It’s been a wild few weeks here at Higher Grounds! October 4 marked the first anniversary of the opening of our roastery and coffee bar at the Grand Traverse Commons, and we celebrated the occasion with a party in true Higher Grounds style: surrounded by family and friends, with great local food, local music and, of course, plenty of great coffee. Thanks to all of you who came out to show your support; special thanks to everyone who helped make the festivities happen.

Our anniversary party also marked the final day of the annual general meeting for Cooperative Coffees, a fair-trade dedicated green coffee importing co-op comprised of some two dozen community-based coffee roasters across North America. We had the great pleasure of hosting this year’s meeting, which meant hanging out and sharing knowlege with friends and fellow coffee geeks from places like Colorado, Kentucky, Florida, Alaska, Mexico, Montreal, Minnesota, the great white Yukon … Our pal Gary Howe somehow managed to round everyone up for the above photo, snapped between all the meetings, musings, tastings and outings. The weekend was inspiring and motivating, to say the least, and it was truly a gift to be able to share the beauty and bounty of Northwest Michigan with our fellow roasters. We walked away with some great memories and new ideas to implement in our roastery and coffee bar… so stay tuned!

Got plans tonite? Break ‘em and check these out:

FOOD FOR THOUGHT hosts the second annual Green Cuisine - a celebration of local food, wine and beer.  Seth Bernard and Daisy May will be on hand for great music, too.  It’s a kid-friendly, zero-waste FREE event! A big thanks to Timothy & Kathy Young, Evan Smith and the rest of the crew at FFT for all their support through the years - this was my first job upon return from Chiapas and these guys supported Higher Grounds from it’s very infancy!

The SAFE PASSAGE FIESTA takes place at the Hagerty Center.  Support Safe Passage’s program helping children and their families who work in the Guatemala City Dump.  Purchase Higher Ground’s Safe Passage Blend at the Fiesta and we’ll donate 100% of the proceeds to Safe Passage. Pick up a bag at the Coffee Bar and we’ll donate $5.50/lb.

Come on over for the Summer Solstice Celebration at Higher Grounds Trading and the Grand Traverse Commons! Enjoy a live Latin Dance band (weather permitting), a scavenger hunt and other children’s activities (a pinata party, sack races and more) plus specials for area businesses!

When: Saturday, June 21st from Noon - 5pm

Celebrate the longest day of the year by shaking your tail feather to Traverse City’s new, hot Latin dance band - Rojo Loco. Grab your dancing shoes on and join us from 2-5!

 

Periodically (and quite randomly) we will be offering bus trips up to Short’s Brewery in Bellaire to sample some of the finest beer and local music the region has to offer.

Before coffee was a household beverage, beer was the libation of choice for much of the world. Since then, beer and coffee have gone well together. In a world of corporate controlled, mundane beer offerings, we at Higher Grounds Trading Co. like to believe ourselves to be helping to form a libation nation. We work hard to support artisanal fair trade and organic coffees and locally produced micro-brewed beers and wines that go well together with fine locally produced independent music.
Short’s Brewery in Bellaire, Michigan is to beer what Higher Grounds Trading Co. is to coffee: A valiant attempt at formulating the finest concoction of handcrafted brews in our respected genre.
According to our good friend the Beer and Bean Activist, Chris O’brien,
“Beer has been celebrated since ancient times for its tonic and healthful effects. Civilizations from Sumer to Peru praised special goddesses and gods of beer and fermentation. Coffee has also had its worshippers, such as the Arab Sufi monks who drank it to stay awake for late-night prayers.”
So…. in the spirit of celebration for all things fine in beer, coffee, and music we offer these random bus trips for you to join us for a joyous evening.

Upcoming Bus Trips

Saturday, June 7: Seth Bernard CD Release Party with special guests May Erlewine and Breathe Owl Breathe
These Earthwork Musicians are to music what Short’s Brewery and Higher Grounds is to beer and coffee!
Bus will leave from Higher Grounds at 7:30 pm and return at 1 am.
Tickets are $15 for a roundtrip evening of rebel-rousing. Adult beverages are encouraged on the bus.
Call us at 231.922.9009 or contact us here to make a reservation.

JAM FOR YOUTH - A Benefit for Michigan Youth Opportunities Initiative
Tomorrow at the Opera House 7:00 - 10:30

It’s great music for a great cause - supporting foster youth as the ‘age out’ of the foster care system - and we hope to see you there! Some of our favorite musicians from the Earthworks music collective will perform including Joshua Davis, Breathe Owl Breathe, Brandon Foote & Laura Bates and Chris Dorman.
Click here to learn more about the Michigan Youth Opportunities Initiative
Get your tickets at Higher Grounds Coffee Bar for $15.00 or get them at the door for $20.00. You can also purchase any CD by an Earthwork’s musician at the Coffee for $30.00 and we’ll donate $15.00 to MYOI. We’ll throw in a cup of brewed coffee for you in gratitude!

Where: The Roastery at Higher Grounds Trading Co. Check out the map here.
When: Monday May 19th at 5pm
Who: Jose Perez Vasquez, President of Maya Vinic Coffee Cooperative in Chiapas, Mexico
Why: To celebrate the accomplishments of Maya Vinic and learn more about fair trade and organic coffee cooperatives

Join us as we welcome Jose Perez Vasquez, President of Maya Vinic Coffee Cooperative to Traverse City, Michigan this Monday, May 19 at 5 pm - 7 pm. With his coffee in tow, Jose will lead a tasting and talk about his fair trade and organic coffee cooperative and the Las Abejas Civil Society which he helped to form in 1992. He will also have his wife’s  mayan weavings for sale.

Jose’s inspirational story is rich with courage. Jose is the co-founder of Las Abejas Civil Society, a non-violent Mayan organization dedicated to the struggle for indigenous rights in Chiapas, Mexico. In ‘92 the organization was formed after the Mexican government wrongly imprisoned his brother and 4 other neighbors. After thousands marched on the capital of the state of Chiapas to demand their release, his brother was freed from jail after just 27 days. In ‘96 to present day, the Las Abejas Civil Society has been  internationally recognized as brokers of peace in Chiapas and outspoken critics of neoliberal economic policies and its effects on the countryside. As a result of this role, Jose and the Las Abejas people have been brutally oppressed, leading to the massacre in Acteal of 45 people in 1997. Jose currently acts as President of the Maya Vinic coffee cooperative, overseeing the collection and exportation of organic and fair trade coffees from over 400 members in the Mayan Highlands of Chiapas, Mexico.

We look forward to seeing you there! Call with any questions: 231.922.9009

Help Set a World Record May 10 - From the WFTD Action Guide

How does the World’s Largest Fair Trade Coffee Break Work?

For WFTD 2008, we will set the world record for the World’s Largest Fair Trade Coffee Break. On May 10, 2008 at 3 pm Eastern/Noon Pacific. people across the country will take a break to enjoy a cup of Fair Trade coffee or other Fair Trade beverage. We will be setting a new record that will serve as a benchmark for futres years’ challenges!

Participating in the World’s Largest Fair Trade Coffee Break is a great way to communicate the solidarity of the Fair Trade movement in the U.S. and celebrate those who produce the things that we buy.

So to join in, use this page, the tools in the WFTD Toolkit, use the WFTD Action Guide to shape what happens, and use the WFTD Media Kit to engage the media. Your event can be as big or small as you choose. What’s important is that you are COUNTED!

Who can participate?

Anyone. So long as you are serving Fair Trade beverages that are certified by TransFair USA or produced by a member of the Fair Trade Federation, we invite you to join in and BE COUNTED. Invite people to your home. Host an event at your church, synagogue, or mosque. Integrate the Break into your local Farmer’s Market.

 

TAKE A FAIR TRADE BREAK
tc’s first annual
WORLD FAIR TRADE DAY
SATURDAY, MAY 10TH
all day at Unity, Higher Grounds, and Oryana
official TC’S LARGEST FAIR TRADE COFFEE BREAK is at 3PM at unity

Come join in these local events to celebrate the movement to make trade fair. Learn about the benefits of fair trade (FT), and taste the difference that respect, love and dignity can make in chocolate, coffee, olive oil, fruit preserves, bananas and other fair trade products.

Unity FT Marketplace
will be tasting free FT coffee, chocolate, etc all day, as well as holding a drawing for a $25 gift certificate to the store full of FT fashion, toys, books, and beautiful/useful home decor. join us here at 3PM for the official
TC’s largest fair trade coffee break
Lets get the whole town together to join in this awesome celebration
113 E State St. (in the alley behind the City Opera House) 929-4228  http://unityfairtrade.com/

Higher Grounds and Oryana
all day will be tasting free fair trade coffee, local FT fruit preserves and other FT goodies.
Come check out their SALES on FT products in honor of WFTD
Oryana: 260 E.10th St. (at Lake st)  947-0191  http://www.oryana.coop/
Higher Grounds: 806 Red Dr., Suite 150 (the old state hospital)  922-9009  http://www.highergroundstrading.com/

* for more information, contact Chelsea at chelsbay@gmail.com

What is Fair Trade?
Fair Trade is an alternative way of doing business, one that builds equitable, long-term partnerships between consumers in North America and producers in developing regions. Fair Trade businesses commit to:

• Paying a fair wage in the local context.
• Offering employees opportunities for advancement.
• Providing equal opportunities for all people, particularly the most disadvantaged.
• Engaging in environmentally sustainable practices.
• Being open to public accountability.
• Building long-term trade relationships.
• Providing healthy and safe working conditions within the local context.
• Providing financial and technical assistance to producers whenever possible.
This criteria was established by the Fair Trade Federation.

Saturday, April 26th - ALL PROCEEDS from the sale of our Safe Passage Blend & Brewed Safe Passage brewed coffee will be donated to the Great Lakes Friends of Safe Passage

Fri April 25th - Mon April 27th - Virtual Dump Installation on Display

The Virtual Garbage Dump installation is photographic journey through the Guatemala City Garbage Dump from behind the lens of area photographer Beth Price.The mission of Safe Passage is to empower the poorest, at-risk children of families working in the community of the Guatemala City garbage dump, by creating opportunities and fostering dignity through the power of education.

More information on GUATEMALA from Great Lakes Friends of Safe Passage

Guatemala means “land of trees�. A thousand years ago, the remarkable Mayan civilization flourished here. Today more than half of Guatemalans are descendantsof this proud heritage. Mayan languages are spoken alongside Spanish — the official language. The country’s beauty and cultural strength is not accompanied by prosperity or cohesion. In 1996 it emerged from a 36-year civil war. More than 200,000 people, most indigenous civilians, were killed. Refugees fled to Guatemala City, leaving
their traditional way of life in the highlands. Today, poverty is widespread, estimated at 70-80% of the population. Nearly halfof Guatemala’s children are chronically malnourished. The poorest of the poor struggle for survival at the Guatemala City Garbage Dump, the largest landfill in Central America; 1/3 of the country’s trash ends up here.
For over 60 years this has been the home and workplace for thousands of familieswho make their living salvaging from the City’s trash. Many have lived at the dumpfor 20-30 years, passing this way of life on from one generation to the next. It’sestimated that 3500 children currently live in this toxic wasteland.

*reposted from the Bean Activist 

By Jody Treter

 I’m writing from the Baltimore airport, headed home from two days of meetings convened by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) to share ideas and get feedback from stakeholders about the next decade of CRS’s fair trade program. The added bonus of the trip was that I got to spend some time with my good buddy and fellow bean activist, Chris O’Brien, who also attended the first day of the meetings. CRS invited Chris to present on the difficult-to-tackle topic “Where is Responsible Consumption Headed?” and he wowed the meeting particpants with his comprehensive understanding of “green” purchasing (as many of you may know, Chris O head’s up the Responsible Purchasing Network). CRS prepped us for the visioning session with several other short presentations including the history of CRS and their FT program, a snapshot of the FT movement today and an argument for why it might be a good approach to open CRS’s FT program to more mainstream partners for greater market impact.

Among faith-based development organizations, CRS is a leader. It’s newly finished LEED-certified building is the first sign that, indeed, CRS is walking their talk. In the world of Fair Trade, CRS began it’s work with the Work of Human Hands craft project in 1995. In 2003, CRS launched it’s Fair Trade Program which became the umbrella for several other initiatives including the Work of Human Hands, plus the FT Coffee and Chocolate Programs. The Coffee Progam, an ambitious and forward-thinking partnership between marginlized farmers in Nicaragua and 100% fair trade coffee companies in the United States, is a new twist on interfaith coffee projects. While the Presbyterians, Lutherans and others have programs that partner exclusively with Equal Exchange, CRS boldly created the first “localized” program encouraging dioceses and parishes to support their nearest CRS Coffee Roasting Partner, of which there are twelve in the States. This model serves to “share the wealth” amongst several roasters plus it better leverages the FT movement.

Now four years into their FT program, CRS leaders are carrying out the due diligence necessary to create a well-informed blueprint for the next ten years. This is no easy task. The goal is clear - how does the CRS FT program serve the overarching CRS mission to alleviate suffering and create dignified livelihoods for the poorest of the poor?  Our contribution, as stakeholders of the CRS Fair Trade, is to assist in the creation of long-term strategies to this end. 

CRS offered three ideas to help generate conversation around strategies for the future:

1. Revisit the strict adherence to the Gold Standard for Partners (ie - can CRS’s impact be greater if it broadens it’s partnership criteria?). The small working group I joined focused on this issue and offered up a hybrid solution. First, it’s important to maintain (and even actively improve) the Gold Standard of Fair Trade (often referred to as the 100%ers or Alternative Trade Organizations b/c their business models are fully committed to the principles of fair trade). The partners who meet “Gold Standard” criteria should be distinguished from others as the preferential partners. But, when these partners can’t meet the need of a potential customer (ie - a large institution wants to purchase individual pods for coffee makers), CRS directs the customers to “silver” level partners and, finally, “bronze” level partners. The discussions were much richer but this is the core of our group’s proposal.

2. Shifting from a “product” focus to “points of engagements”. My opinion is that the CRS FT message will have the greated impace if both a “product” focus plus a ”points of engagement” strategy are employed. For example, CRS may choose to sponsor an up-and-coming Skateboarder to engage Youth on their own turf - a point of engagement -  but, when a church calls to ask about where to purchase office supplies or coffee or chocolate, CRS should remain an authority (termed “trust provider”) by offering a list of products from their program partners.

3. From advertising to advocacy: Economic Justice beyond consumption. This piece wasn’t taken on by a working group because meeting attendees felt like this issue would be covered under the other two topics. Economic Justice is the over-riding theme of the CRS FT program and should continue to be so. In the end, Fair Trade is just one tool in the greater struggle for dignity and sustainability within economic justice. So, perhaps, the CRS FT program should consider changing their name to the CRS “Economic Justice Program” and create a more comprehensive approach that includes 1. the promotion of authentic “gold standard” fair trade partners; 2. engaging companies that are slowly coming into the fold of fair trade and economic justice; 3. identifying and pursuing points of engagements for CRS constituents.

Kudos to CRS FT for lining up an impressive roster of movers and shakers for the visioning session! I’ve been impressed time and time again with CRS’s commitment to the involvement of their stakeholders and the time they take to nurture relationships.  Representing the Fair Trade movement was Carmen Iezzi, ED of the Fair Trade Federation; Serena Sato of SERVV; Kimberly Easson of TransFair USA; Joe Falcone of Counter Sourcing Fair Trade Apparel; Allen Thayer of Handcrafting Justice/Fair Trade Uniforms. Rick Peyser joined from Green Mountain Roasters and many CRS staff/volunteers from several different departments attended including Abby Causey, a CRS FT ambassador from Virginia Beach; Lara Puglielli, who was instrumental in the birth of the CRS fair trade coffee program in Nicaragua; Chuck Paquette, Foundation and Corporate Relations at CRS; Barbara Myers, Senior Director of US Operations; Sarah Ford, Senior Technical Advisor for Partnerships; Shaun Ferris, Technical Advisor on Agro-Enterprise; Brian Backe, Director of Domestic Programs Support Unit; Juan Molina, CRS-US Southwest; Thomas Awiapo, CRS-Ghana; and last but not least were the tireless CRS Fair Trade Champions, Jackie DeCarlo and Katy Cantrell.

Thanks much for the provocative discussions and good humor! That’s all for now . . . need to catch my plane.

It must be the cold weather as we are just all over the internet and radio airwaves over the last month! Jody just completed a quick You Tube slideshow of our trip to Chiapas. We are trying to build out our My Space page (Will you be our friend please!!) and Jody and Chris were recently featured on Radio Anyway in an interview with Gary Howe while in Colombia. Meanwhile, Chris and Connie from Global Gallery were interviewed by Fred Anderle on Open Line on WOSU radio. Check back soon for a video presentation of our trip to Chiapas!

Turkish Thursdays at Higher Grounds Coffee Bar

The Turkish method of brewing coffee dates back to the 16oos and is a favorite of many coffee connisseurs today. Not for the faint of heart, the Turkish brew starts with the most finely ground coffee in the biz and ends up syrupy sweet in your cup. Tradionally serves in a small demitasse cup, a little dose will do you just right. (Bartender Bob at the Bluebird in Leland will be proud - we’ve finally added his beloved Turkish brew method to our menu. ) 

For the month of February - you can get it for a $1.00/person every Thursday. Come on in and give it a try!

 Want to learn more about Turkish Coffee, visit these sites:

Coffee Geek - http://coffeegeek.com/guides/turkishcoffee

Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_coffee

Download the poster here: Motherhood Manifesto (PDF)

Congratulations to Alita, Helio & Baby PlumPlum!

Alita - Barista extraordinaire and Coffee Bar co-manager - gave birth to a little girl on January 31st. Mom and baby are healthy and happy. Affectionatly known as PlumPlum while still in the womb, Alita & Helio are waiting to see what name best suits the personality of this new little one. We hear rumors they are leaning toward Louisa (after Helio’s middle name, Louise).

If you are in the Traverse City area and would like to partake in our daily meal rotation for their family, stop by the Coffee Bar and sign up for a date.

All of us at Higher Grounds are so excited to have a new little one in our “big family” and we wish Alita, Helio and PlumPlum lots of love and joy!

Any coffee roaster who has traveled beyond the tourist confines of origin country knows the paradoxical reality present in coffee growing communities. Those that grow the world’s highest quality beans are usually cursed to wake up to some of the worst tasting coffees known to anything with taste buds. Most times this is true for pretty much all of coffee growing countries except for the privileged who are able to buy imported coffees. The rest drink Nescafe.

The reason - fairly simple. Countries who depend on coffee as a main source of their GDP, export the highest quality beans for sale to the highest bidder. As well, most producers do not have the available credit to purchase a roaster, bags, and grinder nor access to a market.

In an $80 billion industry, producing countries receive only 20% of net revenues—farmers earn less than 10% (according to Food First). Deviron and Stefano point out in the Coffee Paradox that the top five coffee multinationals, Kraft, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, Sara Lee, and Tchibo control 69% of the global coffee roasting industry. This doesn’t leave much of a market for the rest of us in a country which holds 1/5th of the world’s coffee drinkers and much less for our unfortunate coffee growing friends.

Moreover, due to the poor economy of almost all coffee growing countries, most homes purchase the least expensive option - instant coffee usually dumped from far off - cheaper locales, such as Vietnam. And at the ironic bottom of the pole, are most coffee growing communities, consuming defected beans they can not sell in the market. Roasting them over an open fire they then hand grind and brew em’ cowboy style - boiled in water.

But there is hope for our coffee drinking companeros south of the border. Small scale growers are hooking up propane tanks to old drum roasters, dropping in batches of freshly picked and processed green beans and roasting up some specialty coffees to be distributed throughout their home countries. Sure, they won’t size up to the well-balanced bright taste of our export friendly friends up north but they are much better then what they’ve been drinking down south. I had the unique opportunity to backpack across the Mayan Highlands of Southern Mexico and Guatemala to check on the status of this burgeoning wave of truly handcrafted coffee roasting.

My first stop was at Maya Vinic - our oldest partner growing co-op and very good friends. Maya Vinic is a great example of a cooperative that is working toward vertical integration. The nearly 500 growers own their own bodega, processing center and have a small roasting facility. Not bad for being in the coffee export business for just 7 years! All coffees that don’t pass through the processing plant as export grade are returned to their roastery where they throw them in their 30 pound roaster for use in their national market. Distributors in Merida and Mexico City sell the beans under the brand “Maya Vinic” to restaurants, grocery stores, and hotels throughout the country.

After a day of crossing the border at La Mesilla and negotiating the various mountains, ravines, and rivers that make up North-West Guatemala I arrived in Xelajú (or Quetzaltenango as the Spaniards renamed it after conquering the Mayan Mam population). This bustling highland city acts as the center of commerce for the various indigenous communities that ring the ten mountains that hover over it. There, I met with Cafe Conciencia - an organization formed to help commercialize the coffee of 4 different growing cooperatives scattered in the mountains of San Marcos and Quetzaltenango.

At the end of a long winding road that cuts into the side of a mountain, the road up to Tajulmulco Organic Coffee Organization of Small Organic Coffee Growers Maya Mames (Apecaform) is the most dangerous I’ve been on since traveling the “death road” in Bolivia. Over the course of two hours we climbed the side of the Tajumulco Volcano, weaving between boulders trying to stay between the cliff and the side of the mountain. The roasters at Apecaform have a great history. For nearly 10 years they roasted their beans over an open fire. As the wooden shack that housed their “roaster” would fill with smoke, shifts of women took turns inhaling the smoke and turning the barrel by hand. Today, thanks to the Fair Trade Fund at Catholic Relief Services, the women now have a brand new roaster and much better coffee to drink each day.

The Water Festival Fundraiser

To raise funds for this years’ annual Water Festival, we’ll be sharing the stage with Michigan musicians Hawks and Owls, Seth Bernard and Daisy May and Rachel Davis at the Wealthy Theatre in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Saturday January 5th at 7:00PM. The fine folks at Earthworks Music have invited us to share our experiences as water activists and inform folks about our Water for All Campaign. If you haven’t heard these musicians before, click on the links above and buy their album! Michigan is very lucky to be graced with their presence. For information on this event you can call 616-459-4788 Ext 130 or look on-line at www.grcmc.org/theatre

IndyFlix@Higher Grounds benefiting the Chiapas Water Project

IndyFlix is a project of Sally Neal and was hosted by the lovely ladies of Kejara’s Bridge/Red Heads. The Kejara’s gals decided to close for the winter and so, lucky for us, we’ve been chosen as the new venue for IndyFlix. Join us for our premier screening!

When: Thursday Dec 13th
5:30p . . . . . . . . . Coffee & Community
6:20p . . . . . . . . . .Brief Update from the Chiapas Water Project & Swim for the River (a movie about one man’s swim to save the Hudson River)

Admission by Donation. All proceeds benefit the Chiapas Water Project.

Click here for an update on the Chiapas Water Project (PDF)

Each Friday at 2 pm we are offering free public cuppings and tours of the roastery at Higher Grounds Trading Co.

This week , our photog friend, Gary Howe, stopped by to document the activities. Gary has also been kind enough to travel to coffee origins with us multiple times. To check out his amazing photography visit his blog and website. On with the cuppings below…

Jody shows off our stylish Diedrich Drum Roaster and explains our artisinal, small-batch roasting philosophy.

Meanwhile, Jen and Emily (above) prepare the cupping exercise. Coffee cupping is used by roasters to evaluate the fragrance, aroma, and flavor of their coffees. This week we tasted 6 different coffees and asked participants to describe the flavor. Afterward we did a blind cupping with the same 6 coffees to test our palette.

When cupping, participants smell the dry and wet coffee grounds to evaluate the fragrance and aroma. We then taste the coffee by slurping it off a spoon to experience the flavor. In addition to the taste of the coffee, we also describe the body, balance, acidity, and aftertaste. By doing so we are able to evaluate the quality of the green bean, better determine the best roast profile to use, and create a recipe for roasting to ensure a consistent cup that excedes our standards with each sip. For a crash course on cupping vocabulary visit this page then join us sometime.

Higher Grounds Trading Co. First Annual Holiday Gift Gala featuring a Bay Bucks Mini-Market, Trunk Show with wares direct from Kenya and India plus sample local foods from Scott’s Harbor Grill, Food For Thought, Grocer’s Daughter, Naturally Nutty Peanut Butters, Fresh Food Partnership, Pleasanton Bakery and more.

Where: Higher Grounds Trading Co.
When: Saturday Dec. 1st , 11:00 – 5:00
Join the holiday fun at Higher Grounds Trading!
Bring your Bay Bucks (or get them here).

Local foods will be sampled throughout the day!

Ladies, join us from 2:00 - 5:00 for Grocer’s Daugter’s chocolates and locally-made wines.
Bring a gift for the MI Youth Opportunities program (an organization working with youth aged 18 - 24 who are transitioning out of foster care) and get a free cup of coffee! MI Youth Opportunities is requesting gas cards, mittens, hats, gift certificates for restaurants, groceries, small appliances or other similar items)

Its official! At long last Higher Grounds Trading Co. has made its debut in the world of beer. That’s right, Shorts Brewing Company has concocted quite the mean Coffee Creme Stout using our Mayan Magic Espresso Blend. Last night I had the pleasure of sipping on a few as we rented a bus and made the 45 minute trek to visit Joe Short and his crew and celebrate the achievement.

Notes of chocolate with a creme - like body fill the mouth as that all-to-familiar dark roasted coffee flavor graces the aftertaste with each sip. If you are in Bellaire, be sure to stop by and enjoy a pint. If not and you want to learn about the similarities between beer and coffee, visit our other blog, Bean Activist, and read the article by our good friend and expert on all things beer, Chris O’brien. Its aptly titled…….wait for it, wait for it, ………….. “Beer and Coffee.”

Harvest Tour: Fair Trade and Indigenous Autonomy in the Mayan Highlands
February 11th - February 18th, 2008

Join us on an adventure through the Mayan Highlands of Chiapas, Mexico where we’ll be meeting up with our many partners in the struggle for a just and dignified world. We’ll be visiting two organic and fair trade coffee co-ops working to create community sustainability and various autonomous projects that your coffee dollars support here at Higher Grounds. Click here for more information

The Guatemala City Cemetery sits in Zone 3 overlooking the 50-year-old city garbage dump. The dead and their mourners watch as 3 garbage trucks enter each minute to dispense the cities trash at one of the largest garbage dump in Latin America. From the cemetery, 2000 workers sorting through the filth appear to be ants in the bottom of a vast pit – one that some could easily

be mistaken for hell. 80% of the workers are indigenous, 85% are women – castaways of the global economy, many of them migrating to the city from coffee growing communities. They work 6 am to 6 pm and earn a total of 15 quetzales, barely 2 dollars. Besides the obvious dangers of broken glass, bacteria, bugs, illness, the workers are exposed to high levels of methane gas.

As I stare into the nearly endless pile of trash, Fredy Maldonado, director of donations and special projects as Safe Passage, and guide for the day tells me in broken English, “Chris we must go quickly, it is lonely here.�

Lonely is an understatement. Vultures hover overhead. Old coffins pile up at the bottom of the cliff at the garbage dumps’ edge. Cemetery guards throw corpses into the pit if their families have not paid the 12-dollar yearly fee. Graves, decaying shrines, garbage, vultures, and open caskets surround me – the place is begging to be the locale for a horror flick.

“Yes, I know it is a lonely place Fredy, but I’ve come a long way to learn about Safe Passage. Just let me walk around a little bit and take it all in.â€? I tell him, indignant and attempting to flex my power as guest and donor. After Jody and I were contacted by the Friends of Safe Passages in Traverse City to create a Coffee for Change coffee to raise funds for the school, I’ve arrived to learn about the project first hand and I’m not ready to go. It doesn’t work though. Fredy realized that I don’t understand him and he switches to Spanish to clarify.

�We are alone here Chris, it is very dangerous. Someone can come and rob us. Usually we have guards but your visit was last minute so I didn’t get a chance to have one come with us.� Being in one of the worst parts of town in arguably the most dangerous capital city in Latin America he has a point. Each week over 50 people are murdered in this city. 6000 people are murdered a year in the country - more then all of our soldiers fighting in two wars. He grabs my bag and we scurry toward the car heading back to Safe Passage.

Wherever I’ve found poverty throughout the world, I’ve encountered well-intentioned foreigners desperately trying to “help.� Safe Passage is a rare example of a foreigner coming to the underdeveloped world, having a pipe dream to “help the people� and actually doing it.

Hanley Denning founded Safe Passage as an oasis for the children of the garbage dump in 1999. Eight years later, the after school program and early intervention program care for over 600 children who without the program are left on the streets and the slums as their parents toil away in the dump.

Health care, meals, supplementary education, and most important Fredy tells me, love, is provided unconditionally free of charge. In a tragic turn of events, Hanley died last year in a fatal automobile accident. Her vision continues on as over 600 volunteers come from around the world each year to work with the children. Amidst, death and the dump, Safe Passage provides a ray of hope to the poorest of the poor in Guatemala.

You may have noticed our new banner above…Fancy, I know.

Unfortunately, in the process of updating we lost all of our earlier BLOG entries. We have tried to replace them with some creative cut and pasting, but many of the images that go with the entries will take more time to get back up in the proper places. Stay with us, in time, you won’t even notice anything is missing.

Peace, love and good coffee.

There are few places more stunning in the world then Lago Atitlan (aka Chol Lake to the Ka’ckchiquel Maya) in the Guatemalan highlands. The lake is the result of a huge volcanic explosion over 85,000 years ago. Today 3 mammoth volcanos grace its shores and Mayan communities dot its borders. After settling the area in the 1200’s,

here multiple ethnicities of the Mayan people live today. Tourism, coffee farming, and traditional weaving are the main sources of income for the Mayan communities, but a small group has found a unique way to find a fair wage for their craft.

Los Cuchareros are a group of nine Ka´ckchiquel Maya who are artisans of the handmade spoon. From soup ladels to coffee scoops, the Cuchareros gather wood from old coffee trees and shade trees in coffee fields to craft their spoons with great care.

Fray, Julio, Martin, Antonio, Mayses, Adonias, Lesvia, Claudia, and Florinda spend hours each day, cutting, sawing and carving each spoon by hand. Natural Sealants such as Bees Wax and Candle Wax are used to seal the spoons. It is hard not to recognize the craftsmanship of the spoons as Fray Gerber Jacinto Campor mentioned as he hands me the order I will carry back home, “No two products are the same Chris, we are artisans who make each product with our own hands.�

As we sit nearly a spoons’ (big ladle rather then small coffee scoop) throw from Lago Atitlan in the sleepy but culturally vibrant town of San Lucas Toliman, Volcano Toliman hovers overhead. The Cuchareros tell me that the order I have come to pick up for our Coffee Bar is their largest request yet. With the purchase of each spoon they provide $1 to $2 dollars to local elderly people. In Guatemala, the elderly receive a pension of less then $90 dollars a month. The income provided by the spoons goes along way to help the elders of their local community. 100% percent of the sale of each spoon goes directly into their pocket - no bureaucratic NGO administrative fees here!

If you are in Traverse City, stop by next week to check em out!

Chiapas visiting Maya Vinic. In a quick few days we’ve worked on preparations for a water project in the highland community of Chichilton, trekked to the top of a mountain to speak to the municipality of Chenalho via the Las Abejas radio station Chanul Pom, and had a great meeting with representatives from the co-op to discuss a

plethora of topics about this year’s harvest. With Monika Firl from Cooperative Coffees in tow, President Jose Vasquez - an old friend who came to the U.S. with us on a speaking tour a couple years ago- sat down and also signed contracts for 4 containers.

We also discussed Higher Grounds social premium of $2,800 given to the co-op in recognition of the deep partnership we have with the co-op. Many visits to the co-op have continually reminded us that our success is intricately related to theirs. As such we are providing a yearly bonus of $.15 per pound above the beyond fair trade price for all coffee we purchase from the co-op. This year the co-op has decided to fix their 3 ton truck which will allow them to travel to the various growing communities that make up the community to collect coffee. By doing so they will be communicating more regularly with the members and eliminate a costly expense for producers – delivering coffee to the co-op.

Maya Vinic is quickly positioning itself to be a highly successful cooperative in an industry where most are struggling to get by. They have vertically integrated – processing all coffee at their warehouse. After picking, washing, fermenting, drying, and sorting their beans, Maya Vinic is roasting non- export coffee for their national market under their own brand. Their national brand coffee is distributed throughout Mexico thereby providing an income for the coffee that is not sold to international buyers, such as Higher Grounds.

For that reason, I finished my adventure in Chiapas by providing a roasting and cupping training at Maya Vinic roastery and offices. More to come soon on that when I blog about the 3 other trainings I just completed in Guatemala.

We took an unplanned month off blogging and we sincerely apologize to those of your who are regular readers. Bad bloggers, bad bloggers!

Chris is just returning from ten days in Chiapas, Mexico and Guatemala so I know he’ll have plenty to share.

This week also marks the beginning of our free weekly roastery tours and cupping sessions. Each Friday at 2:00 pm join us at the roastery for a spin around our roasting facility plus a fun and information-filled coffee cupping session! Don’t know what coffee cupping is? It’s a quick tasting of coffee that ‘cuppers’ (or quality rating professionals) use to rate the quality of coffee based on many factors such as aroma, body, acidity, balance and finish. We cup our coffees to help determine the best roast profile for each bean, which may change from bag to bag or harvest to harvest.

We hope you’ll join us! Please call ahead if you know you’ll be joining us (9229009 or 877 825 2262). But feel free to drop in last minute, too.

Happy slurping,

Jody

If you’ve kept up with the goings-on of Higher Grounds, you’ve likely learned that we are members of a one-of-a-kind fair trade, green bean importing cooperative called Cooperative Coffees . Cooperative Coffees is comprised of 21 roasters (soon to be 23) who are setting the bar for the global coffee trade. Built into our organization is the respect and honor we have for the people and environment that provide us the gift of coffee we so dearly covet. Together the roasters of CC import several millions dollars worth of green coffee from farmers who are leaders in their respective coffee communities and amongst circles of industry experts who are hedging bets on the policies that dictate world trade.

Each year Cooperative Coffees hosts an Annual General Membership (AGM) meeting for members to join together to share ideas and take care of the formalities that come with importing over 300 containers of coffee from all over the world. This includes: the election of the board, financial updates and planning, and sharing proposals for new projects. Critical to these meetings is the sharing of information. The enthusiastic banter resounding from every corner of the hotel represents a group of folks with lots of work to do and lots of energy to do it.

In order to strengthen our relationship with producers and give farmers a chance to share their experiences amongst one another, the AGM is held in a coffee producing country every other year and our farmer partners are invited to discuss topics such as farming techniques, building domestic markets, cupping training and challenges/successes in the marketplace.

So, I find myself here in Nicaragua amidst an impressive roster of over 35 coffee farmers from all over Latin America plus representatives from 23 small roasteries based in the United States and Canada. Joining us is a like-minded group of allies including the director of fair trade at Catholic Relief Services, Central American staff from the Fair Labeling Organization, the newly elected director of the International Federation of Alternative Traders, Paul Myers, and representatives from two socially-minded funders, Oiko credit and RootCapital.

The AGM kicked off in typical Nicaraguan style - a lively reception with traditional music and dance presented by the community of Esparanza. The agenda for the first two days was oriented toward producer exchange with a visit to the fields, discussions about farming techniques and a tour of SolCafe, a local coffee processing facility. Yesterday evening, roasters and farmers learned the intricacies of identifying defects in coffee and spent several hours cupping coffees to learn how these defects impact the “cup profile�.

The feedback from farmers so far has been overwhelmingly positive. Here are a few anecdotes . . Javier from Cepicafe in Peru is working on opening a new processing facility and the trip to Solcafe helped solidify many decisions he needed to make. Antonio from Maya Vinic facilitated other farmers in identifying defects using his cupping skills he has gained from Higher Grounds and other roasters who’ve hosted cupping trainings at Maya Vinic. . Juana from La Fem in Nicaragua, a new co-op comprised solely of women, said she is learning invaluable skills to improve the quality of their coffee and, thus, improve their potential to enter new markets.

I’m signing off now to attend a demonstration on roasting techniques and an exchange about building domestic markets for the farming co-ops. Stay tuned for more from Nicaragua . . .

dreds of years ago the birthplace of coffee and the cradle of humanity exported the first coffee beans in the history of humankind. The longberry coffee tree was first harvested in Harar, Ethiopia and exported to Yemen. Today, the farmers of Harar still harvest the longberry which provides one of the unique and sought after cups of coffee in the world yet they have very limited access to water and the only inputs into their society come from the income from coffee, those who visit do to their connections in the coffee industry, or through the sale of chat - a drug in its’ own classification and banned in the United States.Contrasting their poverty is the reality of a coffee industry that is a megabillion dollar industy enriching many in consuming countries at the detriment of the farmers who grow the finest coffees in the world. For that reason, we’ve gone on an all out educational, trade relations, and policy advocacy campaigns for the farmers of Ethiopia. The next 30 days is shaping up to be the month for Ethiopia (although Jody will be in Nicaragua and I’ll be heading to Mexico and Guatemala!).

First and foremost, if you are in the Chicago area this friday you must stop by the Funky Buddha and dance the night away for the Ethiopia School Project. The event will benefit the Chicago Fair Trade Committee and the construction of the 5-8th grade classrooms at Negelle Gorbitu (pictured below) co-op in Yirgacheffe. Now, our Ethiopian Oromia Medium Roast is coming direct from Negelle Gorbitu. The benefit features a screening of the film “Black Gold� at 7 p.m., followed by a silent auction and a raffle, DJs and live music by five-piece band Ensemble Descarga. Includes organic beer, wine and cocktails. This event is a preclude to the Chicago Marathon as myself and friends from Chicago Fair Trade Committee are running the Chicago Marathon and raising funds and awareness for Fair Trade.

We’ve also just announced our participation in Ethiopia’s Fine Coffee Trademarking and Licensing Initiative in order to help Ethiopia gain access to the intellectual property rights to the origin of their coffee similarly to the way it has worked in the wine industry. The EIPO just released this press release to announce our partnership.

The Coffee Bar is open for business! Open Mon - Sat 9 to 6

The Grand Opening party proved to be a huge success. Baristas extraordinaire, Karen and Alita (left to right behind the coffee bar) kept the espresso pouring all day. Mother nature cleared the skies for the day and a team of incredible volunteers made it all come together. Hundreds of people joined us for a blessing of the new space, a lovely grilled quesadilla meal, live music and loads of samples from local food vendors.

A savory chicken dish won the recipe contest after much deliberation. There were many delectable entries including a steak rub, Sumatran dark roast brownies, coffee banana scones, coffee ice cream, a vegan coffee desert pizza, and coffee mousse.

The fun-filled day concluded with booty-shaking to local band, Fundubmentals, and a keg of Short’s Beer.

Thanks to all of you who joined us for the celebration! And many, many thanks to our team of volunteers, our Higher Grounds family (Emily, Jen, Alita, Karen, Mary Lee & Mary Lou) plus all of our friends who sent flowers and gifts, our families (see Grandma Treter below) and to the Powers That Be for making it all possible.

Grandma Treter, the supreme java judge, delights over the recipes at the opening celebration.

Images courtesy of photographer Gary L Howe

Finally a year of cajoling, conspiring, cultivating, and creating has led us to this moment ….. the Coffee Bar is open for business and ready to serve up some mean espresso drinks while showing off our fair trade and organic coffee offerings. We are also highlighting some other fair trade products we’ve come across in our many travels. Many local fair trade and organic goodies will grace our Coffee Bar, including Food for Thought fair trade and organic preserves, fair trade artisinal chocolates from Grocer Daughters Chocolates, and local honey and maple syrup direct from the cultivators.

If you are in town come join us at our Opening Celebration this Thursday, September 13th and submit a recipe that contains coffee to win a $100 gift certificate. Grandma Treter and Ray Minervini along with Evan Smith from Food for Thought will be judging the contest and sure to give your concoction a fair shake.

If you’re not in town, please check out our on-line store. Soon we’ll be building it out to mimic The Coffee Bar so you too can have a taste of our many travels and adventures through our coffees and fair trade products offered at the Roastery and Coffee Bar.

Well, almost. We’ve completely moved out of the roastery in the woods on Schomberg and put everything in our new digs on Red Drive at the Village of Grand Traverse Commons. With the help of MAM, the Minervini Group, and our family and friends, we’ve converted the north side of the old Laundry Building into the Coffee Bar and Roastery at Higher Grounds Trading Co.

In its former life, the Village was first conceived as the Northern Michigan Asylum for the Insane in 1885. It was one of the largest employers in Northern Michigan growing from the single “Kirkbride Building,� now known as Building 50, to campus of over 60 buildings surrounded by farmland. Thomas Story Kirkbride, based his Kirkbride Plan for mental health around the concept of Moral Treatment - or treatment for the mentally ill by using psychosocial methods coupled with moral discipline while practiced in a serene setting.

In its heyday there were dozens of Kirkbride inspired hospitals. Most housed Victorian style institutional buildings built in “en echelon� (staggered, so each connected building still received sunlight and fresh air) with large swathes of farmland around them. The original concept was to treat mental patients with quiet country life in a self-sustaining community involving extensive farming operations. Under the supervision of Dr. James Munson, between 1885 -1924 patients were treated under the philosophy of “beauty is therapy� and “work is therapy� while forbidding the use of restraint by straitjackets.

The hospital grounds were closed in 1989 and quickly deteriorated into a skeleton of its former self, with graffiti and broken glass strewn across the grounds. Before demolition in 2000 the Minervini Group bought it and has been reviving it ever since - making it one of the largest historical rehabliltation projects in the country. Today it is home to many residents and businesses, including a winery, brick oven bakery, traditional italian restaurant, and now …. a fair trade and organic coffee roasting company and coffee bar.

Join us for a fundraiser benefiting the Chiapas Water Project at the Family Barn Movie featuring The Ultimate Gift sponsored by Veritas Investment Management. Raffle Tickets will be sold. Winners will be announced at 8:00. Offerings include a private sailboat cruise for yourself and 3 guests, massage, gift baskets full of local delicacies and much more

When? Wednesday, August 29th Arrive at 7:00 for Refreshments and the Movie will begin at dusk. Bring your blankets, chairs and warm clothes.

Where? Telford Farm, Cedar MI (see Map)

Why? Water

We think about water a lot at Higher Grounds Trading Co. Not only is good water integral to excellent cup of joe, its fundamental to every step of coffee production, beginning with a farmer’s basic need for hydration.

When coffee farming families don’t have access to clean water for drinking, bathing and washing raw coffee, they must expend a large portion of their time and energy each day in pursuit of it. This, in turn, limits the amount of time and energy they have to focus on farming, education and a myriad of other activities that are vital to healthy families and communities.

This is precisely why a group of us Northern Michiganders founded the Chiapas Water Project. We are raising money through events and other intiatives then funneling every penny of it to Chiapas where it is used solely to bring water to the Mayan families who lack it. It is a small act of solidarity in the looming threat of a world water crisis. Living in Northern Michigan, where we are blessed with access to abundant fresh water, we feel a calling to “share the wealth� with our neighbors to the South, who are equally deserving of this gift of clean water.

Please join us in our efforts and enjoy a late summer evening watching a movie under the stars!

By golly, we are on the last leg of the build out of our new Coffee Bar and Roastery! Since we are opening THE Coffee Bar, we wanted to make sure it will be as green as possible. And there is no better place to start then with the counter of the coffee bar. But finding the material made from the most green resource at a reasonable price is quite the task - especially when living in a town where if you mention that you want an environmentally friendly countertop, most will just scratch their heads. At least that’s what I did when we started the search.

Here were the options Jody and I had to start with to cover our 70 square foot bar - Lowes’s - big box store, Home Depot - bigger box store, and your typical countertop, tile, and floor shops. Lowe’s suprised me and actually had one good option. They carry a Butcher Block selectively cut Maple from Wood Welded - not the most environmentally friendly source since it is not from a quick renewing resource but it is local and selectively cut.

After a bit of on-line investigation we did find Architectural Elements of Michigan just down the street that had three good options.

1. Terrazo Countertops made by Terrazzo & Marble Supply - Rinato style Terrazo Countertops are a line of cementitious terrazzo slabs containing recycled glass. The cement matix which binds the glass also includes recycled flyy ash and slag to replace non-renewable and petrochemical based resources. A very pretty choice but extremely expensive at between $80 - $100 a square foot!
2. Another amazing option was Shetka Stone which converts wastepaper, cardboard, cloth or plant fiber into non-toxic countertops. It is made from recycled materials and is also renewable and recyclable. They use 100% post-consumer or post-industrial fiber-based materials as their source of raw materials. Some of the coolest designs are made from recycled counterfit money or old newspapers.
3. The third option was a countertop made from Eucalyptus. We took that out of the running immediately as our many travels to the Coffee Lands down south have taught us that although the Eucalyptus tree is fast growing and renewable, it is genetically modified and grown on huge swathes of monocultural farms. Local populations in Latin America where it is grown have been known to protest the arrival of foreign owned Eucalyptus plantations. Sometimes their is more to being green then meets the eye! To learn more about GM Trees and their effects on the environment check out this great article in Seedlings.

Two other options that are of your mainstream green variety are bamboo and cork. Both are fairly decent options but have their drawbacks. Bamboo is usually binded with urea formaldehyde, which produces a negligible amount of airborne formaldehyde. Some manufacturers don’t use it but most do from the research I’ve done. Bamboo does grow very rapidly, being able to harvest after just 3 years and many indigenous communities can essentially live off the tree as it provides shelter, food, and prevents soil erosion. Cork is the outer bark of the Quercus suber tree variety, which grows in the Mediterranean. Cork oak forests are carefully managed and cover approximately 5.4 million acres amongst the seven primary cork producing countries; (30% Portugal, 21% in Algeria, 20% in Spain, 16% in Morocco, 5% in France and 4% each in Italy and Tunisia). However, like bamboo, cork is finished and binded with volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) which are emitted into the air. It is recommended that you select low or non toxic products for these purposes.

The final option and decisive winner in our search for the perfect green countertop is …….. …….. …….. Old Growth Virgin Birch from the bottom of the Great Lakes! You can’t beat it (at least we can’t as we live on the shores of Lake Michigan and actually Emily, our roaster extraordinaaire, actually lives on a boat in Lake Michigan). Back in the early 1800’s timber companies would cut down old growth forests and ship them via the Great Lakes. Many times some would fall off the boat or sink to the bottom when floating. Georgian Bay Wetwood is one of the worlds’ most unique timber companies. They specialize in 100% environmentally friendly timber reclamation by scouring the bottom of the great lakes with their team of underwater deep divers and state of the art equipment to find old old old trees. They then kiln dry the wood in a radio-frequency vaccuum (RFV) kiln which is extremely energy-efficient and uses a fraction of the energy inputs required by traditional kilns.

According to them, they “believe it is wasteful - especially in today’s world of rapid climate change, rising CO2 levels and deforestation - to cut standing forests when there is an abundant supply of perfectly-preserved trees lying on the bottom of the Great Lakes, waiting to be used.�

The one we are purchasing sank to the bottom of the lake pre - 1810. Cross your fingers that we can get it to our new home safely and hopefully soon we’ll be putting back a couple of lattes as we glide our fingers across its smooth surface and make up stories about who sat in its shade in the 1700s.

Check back soon to hear about our exciting espresso machine story. it is coming direct from Italy this week, a one of a kind.

It’s a hot & sunny Sunday morning in Northern Michigan, and while I’d love to wile away the day at one of the many lovely beaches– instead, Chris and I are busy brewing coffee for the Founder’s Party for the Traverse City Film Festival, and then we’re off to a gathering of Bioneers at the Eco-learning Center in Suttons Bay (FYI - we received the huge honor of being named Bioneers of the Year in 2005 by the local organizing committee).There is so much packed into the sunny month of July and August, I sometimes wonder if our local event organizers don’t remember there are 10 other months in the year?

We’re not complety guilt-free of this ‘cram-everything-into-July-and-August’ phenomenon. Chris and I celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary yesterday (at another Film Festival party, no less) and we’ll mark the fifth year of Higher Grounds Trading Co.’s first sale of coffee at the end of August. Needless to say, there is much to celebrate and here’s a list of some of the events you’ll find us at:

1. Traverse City Film Festival (July 31 - August 5)
2. Fixed Gear Bike Symposium (August 8 - 12th)
3. Barn Movie sponsored by the Ursu family and Veritas Investment Management benefitting the Chiapas Water Project (Wed. August 29th)

Build-out update: There will be more to come soon on this but, as it turns out, August will be the month of Higher Grounds Trading Co’s re-birth. I know, I know, we hoped for July. But build-outs always take longer than expected. The new stacked roaster/oxidizer is in place, the mosaic tile wall is finished, the purple paint is dry and the new bar is . . . well . . . it will be ready next week