And the winners are….

The three overall competition winners are as follows:

• Semester in Sustainable Design/Build, Warren, VT: Yestermorrow Design/Build School provides college students with the opportunity for a semester of study and hands-on experience in sustainable design principles and processes.

• Vermont Food Education Every Day (VT FEED), Shelburne, VT: VT FEED works with schools and communities to raise awareness about healthy food, the role of farms and farmers, and good nutrition, and is a catalyst for rebuilding healthy food systems and cultivating links between classrooms, cafeterias, local farms, and communities.

• Still Growing Senior Community Rooftop Garden, Bangor, ME: The Hammond Street Senior Center is transforming its rooftop into a downtown urban garden. Seniors who can no longer manage a garden on their own or have downsized into apartments or retirement communities can use this garden to grow vegetables, exercise, and make new friends.

The seven state winners are as follows:

• Free Primary Health Care for the Uninsured of Greater Hartford, Hartford, CT: Through the use of a mobile medical clinic, this program provides free, high quality primary health care services to an underserved population that has no other means of accessing the health care system.

• Red Tomato, Canton, MA: Red Tomato coordinates marketing, logistics, and sales to create market opportunities for a regional farm network. By offering supermarkets one-stop access to season-long, farm-identified local food, Red Tomato increases consumer access to local produce and solidifies farm sustainability by ensuring that small and mid-size farmers can compete in today’s wholesale market.

• Common Ground Country Fair, Unity, ME: The Common Ground Country Fair is a gathering, in the spirit of a harvest festival, which serves to encourage the revival of agriculturally-based rural communities.

• Recipe for Success Culinary Job Training Program, Manchester, NH: This program helps unemployed/underemployed people gain the skills and experience to seek employment in the food service industry, rescue quality food from entering the waste stream, and provide prepared meals to thousands of needy people in NH.

• Project Enterprise – Small Loans and Big Connections, New York, NY: This project creates a “Center of Entrepreneurship” where traditionally under-resourced entrepreneurs can receive small loans and a suite of other services that will assist them in building businesses and assets for themselves and their families.

• DoubleGreen™ Credit Builder Loan Program, The Capital Good Fund, Providence, RI: This program makes $200 loans to Rhode Islanders with no or poor credit history to purchase and install programmable thermostats that lower their energy costs by $180 annually. Borrowers build credit through repayments of the loan and reduce their energy consumption, thereby reducing carbon emissions.

• Jr. Iron Chef VT, Shelburne, VT: This statewide competition gives students an opportunity to gain hands-on experience preparing and cooking nutritious, farm-fresh foods. The program highlights local agriculture and encourages students to make healthy eating choices and understand more about nutrition and school food systems.

That’s right, a lifetime supply.  We’re not kidding — Just ask our inagural winner, Bonnie G. of Muskegon, MI.  Bonnie was recently awarded a new Keurig Platinum Brewer along with her lifetime supply of coffee!

Bonnie is an avid sweepstakes player who loves finding prizes, both large and small.  She tells us, “Winning is all about persistence.”  Her brother is also a Keurig owner and raves about the product, so when Bonnie found out she won the sweepstakes, she was more than thrilled!  She prefers to enjoy a “regular” cup of Green Mountain Coffee, but on occasion will have a cup of hazelnut as one of her flavored favorites.  Congrats again, Bonnie!

So what does it take to be like Bonnie?  Simply visit The Perfect K-Cup Sweepstakes homepage, fill out the information – and you’re set!  There are daily prize giveaways with the chance at our Grand Prize which will be awarded in early 2011.  Enter early, enter often!  If you own a Brewer, this sweepstakes is just for YOU.

Presenting Amy and her crazy, crazy day:

Can’t see the embed?  View “Crazy Day with Amy” here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmbZyTNN49A

Amy’s day looked a little like your normal day?

…and, yes, you read that last item correctly: A cute little frog in a coffee cup planter.

Allow me to introduce Alex, Green Mountain Coffee fan and blooming organic gardener, who snapped a shot of this little fellow in a coffee-cup planter one day. Here is Alex’s froggy story:

I have a small porch garden outside of my apartment and I recently began growing tomatoes, herbs, and a few other plants here and there. I was starting some cuttings and seedlings on the porch right around Earth Day trying to get my fiancé involved with our organic garden. Like usual, I stopped on my way home from work to get some of your coffee and thought to myself, “What a good idea it would be to recycle coffee cups and reuse them as planters”. The frog seems to love the cool moist soil during the hot summer days down here in Florida. After seeing this frog in the cup, I decided to snap a picture with my phone just because I thought it was neat. Then I got to thinking about what Green Mountain Coffee does to support sustainability and eco-friendly living. So, I checked out the website and thought that my picture might be a good fit in representing those same ideas. The frog comes back every couple of days and hunts the bugs at night. A great addition, to say the least.

Thanks to Alex for sending us this great picture!  Here’s hoping your garden will be buzzing with friendly creatures to help your vegetables grow!

Going on an adventure this summer? Don’t go without our delicious Summer Safari® Blend in hand! And don’t forget, adventures and coffee are both best shared with a friend!

How to drink a Perfect Peach (on ice)

Step 1: Brew a pot, or plastic tumbler, of The Perfect Peach coffee at double strength.
Please Note: If you are brewing with a Keurig Brewer, add ice to your cup before brewing

Step 2: Pour hot coffee into a carafe, or tumbler, of ice. Add Simple Syrup* to taste, light cream, and more ice. Mix well.

Step 3: Topped with whipped cream or softened vanilla ice cream, and a peach wedge.

*Simple Syrup Directions: bring to a boil one part water and two parts sugar. Once the sugar is fully dissolved, remove from heat and let cool. Store and use as needed.