to the recipient, and once to the farmer.  Use the opportunity of gift giving to educate family and friends about the benefits of Fair Trade.

For up-to-date information on Fair Trade standards visit: www.wfto.com/, www.transfairusa.org, and http://www.fairtradefederation.org/

Thanks for the Fair Trade memores!  Remember: Be Social. Be Fair.

-Jasna

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Fair Trade Month Quiz:

Question 30: Name a Fair Trade costume you can dress up as for Halloween.

Answer: You tell us.

Haven’t answered our Fair Trade Quiz question of the day, yet? Well, why not? The answer’s right there! If that isn’t enough for you, the first 100 participants* get a sample of Green Mountain Coffee’s Fair Trade Certified™ Organic House Blend and all answers get entered to the grand prize drawing of 12-months of Green Mountain Coffee Fair Trade Certified™ Coffees. Go here to enter: http://www.eatdrinkandbefair.com/quiz.php.

*Sorry, employees and their immediate family members of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. are not eligible. But keep an eye out for our internal Fair Trade quiz.

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It’s October 30. Tomorrow’s October 31 – the last day of Fair Trade Month.

 

Oh, and that little thing called Halloween, too.

 

There are quite a few things you can do to make your Halloween Fair Trade friendly – hand out Fair Trade chocolate, go Reverse Trick-or-Treating**, decorate with Fair Trade gourds, and burn Fair Trade candles.   

 

But how about making a Fair Trade themed costume? I know, I know: Most already have their costume ready. But I’m here for the procrastinators and indecisive few out there who need a quick, easy, and Fair answer to their costume quandary. So, let’s begin:

 

1. Be Fair Trade Certified… as a Label!

Who’s the Fair-est Trade of all? Amanda from our CSR Team as a Fair Trade Certified label, of course!

 

Didn’t think when we said Be Fair that we actually meant “Dress up like a Fair Trade certified label,” did you? This is a quick costume that only requires poster board, tape, black markers and/or paint, and you! Draw the Fair Trade Certified label on a piece of white poster board. Cut out a hole for your face to peer through. Cut poster board straps to tape to the back of the hole to hold your head in place while keeping your arms free.

 

2. Be Fair Trade Certified…as a Mug of Fair Trade Certified Coffee!

 

Jasna of our CSR Team feels brew-ti-ful in her Fair Trade Certified mug of coffee.

 

How could we not promote a coffee-themed Fair Trade costume? Find a circular plastic trash can that would fit around your body.  Cut out the bottom of the trash can, being careful of sharp edges. Make a handle for the mug out of poster board that matches the color of the trash can. Print out your favorite Fair Trade coffee logo (maybe Green Mountain Coffee) and a Fair Trade Certified label and tape them onto the front of the outfit. Adhere straps to the inside/top of the trash can to keep the costume on. Roll up a red tube of paper, indent in the middle, and tape to the inside of the mug, so it is visible on the outside – a coffee stir!

 

3. Be Fair Trade Certified…as a Fair Trade French Roast Coffee Bean!

 

Maureen from PR says, “Ooh la la!” about being a Fair Trade Certified French Roast coffee bean!

 

The previous ideas too complicated? Here’s a simple one: Fair Trade French Roast Coffee Bean. Find a big brown shirt, baret, red scarf and/or fabric. Using black paper, cut out a curved shape and tape it to the front of the shirt (for the coffee bean indent).  Print out the Fair Trade Certified label and tape it to the shirt, too. Cut out and color in a mustache; add double-sided tape to the back. Put on the shirt and stuff pillows to make a round shape. Put on the moustache, beret and scarf and voila!

 

Happy Halloween!

 

-Kristen

 

 

** Reverse Trick-or-Treating is an effort to promote Fair Trade by giving Fair Trade chocolate back to adults while Trick-or-Treating door-to-door on Halloween. If you were one time, you could have signed up to receive FREE – yes, FREE – kits that include Fair Trade chocolate with information about how buying Fair Trade certified chocolate provides helps farmers. But it’s October 30 – so buy some Fair Trade chocolate and pass it out with gusto!

 

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Fair Trade Month Quiz:

Question 29: True or False: All Newman’s Own Organics coffees are Fair Trade?

Answer: True

Haven’t answered our Fair Trade Quiz question of the day, yet? Well, why not? The answer’s right there! If that isn’t enough for you, the first 100 participants* get a sample of Green Mountain Coffee’s Fair Trade Certified™ Organic House Blend and all answers get entered to the grand prize drawing of 12-months of Green Mountain Coffee Fair Trade Certified™ Coffees. Go here to enter: http://www.eatdrinkandbefair.com/quiz.php.

*Sorry, employees and their immediate family members of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. are not eligible. But keep an eye out for our internal Fair Trade quiz.

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When we first started sourcing and roasting coffee for Newman’s Own Organics, we took Nell Newman down to Guatemala to meet some of the farmers who grow organic, Fair Trade Certified™ coffee.

Nell is President of Newman’s Own Organics and the daughter of the late Paul Newman.  Like many people on their first trip to source, she was struck by how labor intensive coffee farming is.  Her trip to the La Voz Cooperative would make a lasting impression on her.

Nell Newman (left) and Lindsey Bolger (right) with Guatemalan girl [Photo: Bill Kinzie, 2much Media]

“I think it’ll really make me think a lot more about every single cup of coffee that I have,” she said.  “I don’t think about every little bean that goes into that cup of coffee that I drink, but it really gives you a very different perspective when you hike up to 5300 feet and see people carrying down your coffee.”

Nell was also impressed by the medical support, education, and better quality of life that farmers enjoyed because of Fair Trade.  See more about Nell’s trip and hear her thoughts in this brief video.

Green Mountain Coffee is proud to source and roast seven varieties of organic, Fair Trade Certified™ coffee for Newman’s Own Organics.

-Laura

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