Fair Trade Farmers Share Their Stories | Fair Trade USA

Fair Trade Farmers Share Their Stories | Fair Trade USA

04/26/2011 - 4:03 PM

On Friday, April 29, at 9am PT/12pm ET, you’re invited to tune in to our live USTREAM broadcast on the Fair Trade Certified Facebook page to hear from four international coffee and cocoa farmers about how Fair Trade has impacted their lives and their communities. Viewers will also be able to join the conversation by submitting questions for the panelists to answer during the broadcast.

In preparation for World Fair Trade Day, Saturday May 14, Fair Trade USA is working hard to Wake Up the World to the benefits of Fair Trade. Through the Fair Trade model over 1.2 million farmers have been able to forge better business opportunities and cut out intermediaries, resulting in tremendous impact for these workers and thier families. Fair Trade premiums that provide community development funds help enable cooperatives and associations to invest in their communities when they lack economic opportunities. This Friday, you’ll have the opportunity to meet a few of these amazing people from the comfort of your own home, school or office.

We welcome you to tune in to our live broadcast and online discussion to hear how Fair Trade works on the ground, and about the power of the consumer to create global change through a daily cup of coffee, chocolate bar or banana. Fair Trade USA President & CEO Paul Rice will engage in a lively discussion with farmers from Costa Rica, Indonesia, Kenya and Peru about how Fair Trade has benefited their families, their communities and the environment. This is a rare opportunity for the farmers to communicate directly with the American consumers who buy their products, finally bringing the supply chain full circle.

The Line-Up

Paul Rice, President & CEO, Fair Trade USA

Wendy Campos Barboza, CoopeTarrazú, Costa Rica

Armia Shikin Mandago, Permata Gayo Cooperative, Indonesia

Raymond Gitau Wanyugi, Ndumberi Coffee Growers Society, Kenya

Isaac Zúñiga Aguilar, Cooperativa Agraria Industrial Naranjillo, Peru

Get Involved

Viewers are encouraged to ask questions during the broadcast by posting them on the Fair Trade Certified Facebook page or using #FairTradeDay on Twitter.

The Perfect Gift

Article by: Lindsay Olson

As the holidays draw near, we know you might be a bit stressed about your shopping list. Well, the BuyWell team is here for you this holiday season! We’ve decided to relieve some of your stress by tackling that holiday shopping list of yours and providing you with a few fabulous gift ideas for that “hard to buy for” crowd.

The Guy Who Has Everything
You know the type: his garage is packed with every tool, car and shiny man-toy imaginable. He’s got every gadget and gizmo a-plenty, and he’s read every book ever written. What on earth do you get this guy?

How about coffee? For the guy who has everything, BuyWell’s Screaming Monkey blend is perfect! Why? Well, does he have a screaming monkey? We didn’t think so. Plus, its wild, fruity flavor will give him just the kick he needs to start his day. How else will he find the energy to play with all of his toys?

The HumanitarianShe’s compassionate, energetic, cares about every person on the planet, and is the mother of twenty-seven. While she’s well traveled, highly educated and deeply concerned about the issues facing the world today, she is also incredibly hard to shop for this time of year.

The answer: Café Hope, BuyWell’s fair-trade single origin straight from the female farmers of Peru. This dark roast is the perfect blend of flavor and hope, as proceeds from each bag go directly to the women who farm these fabulously golden beans. Café Hope is not only a delicious treat for your loved one; it’s a gift that helps make the world a better place. What more could you ask for?

The “Returner”Last year, you got her a pair of mittens…which she exchanged for a new purse. The year before, you gave a gorgeous cashmere sweater…which she returned for credit toward Jimmy Choos. You can’t win with this one. Every year, she returns your gift for something “better.”

But what could possibly be better than a fragrant bag of BuyWell’s Luna Perfetta? This rich, full-bodied Italian roast is as sumptuous as it is uncomplicated (unlike, perhaps, the recipient). A cup of Luna Perfetta goes perfectly with gorgeous eyes and great conversation underneath a perfect moon. Trust us; it doesn’t get better than that.

The Workaholic (aka The Over-Achiever)Let’s be honest: you’ll be lucky if this guy even shows up for the celebrations this year. He is the successful and driven member of the family—which is code for “always at the office.” But you love him anyway, and want to see him succeed.

Which is why a gift basket with fair-trade products, including BuyWell’s Blackbird Espresso, is the perfect way to help him achieve his goals this holiday season. Blackbird Espresso is not only great coffee, it’s also excellent business! Since all of BuyWell’s products are fair-trade, each purchase promotes good business practices world-wide. That driven overachiever of yours will not only appreciate the delicious flavor of Blackbird Espresso, he’ll also recognize your business-savvy. (Careful, though…he may start inviting you to board meetings.)

So…get the idea? It’s a simple fact: BuyWell coffees are the perfect gift for those hard-to-buy-for folks, as well as the rest of them! And while you’re at it, get yourself a treat, too. After all, you’ve earned it! Check out BuyWell on Amazon for great deals on 3 packs!

Want some more ideas for fair-trade gifts? Check out our list of vendors here.

http://www.yobelmarket.com/

http://www.altereco-usa.com/main.php

http://www.divinechocolate.com/

http://www.ourmomentum.com/

Introducing Café Hope an all womens coffee from Peru

Colorado Springs, Colo. ‐‐ BuyWell Fair Trade Coffee introduced a new product to its line of extraordinary coffees: Café Hope, a dark roast single origin coffee, grown on all‐women farms in Peru.

This Fair Trade Certified© organic coffee, to be added to BuyWell’s main offerings, will give a larger proportion of sales to be paid directly back to the women farmers.
“It’s important we know our famers and how they live, it reminds us why buying Fair Trade Certified© coffee and other fair trade products is so important,” said Bob Perrine, CEO of BuyWell International.

In July 2010, two BuyWell employees traveled to Peru to meet with the farmers who will be providing the coffee for Café Hope. Located hundreds of miles northwest of Peru’s capital Lima, the co‐op Naranjillo is nestled in the small town of Tingo Maria. The cooperative, founded in 1966 with just 32 members, has grown today to over 5,000 members now located in four regions of Peru.

Speaking with BuyWell employees, four farmers told their personal struggles in life and the struggle to run their farms. When asked if it gives them hope knowing people in the United States are actively seeking their coffee, they said they are proud of their product and it gives them hope they will be able to expand their production thus growing their income and sustaining their farms for their future and children’s futures.

“Meeting the women face to face, gave so much more meaning to the coffee, this is really all they have and they put everything into farming the best quality coffee they can,” said Christopher Aaby, sales and marketing manager of BuyWell International.

BuyWell Coffee will pay a premium of at least $0.10 more per pound to go directly back to the women farmers. The goal being with this extra income is to allow the farmers to improve their farms and production by purchasing more land, plant more coffee trees, hire the labor during harvest to hand pick the coffee and pay bills that have long been piling up. Buy purchasing this coffee, consumers are directly supporting this cooperative while also receiving a high‐quality coffee grown with great care and love.

This is the first time Naranjillo has sold an all‐women grown coffee. Naranjillo wants to increase the amount of women who contribute their crops and also encourage the women to take free courses at the co‐op main offices in leadership in hopes one day more women will be in leadership roles within the co‐op. Naranjillo believes in the quality of their products and the lives of their farmers and BuyWell is honored to have this new partnership and look forward to great things in the future.

To purchase Café Hope whole bean or ground Click Here.

Add a Coffee Twist to Thanksgiving.

Adding a coffee twist to thanksgiving isn't just about pumpkin spice lattes, here are a couple other ideas to add a coffee twist to your turkey day festivities.

Roast Turkey with Coffee Rub

Ingredients:

• 12-lb turkey, giblets removed, rinsed well (inside and out) and patted dry with paper towels
• 2-oz Homemade coffee rub*
• 1 tsp finely chopped garlic
• 1/2 cup olive oil

* 2 tbsp ground fair trade coffee, 2 tbsp ground white pepper, 1 tbsp ground Tellicherry black pepper, 1/4 tsp ground cloves, 1 tbsp sea salt or kosher. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix coffee rub with garlic and oil and coat entire turkey. Truss bird and place it breast side up in a shallow roasting pan with a snug fit. Place turkey in oven. Rotate pan twice (every 60 minutes) to ensure even browning. During the second rotation, tip turkey forward to release cooking juices, then baste frequently, about every 10 minutes. Begin checking after 2 1/2 hours, until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 170 to 175 degrees. Transfer to carving board and cover loosely with foil. Don't carve until ready to serve. (Turkey will stay warm for at least an hour.) Reserve pan drippings for gravy. Serves 8


Coffee Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs, separated
• 2/3 cup white granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups unseasoned canned pumpkin, drained well
• 1/3 cup BuyWell Fair Trade Coffee, brewed strong
• 1/2 teaspoon EACH: salt, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, and ground nutmeg
• 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
• 1/4 cup BuyWell Fair Trade Coffee, brewed strong , chilled
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1 9-inch ready-made baked pie crust or graham cracker style

Directions:
Brew 4 cups of coffee; chill 1/4 cup, reserve 1/3 cup and keep room temperature, drink the rest while you make the pie! Heat water in the bottom of a double boiler to hot, not boiling; simmer until ready to use.

In a medium-size bowl, beat the egg yolks then add 1/3 cup of the sugar plus the pumpkin, and the 1/3 cup of brewed coffee. Add the salt and all the spices, stir, and then transfer the mixture to the top of a double boiler. Stir it constantly, until the pie filling is hot.

In a small bowl, pour in the 1/4 cup chilled coffee and sprinkle in the gelatin. Mix until dissolved then add to the hot pumpkin mixture and stir thoroughly. Pour it all out into a large bowl, cover, and chill for about 30 minutes or until slightly thickened. When the pumpkin mixture is thickened, remove from the refrigerator and begin the rest of the steps.

In a very clean, very dry medium bowl (glass or copper works best) beat the egg whites until stiff then add the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar, all the while beating to keep the whites stiff. Gently fold the egg whites into the pumpkin mixture.

Beat the cream until peaks form then gently fold them in until fully incorporated. Pour the mixture into a ready-made pie crust, smooth over evenly, then cover and chill for two hours.

To serve, brew up some more BuyWell Fair Trade Coffee, whip the remaining 1/2 cup of the cream, and garnish the pie with it.

YIELD: 8 generous servings

We hope this inspires you to try something new with coffee. Its not just for drinking and can add a kick to a traditional dish that might become a new family favorite!

Coffee art

We came accross this clip on YouTube. Some artisits at the The Rocks Aroma Festival in Sydney, Australia produced a masterpeice using only cups of coffee and milk as their medium.



This inspires us to do more then just drink our coffee, what ideas do you have for other ways to use coffee as art?

Shower with your coffee?

Coffee is well known to give the body antioxidants when you drink it, but here is another great way to utilize the antioxidents in coffee, take a bath with coffee! Coffee Mint Body Wash by Wash With Joe is a invigorating body wash where the #1 ingredient is Coffee!

We just thought this was too cool and had to share!

From the Wash with Joe Site:

PROVEN SKIN CARE TECHNOLOGY TO THE BATH & SHOWER

DID YOU KNOW THAT COFFEE IS AN AMAZING HEALTH & BEAUTY AID?
IN FACT, IT MAY DO MORE FOR YOUR OUTSIDES THAN IT DOES FOR YOUR INSIDES!

GOOD FOR YOUR SKIN
Coffee with caffeine has both anti-inflammatory and tightening and firming qualities. For years, caffeine has been used in to reduce cellulite because it dehydrates fat cells; skin on buttocks and thighs become smoother.

GOOD FOR YOU – THE NEXT BIG ANTIOXIDANT
Coffee with caffeine is starting to get lots of attention for its antioxidant properties when used topically. In fact, research suggests that topical caffeine may offer powerful anti-carcinogenic benefits and repair UV damage - it may be a stronger antioxidant than green tea.

BALANCING
WASH WITH JOE™ gives you an invigorating jumpstart to your day. The uplifting blend of pure coffee and triple distilled peppermint essential oil helps revitalize body and mind. A richly foaming body wash, this re-charging formulation leaves you superbly refreshed and clean. Coffee is a natural deodorizer that absorbs odors, which makes this an effective body wash for people with active lifestyles.

UNISEX
WASH WITH JOE™ is unisex, perfectly suited for both men and women

INGREDIENTS
Coffea Arabica (Coffee),Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Kosher Vegetable Glycerin, Phenoxyethanol, Calcium d-Pantothenate (Pro-Vitamin B5), Limnanthes alba (Meadowfoam) Seed Oil, Tetrasodium EDTA, Citric Acid, triple Distilled Peppermint Essential Oil

WASH WITH JOE™ is Paraben Free, Certified Vegan and never tested on animals

MADE IN USA"

What do you do with your old coffee grounds?

Here are just a few ideas we liked, they are a great way to use coffee grounds so they don't end up in a landfill somewhere.


10. Deodorizer. Dry them out on a cookie sheet and then put them in a bowl in your refrigerator or freezer, or rub them on your hands to get rid of food prep smells.

9. Plant food. Plants such as rosebushes, azaleas, rhododendrons, evergreen and camellias that prefer acidic soils will appreciate the leftovers from your morning cup. Also, grounds can add nutrients to your compost bin.

8. Insect repellant. Sprinkle old grounds around places you don’t want ants, or on the ant piles themselves. The little buggers will move on or stay away. Used grounds are also said to repel snails and slugs.

7. Dye. By steeping grounds in hot water, you can make brown dye for fabric, paper and even Easter eggs.

6. Furniture scratch cover-up. Steep grounds and apply a bit of the liquid to furniture scratches with a Q-tip.

5. Cleaning product. As they’re slightly abrasive, grounds can be used as a scouring agent for greasy and grimy stain-resistant objects.

4. Kitty repellent. To keep kitty from using the garden as her personal powder room, sprinkle grounds mixed with orange peels around your plants.

3. Flea dip. Follow up Fido’s shampoo with a coffee ground rub down, working them down to his skin. Not only are the fleas suppose to vamoose, but puppy’s hair will feel soft too.

2. Dust inhibitor. Before you clean out the fireplace, toss wet coffee grounds over the ashes to keep the ash dust under control.

And, finally, the #1 use for used coffee grounds....drum roll here....

Cellulite reducer. Mix 1/4 cup warm, used coffee grounds and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. While standing over an old towel or newspaper, apply the mixture to your "problem areas". Next, wrap the areas with shrink wrap and leave on for several minutes. Unwind the wrap, brush loose grounds off your skin and then shower with warm water. For best results, it is recommended to repeat this procedure twice a week. A little weird to be sure, but as high priced cellulite creams have coffee in them, it just might work.

Café Femenino fair trade coffee will be in Kroger brand stores nationwide by the end of July:From Boulder Coffee Examiner

Café Femenino fair trade coffee will be in Kroger brand stores nationwide by the end of July

Peru Alta Gold, a BuyWell fair trade Café Femenino coffee, will hit the shelves of select Kroger brand stores nationwide by the end of July. It will also be sold in some Whole Foods stores in Colorado, and is already available in H-E-B stores in Texas. This is certainly a coup for women coffee growers in Peru. And it’s a boon for consumers with a social conscience who love good coffee. READ MORE

Love and Hate: The Starbucks Effect on Coffee Consumption

Heard from a couple of you about my last post, in which I attributed a rise in Chinese coffee consumption to the presence of Starbucks. Thanks for the feedback! But, please, don't assume I love Starbucks. I'm just giving a bit of credit where credit is due.

The Love and the Hate
Let's be clear: Local cafes with accomplished baristas serving locally roasted and Fair Trade coffees rule. Compared to a real pull of espresso from an indie coffee house like Pikes Perk, Starbucks drools an overly bubbled milk foam of drool.

Though I question aspects of the Starbucks business model, I do salute them for pledging to double their Fair Trade coffee purchases to 40 million pounds in 2009. This is a victory for Fair Trade, but even with the increase, Fair Trade will comprise but a sliver of the Starbucks coffe pie at 3.7%.

Starbucks, like Walmart, is a big player. So, whether we like it or not, what they do matters. Today's announcement of deep Starbucks job cuts suggests economic recession is meeting up with trends like DIY espresso at home:

Starbucks plans to close 300 stores, including 200 in the United States, and eliminate about 6,000 store jobs. The company also plans to eliminate about 700 corporate jobs, including about 350 at its corporate headquarters in Seattle.

Ouch.

I think we all love and hate big players. Starbucks is a worldwide coffee giant that does promise a consistent (if bland and overroasted) espresso. They offer a 100% Fair Trade roaster like us a big corporate foil against which we can hone our message and mission. (Love to hate them!) In spending the marketing dollars to raise coffee awareness and appreciation in undeveloped coffee markets, they help the rest of the coffee industry grow. Like, for example, the way that Starbucks is boosting latte quaffing in Tea Capital of the World, China.

Coffee Consumption Grows in China

Though tea in all its forms may be the traditional caffeine source of Chinese beverage drinkers, coffee is gaining an audience as China adopts western consumption trends.

Thank you, Starbucks
Starbucks has worked hard to entice Chinese consumers with the lure of coffee culture. In 10 years, the company has built 44 stores in Beijing alone. To celebrate their 10 year anniversary in china, Starbucks released a Yunnan province coffee blend available only in mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore. From ShanghaiDail.com:

The world's biggest coffee chain announced the launch of Starbucks "South of the Clouds Blend," containing coffee beans from Yunnan, which is the company's first offering using coffee grown by farmers in China. The name has been chosen to honor its birthplace of Yunnan, which means "south of the clouds" in Chinese.

How does Chinese coffee compare?
Early today, I wondered aloud on Twitter what Chinese coffee tastes like. Roast Magaine describes Yunnan coffee as "a light to medium body and a light to medium acidity, similar to a wet-processed South American coffee. Moreover, says Stuart Eunson, managing director of Arabica Coffee Roasters in Beijing, China, the coffee “More and more people are beginning to drink coffee, and in the major cities, people are learning about higher-quality fresh coffee from café chains like Starbucks.” So again, we have the Starbucks marketing machine to thank for nurturing budding Chinese coffee connoisseurs.

Why grab coffee and run when you can sit on a moon cusion and nosh on something tasty?
A cultural trend that altered the typical GrabNGo Starbucks model among Chinese Starbucks is that, in China: coffee does not work without grub. This plays perfectly into (Starbucks CEO) Herr Howard Schultz's idea of the "third place"--Starbucks as a home away from home. NPR reported last week that Starbucks sales are still "piping hot" despite an economy that is slowing.

Still, for those coffee drinkers who don't want to lounge in their local Starbucks, one of the convenient things about living in China is the relatively low cost of courier services, so Chinese residents can get coffee delivered to their own doors for practically nothing.

Fair Trade recipes from our LowImpactLiving.com contest

Congratulations to Candy McMenamin, the winner of our Fair Trade Recipe contest! Here are the finalists
posted also on LowImpactLiving.com, December 22, 2008.

Spiced Cranberry Coffee Cookies – by Candy McMenamin
1 cup organic fair trade white sugar
1/2 cup organic butter
1 large organic egg, beaten
1 teaspoon fair trade Frontier Natural Organic Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup whole wheat flour1 1/2 cups white flour1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon organic allspice
3/4 cup strong brewed Buy Well Fair Trade Coffee
1/2 cup fair trade certified dried cranberries
1/2 cup fair trade certified pine nuts (such as Goods From the Woods brand)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter. Add egg and vanilla. Mix thoroughly. In another large bowl, sift together whole wheat flour, white flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and allspice. Alternate adding flour mixture with coffee to sugar mixture, stirring to combine. Add the cranberries and pine nuts. Mix thoroughly. Using a tablespoon, drop onto greased baking sheets about 1 ½ inches apart. Bake in preheated oven 10-12 minutes or until browned. Remove from oven and let sit 2 minutes. Remove to wire baking rack to cool completely. Yield: about 4 dozen cookies
*************

Happy Holidays Mocha Rice Pudding – by Candy McMenamin
3 cups cooked fair trade long grain rice
1 (14 ounce) can organic sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup fair trade baking cocoa (such as Equal Exchange)
1 (13 ounce) can organic evaporated milk1 tablespoon fair trade sugar
1 teaspoon fair trade vanilla
1/3 cup strong brewed fair trade coffee (such as Buy Well brand)
1/3 cup chopped fair trade chocolate bars, expresso bean variety (such as Equal Exchange)
1/3 cup fair trade almonds, toastedGarnish: Mint sprig, if desired

Prepare a 3 1/2 to 5 quart crock pot with non-stick cooking spray. Add all ingredients except chocolate bars and almonds to slow cooker. Stir to combine. Cook on low heat 3-4 hours, stirring occassionally if possible. Stir in chopped chocolate bars and almonds. Garnish each serving with a sprig of mint, if desired. Yield: 8 servings
*************

Mother Earth Molasses Sugar Cookies – 100% vegan — by Kathryn Barry of Pittsburgh, PA
¾ C Palm oil shortening
1 C Fair Trade raw pure cane sugar
*¼ C Fair Trade molasses
*¼ C soy milk
2 C whole wheat flour
2 t baking soda
½ t Fair Trade ground cloves
½ t ginger
1 t cinnamon
½ t salt

Melt shortening and let cool. Add sugar, molasses, and soy milk. Beat well. Sift together flour, baking soda, spices, and salt. Combine with sugar/ molasses mixture. Mix well and chill for four hours. Form into one inch balls, flatten slightly with palm and top with sugar. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 mins. Let cook on a wire rack five minutes and serve with Fair Trade coffee. Makes about a dozen cookies.
**************

Champurrado Tropical Brownie — by Ken Hulme of South Vencie, FL
Based on a thickened hot chocolate Holiday drink recipe from Mexico, the Pacific fusion of coconut milk and coffee turns a simple drink into a decadent tropical dessert.
2-3 cups Masa Harina para tamales
1 cup Water1 tablespoon Cinnamon
3-4 Chipotle Chiles en adobo, minced fine, with sauce, to taste
2 teaspoons Fair Trade branded Vanilla extract
1/4 cup Fair Trade branded Dark Roast Coffee, very finely ground
1 cup Fair Trade branded Sugar2 cups Coconut Milk
2 cups Heavy Cream
12 oz Fair Trade branded Unsweetened Chocolate
1/4 cup Coconut, shredded
1/4 cup Fair Trade branded Semi-Sweet Chocolate, shavedWhipped Cream for topping

In a large saucepan, combine 1/2 cup masa harina with the water, using a whisk. Add the cinnamon, coffee and vanilla. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. Stir in the sugar, coconut milk, cream and chocolate, and bring to a simmer, whisking until smooth. Add the chipotle chiles, to taste and whisk. At this point you have a coconut & chipotle spiked version of classic Champurrado. But, to continue…
Begin adding more masa, a quarter cup at a time, stirring continuously with a spoon to incorporate, until you reach a very stiff dough stage. Mold the dough into ramekins or small springform pans coated with cooking spray, and allow to cool 20 minutes. Plate each brownie on a base of shredded coconut, top with a dollop of whipped cream and shaved chocolate. Serves 6-8.
****************

Easy Cocoa “Fudge” — by Jenny Lugardo
Not for the faint of heart, very intense cocoa flavor. The cocoa is the only ingredeint that has a fair trade option, so I also listed local (for me) options. I won’t be offended if you edit that out, but supporting small farmers in the US is part of fair trade to me. In all honesty I can’t shop this way all the time, but I am trying.
3/4 C Black and Gold Cocoa
1/2 C Curtis Orchard & Pumpkin Patch Honey or other sweetner
1/2 C Stone Organic Pastures Butter3 Joy of Illinois Eggs1 T vanilla
Beat everything together and pour into greased 8″ pie pan. Bake at 350 for 20-25 min, or until the center no longer appears wet. Cut into wedges. Enjoy.
****************

Mocha Chocolate Brownies — by Woilfgang of West Palm Beach, FL
Brownie Ingredients:
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt1 cup water
1/2 cup butter, cut up
1/2 cup cooking oil (Fair Trade Product)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (Fair Trade Product)
1/2 cup extra strong brewed BuyWell Fair Trade organic Coffee- Blackbird Espresso-cooled to room temperature2 eggs1 tsp vanilla (Fair Trade Product)

For the Frosting:
1 1-lb pkg . powdered sugar, sifted
Dash salt1/2 cup butter, cut up
1/3 cup extra strong brewed BuyWell Fair Trade organic Coffee- Blackbird Espresso - cooled to room temperature
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (Fair Trade Product)
1 tsp vanilla (Fair Trade Product)
1/2 cup pecan or walnut pieces (your choice)

Grease a 15 x10×1″ baking pan. Set aside. In a large bowl, stir together flour, granulated sugar, baking soda and the 1/2 tsp salt.Set aside. In a medium sauce pan , combine the water, 1/2 cup butter , the oil and 1/4 cup cocoa powder. Heat just to boiling, stirring to melt butter; Add hot liquid to flour mixture. Beat with an electric mixture on low speed just until dry ingredients are moistened. Add the 1/2 cup Espresso coffee , the eggs and 1 tsp vanilla. Beat on low speed for 1 minute and do NOT overbeat. Batter will be thin. Pour into the prepared baking pan . Bake in a 350 degree F hot oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Place pan on a wire rack.

For Frosting:
In a large bowl combine powdered sugar and salt, Set aside. In medium sauce pan combine 1/2 butter, the 1/3 cup espresso and 1/4 cup cocoa powder. Heat and stir over medium heat until butter is melted. Pour hot espresso mixture over powdered sugar mixture . Add 1 tsp vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed just until combined; beat on medium speed until smooth. By hand, stir in nuts. Carefully pour the warm frosting over the warm brownies, spread evenly. Cool completely. Cut into bars: makes about 48 brownies
***********
Fairest of Them All Festive Holiday Rice — by Nancy Dentler of Greensboro, NC
2 cups Fair Trade or organic Jasmine rice
4 cups Fair Trade or organic apple juice or cider
2 teaspoons Fair Trade or organic sea salt (if salt is desired)
1 teaspoon Fair Trade or organic black pepper
1/3 cup Fair Trade or organic dried dates, chopped
1/3 cup Fair Trade or organic dried figs, chopped
1/3 cup Fair Trade or organic dried apricots, chopped
1/4 cup (or to taste) Fair Trade or organic honey
1/3 cup Fair Trade or organic sliced almonds

Combine rice, apple juice or cider, sea salt (if desired), and black pepper in a 4 quart size pot. Bring rice mixture to a boil on stove top, and stir. Add dates, figs, and apricots to pot and stir well. Cover pot and lower heat to simmer. Cook until almost all liquid is absorbed, about 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in honey and sliced almonds. Remove covered pot from heat and let rice rest for 5 minutes. Fluff rice with fork and serve. Makes about 7 cups of holiday rice.

Note: Fair Trade ingredients in this recipe are my first choice. If you cannot find a specific Fair Trade ingredient in your area, use an organic item instead. Since availability of Fair Trade ingredients may vary in certain areas, recipe ingredients were listed as Fair Trade or organic. “Fairest of Them A ll” Festive Holiday Rice is delightful at your holiday lunch or dinner. It is also delicious heated for a post-holiday breakfast or snack, just in case any rice is remaining after the celebration!
*************

White Asparagus Risotto with Smoked Gouda, Crispy Country Ham & Toasted Cornbread Crumbs — by Cheryl Perry of Hertford, NC
1 cup vegetable oil6 ounces country ham, thinly shaved
5 ¼ cups vegetable stock or broth1 pound White asparagus, trimmed & cut into one inch pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup shallots, finely chopped
1 ½ cups arborio rice
¼ cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon white pepper
3 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup Smoked gouda cheese, shredded & divided
¼ cup lightly toasted cornbread crumbs
4 cilantro sprigs

Heat vegetable oil in a medium skillet and quickly cook ham over medium heat until crispy on both sides. Remove to paper towels to drain; set aside. Bring the vegetable stock to a boil in a large saucepan; blanch the asparagus for 2 minutes. Remove asparagus from stock and shock it in ice water until chilled; drain thoroughly. Reduce the vegetable stock to low and keep hot. Meanwhile, add the oil & shallots to a large skillet; saute for three minutes over medium heat. Add rice and stir until lightly golden, or about 3-4 minutes. Add ½ cup of the vegetable stock and allow to cook until liquid evaporates. Continue stirring the rice and adding the vegetable stock, one cup at a time, for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, add the cream, any remaining stock and pepper. Continue to cook & stir constantly until mixture is tender, creamy but slightly firm in the center. Remove saucepan from the heat, stir in the asparagus, butter, and ½ cup of gouda cheese. To serve. Spoon risotto on individual serving plates followed with reserved cheese and crispy country ham. Sprinkle cornbread crumbs over the top and garnish with cilantro sprig. Makes 4 servings.

Coffee: Regular, Unleaded, or BioDiesel?

Saw a post today on LowImpactLiving.com about a November 2008 article in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Chemists have proven what every coffee addict knows: Those beloved little beans are powerful. But it's more than just the caffeine--coffee contains abundant natural oils and antioxidants. Combine those qualities with the fact the coffee is the second most traded commodity after oil and it becomes clear: Coffee is uniquely qualified to start our mornings AND our motorized vehicles.


More on what makes coffee such excellent fodder for biodiesel fuel from ArsTechnica.com:

"Spent coffee grounds are about 15 percent oil, which is only slightly less than many of the other biodiesel feedstocks. Since the world produces over 16 billion pounds of coffee per year, there is a constant and cheap supply of solid coffee waste. Kondamudi, Mohapatra, and Misra [the researchers] also predict that biodiesel from coffee grounds would be more stable than those from other sources because coffee contains antioxidants that would slow down degradation."

The researchers found that biodiesel derived from the coffee grounds (100% conversion of oil to biodiesel) was found to be stable for more than 1 month under ambient conditions. What's the bottom line?

340 million gallons of biodiesel can be produced from the waste coffee grounds around the world. In the US alone, if spent grounds were converted into biodiesel and fuel pellets in the U.S., the scientists project that it would be possible to make about $8 million in profit per year.

Drink up! And save your grounds--they may just be the new black gold.

--scReaMing mOnkEy

Now in Whole Foods!

The day before Thanksgiving is the single busiest day of the year for grocery stores.

Today was a big day for us, too! I went with Becca to stock our coffee at the Pikes Peak Whole Foods store on Academy. This was a risky move, not because of the immense traffic in the aisles or the barrage of questions from natural foods enthusiasts, but because Becca is the clumsiest person I know.

The store was abuzz with holiday shoppers looking for things like Gluten Free dinner rolls, turbinado sugar, and non-hydrogenated cool-whipesque products.

I was not much help in directing shopper traffic. I'm just a monkey. I told them where to find the Fair Trade bananas.

Mostly, I was amazed at how many people stopped me to ask where the coffee grinder is. All I could do was smile and offer apologies for my grinder ignorance. I really thought that people either bought whole bean coffees to grind at home or pre-ground coffees to save them the trouble.

So here's the news, buried at the bottom of the blog: Yours Truly now sits on shelves in Whole Foods. Come see me soon!

--scReaMing mOnkEy

New Bulk Bean Bag

Our new, biodegradable bulk bags arrived this week! We love them because the lining is made from corn. Once people take the tin tie off, the bags are completely compostable and earth-friendly. Those organic beans should feel right at home in these babies.

We're still exploring packaging options for the regular bags, but an eco-friendly bag that protects coffee from oxidation AND UV rays is quite a challenge.

--scReaMing mOnkEy

El Dia de los Muertos - Fair Trade Decor

Trick or Treat? Trick. All the way.

We decided to decorate our production manager's office for El Dia de los Muertos. While he was at the national renewable energy conference in Denver, we strung cobwebs and fair trade paper skeletons all over Brian's office. He was surprisingly happy about the effect, though the office does look a bit Rip Van Winkle-esque. It wasn't a comment on his age, so much as a chance to prank the eternal jokester with Papel Picado Mexican Streamers that we bought from Global Exchange. More on this haunting paper art from the Global Exchange Fair Trade Store:

Papel Picado is a traditional art handmade by artisans from Mexico. The brightly colored tissue (or in this case, booo-ti-ful black!) is handcut, using chisels and a top pattern as a guide. Although Papel de China (tissue paper) was originally brought to Europe from China and then to "New Spain" (Nuevo Espana), the indigenous people of Mexico had already been using hand made paper *(amatl), along with the tradition of cut decorative and ceremonial images, for centuries.

If you are taking young ones around for trick or treating this year, consider downloading Reverse Trick or Treating materials to promote Fair Trade chocolate in your neighborhood. Or just buy some to eat yourself--that's what I did!

The truth is that Fair Trade is a practice that everyone can get excited about--whether you prefer office trickery or fabulous treats.

--scrEAmIng mOnkEy

BuyWell sponsors $100 Fair Trade Recipe Contest at LowImpactLiving.com

Low Impact Living is helping to spread the word about the Fair Trade movement by hosting a Fair Trade holiday recipe challenge!

You can enter in the challenge by submitting a recipe idea for the holidays that features a Fair Trade item like coffee, sugar, mangoes, vanilla, cocoa, rice, or another Fair Trade Certified item. For a complete list of items, visit TransFair USA.

At the end of this challenge, they will compile a great list of recipes for the upcoming holidays that they will share. That's one way to make the holiday season more meaningful.

We will also be providing a fabulous $100 gift basket of small batch roasted Fair Trade coffee for the winner.

Deadline is November 17th, so start cooking!

Fair Trade Espresso Cream Cake

Our Customer Service Manager brought in this amazing recipe using our brand new holiday blend, "Celebrate." It's a lovely dark roast and makes great espresso--as well as cake, apparently. Here's a picture of the cake. I ate 3 slices. (Two of which I grabbed after everyone else left the kitchen to go back to work.)

Cake Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cups sifted cake flour (about 5 1/3 ounces)
• 1 1/4 cups Fair Trade sugar, divided
• 6 large eggs, separated
• 3 tablespoons Fair Trade brewed espresso, cooled
• 1 1/2 teaspoons finely ground Fair Trade espresso (we tried "Celebrate")
• 1/2 teaspoon Fair Trade vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Mocha Whipped Cream

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream (use a local dairy producer!)
• *1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin dissolved in 2 tablespoons water and cooled
  (*optional--used to stabilize the whipped cream)
• 2 teaspoons Fair Trade cocoa powder
• 3 teaspoons super finely Fair Trade ground espresso
• Fair Trade powdered sugar to desired sweetness

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350° F.
To prepare cake, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Sift together flour and 3 tablespoons sugar; set aside.

Combine 1 cup sugar and egg yolks in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed 5 minutes or until thick and pale. Combine 3 tablespoons of brewed espresso, ground espresso, vanilla, and salt in a small bowl; add to sugar mixture, beating at low speed until blended. Sift flour mixture evenly over the top of egg yolk mixture; stir just until moist.

Beat egg whites with a mixer at high speed until foamy using clean, dry beaters. Add cream of tartar; beat until soft peaks form. Slowly add remaining 1 tablespoon sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Gently stir one-fourth of egg white mixture into batter; gently fold remaining egg white mixture into batter.

Pour batter into 2 9-inch pans. Bake at 350° for 30-40 minutes or until cake springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool in pan 1 hour; run a knife around outside edge; Cool completely on a wire rack.

For whipping cream, make sure cream is cold, and the bowl and beaters used are cold. Whip until soft peaks begin to form. While beating on high, add gelatin, add cocoa and espresso. Whip until stiff peaks form. Cover cake with whipped cream. Refrigerate.

--scrEAmIng mOnkEy