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!

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.