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by Tripp Pomeroy, Café Campesino’s general manager, who reflects on his recent visit with our producer partners in Guatemala

I figure that the best place to start is where I left off in last month’s edition of Fair Grounds, where I summarized what I believe are the three most important themes that emerged from our meetings with our producer partners in Guatemala. For those who did not read last month’s issue, they are: 1) though Fair Trade's impact has been real and positive, they [our producer partners in Guatemala] continue to face the pressures of the subsistence conditions in which they live; 2) they [our producer partners] are justifiably proud of their ability to produce extraordinarily high quality coffee and want US consumers to understand the hard work and care they invest in producing coffee and; 3) an on-going, open and honest dialogue is the most effective way to develop creative, accurate solutions to the problems they, our producer partners, face.

First and foremost, staying with and listening to our producer partners in Guatemala generated a genuine sense of urgency for me...

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Café Campesino has an unusual request! We're asking you to help us introduce Café Campesino coffee and our message of Fair Trade to your favorite coffee houses, restaurants and markets! As a thanks for taking the time to send us your suggestions, Café Campesino will discount your next order by 10%. Please send the name of the business, a sentence or two about it, the address, telephone number and owner/general managers names (if possible) to spreadtheword@cafecampesino.com and we will email you back your discount code. Knowing how dynamic our customers are, we thank you in advance for helping us take our message (and coffee) to the streets!

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The grueling pace continues (but we love it!). While Bill plugs away at his Spanish in Guatemala…Spanish with a drawl…Lee and Tripp have been on the road quite a bit and will be heading out for more events in early April.

Their visits to the beautiful and inspiring Mayflower Coffee Company in Washington, Georgia, and Buck’s (Great!) Coffee Café in Highlands, North Carolina, provided valuable opportunities to talk Fair Trade with a variety of folks who clearly appreciate the movement’s principles, not to mention great coffee!  Lee and Tripp also journeyed up to the Southface Energy Institute in Atlanta on March 4th to attend the organization’s monthly roundtable, where, of course, Café Campesino coffee is served!

Tripp will be traveling to Kennesaw, Georgia, on April 8th to participate in the Inaugural Student Peace Leadership Training & Symposium at Kennesaw University.

On Saturday, April 9th, Geoffrey will be representing us at Habitat’s Global Village for their annual festival.

On the following Wednesday, Lee will jet out to Seattle to attend the SCAA Annual Expo, as well as represent Café Campesino as a new partner in the Catholic Relief Services Fair Trade Program, which will be covered in our next issue of Fair Grounds.

Finally, Geoffrey will once again lead the charge to set up camp for this year’s BRAG Spring Tune-Up, scheduled for April 15 – 17.

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Heading to Savannah? If so, visiting our truly dedicated friends at The Sentient Bean is a must. Not planning on a visit to Savannah….well, here’s the best reason we can think of to make the trip! Described by the New York Times as "a delightful coffee shop and cafe, and a haven for indie film, live music and literary readings", The Sentient Bean is worth the drive…from just about anywhere on the East Coast! For starters, they feature music, movies, community forums, and poetry almost daily as well as community art exhibits on a monthly or bimonthly basis - check out their current feature and on-line photo exhibit and oral history called Savannah Women Speak at

For owners Kelli Pearson and Kristin Rusell, the name, The Sentient Bean, is more than just a play on words; it is an expression of their ethic. They serve all organic and fair trade coffee and use organic ingredients in their baked goods and light lunches. They also live their commitment to fair trade by sending employees who have worked for them for two years to visit a coffee growing country with the folks at Cooperative Coffees. So far they have sponsored three employee visits to producer coops: two to Chiapas, Mexico and one to Nicaragua. The Sentient Bean is open from 7:30am - 10:00pm, seven days a week and is located at 13 East Park Avenue in Savannah, Georgia. Visit their website at www.sentientbean.com to learn more!

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Café Campesino is proud to announce our new partnership with the Mexico Solidarity Network (MSN) and its new Alternative Economy Internship Program. The Alternative Economy Internship offers a truly unique opportunity for our organizations to join together and deepen the power of the Fair Trade message…via the tangible medium of Café Campesino Fair Trade, organic coffee.

The Mexico Solidarity Network struggles for democracy, economic justice and human rights on both sides of the US-Mexico border. A grassroots-based organization, MSN is dedicated to profound social change that challenges existing power relationships and builds alternatives. 

MSN's Alternative Economy Program is built around principles of justice and the search for genuine alternatives to the predominant capitalist model. The Mexico Solidarity Network connects Zapatista cooperatives that produce artisanry and coffee with interns located throughout the United States. Interns receive training in the principles of alternative economy, and then set up tables displaying cooperative-produced goods in public places, acting as the link between producers and consumers and revealing the human face behind production. Interns may accept donations for the cooperative-produced goods, but there are no set prices. For more information about MSN and the Alternative Economy Program, contact the Mexico Solidarity Network at MSN@MexicoSolidarity.org or 773-583-7728 and check out their website: www.mexicosolidarity.org.

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Last month’s Coffee Knowledge winner was Kelly Hall, who knew that all coffee is grown within 1,000 miles of the equator, from the Tropic of Cancer in the north, to the Tropic of Capricorn in the south. Congratulations, Kelly!

Click here to review all of our past Coffee Knowledge Questions and Answers  

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Mark Twain

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• February 2005 Meeting Our Guatemala Partners Face to Face, Producer Profile: APECAFORM, Customer Spotlight: Mayflower Coffee Company, Fair Trade Partner: CoffeeTradeJustice.com
• January 2005 Tragedy's Wake: Update From Sumatra, Producer Profile: PPKGO Cooperative
• December 2004 Mexico: Notes From the Field, Customer Spotlight: Ten Thousand Villages, Fair Trade Partner: Cloudforest Initiatives
• November 2004 Conscious Consumption: A Personal Perspective, Customer Spotlight: Oyamel - Cocina Mexicana, Fair Trade Partner: Three Frontiers Trading Co.
• October 2004 A Mission...Not a Market: The 2004 Vote: Making it Work
• September 2004 Producer News: CECOCAFEN in the Off Season, Customer Spotlight: The Healthy Gourmet
• August 2004 Producer Profile: Cooperativa Café Timor, Fair Trade Friends: Marketplace of India
• July 2004 A Fair Trade Reality Check, Fair Trade Friends: Tribal Fiber, Coffee Lab International
• June 2004 The Promise of Fair Trade, Fair Trade Friend: Global Crafts
• May 2004 Fair Trade at the Carter Center, SCAA meeting.
• April 2004 Coffee and Community in Nicaragua, Fair Trade in Americus Makes the News!
• March 2004 Fair Trade chocolate, Rosetta's Kitchen
• February 2004 Bill's Return to Guatemala, Guayakí Rainforest
• January 2004 Espresso - What's the Buzz?
• December 2003 Fair Trade: Global Exchange's Fair Trade Challenge; Fellow Fair Traders: SERRV International
• November 2003 Fair Trade: More Than Just a Fair Price; Fellow Fair Traders: Lucuma Designs
• October 2003 Exploring the Coffee Regions
• September 2003 Cooperative Coffees Annual Meeting
• August 2003 Fair Trade Friends: Oxfam America; The Art (and Science) of Roasting Coffee
• July 2003 Exploring Our Origins: Sumatra
• June 2003 Exploring Our Origins: Guatemala; Gayo Mountain Adventure; Dr. Coffee - Cupping
• May 2003 Fair Trade Friends: United Students for Fair Trade; World Fair Trade Day
• April 2003 Exploring Our Origins: Ethiopia; Celebrating Earth Day with Fair Trade
• March 2003 Bill's Central American Adventures, Part 2; SWP Decaffeination
• February 2002 Bill's Central American Adventures, Part 1
• January 2003 My Life as a Bean
• December 2002 Exploring Our Origins: East Timor; Sustainable Development
• November 2002 New Website; Gift Baskets
• October 2002 Interview with roaster Lee Harris
• September 2002 ForesTrade Wins UN Sustainability Award; Exploring Our Origins: Sumatra's Gayo Cooperative
• August 2002 Producer News: Shade Grown; Fair Trade Friends: Atlanta Audubon
• July 2002 Exploring Our Origins: Colombia
• June 2002 Back Roads Journal: Cooperative Coffees and Café Campesino; Exploring Our Origins: Peru; Fair Trade Friends: Music of the Andes
• May 2002 Staff Notes: Cinco de Mayo; Producer News: Visit to Mut Viz; Back Roads Journal: SCAA Meeting
• April 2002 Back Roads Journal: Travels in Fair Trade; Customer Composting Tip