[cgfc] * * Co-op News : New Coffee, etc**

[Molly Stentz]

Hi Co-opers,

Here is a bit of news from the Co-op front.. We have just received our 
first batch of coffee from a new Fair-Trade roaster in Madison, Wisconsin!

Just Coffee is a small (3-person!), all Fair-Trade coffee importer and 
roaster which works with co-operatives and other small farmers in coffee 
growing countries to develop a more economically and environmentally 
sustainable way of doing business. 

WHAT IS FAIR TRADE?
Fair Trade is a business model that ensures that farmers are paid a living 
wage for their products. In the coffee industry, where prices are 
notoriously low, Fair Trade producers are guaranteed a minimum price of 
$1.26 per pound. Additionally, producers must belong to cooperatives or 
associations that are transparent and democratically controlled by their 
members.

Plus, all coffee is roasted to order and shipped the same day so it 
arrives fresh at our doorstep! Come sniff for yourself! 

This week we have in the Ethiopian Yirgacheffe and our own 
specially-dark-roasted Sumatranan coffee. Both are certified Organic.
We may order more in the weeks to come, if the demand is there. Let me 
know what you think!

As a side note, they also sell green (unroasted) beans, so any of you 
roast-at-home coffee-fanatics out there (other than Clint) who would be 
interested in purchasing green beans, just give me a call and I can order 
some for you at really nice prices.  

Check out more at www.justcoffee.net.

+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_

Also, the hot-off-the-presses, brand spankin' new FARM-DIRECT
Farmer-to-Consumer Directory is here! 

Hundreds of local fruit, vegetable, egg, flower, and meat producers are
listed in this compact and handy guide of Central Illinois farms. Not all
the farms are organic or certified, so it is buyer-beware, but a handy
reference tool nonetheless! Produced by the Prairieland Slow Food group, 
copies are available in the store and online at 
www.aces.uiuc.edu/asap/resources/farmdirect/.

=.=.=.=.=..=.==.=...==.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=..=.=.=.=.=.=..=.=.=.==...=..==.=..=

Lastly (but not least-ly)***

We need your help! TASTE OF CHAMPAIGN: This Weekend! (!)

Summer is here, and so are the summer festivals!! TASTE OF CHAMPAIGN is
next weekend, June 20-22. The Co-op is signed up for a booth, but needs
your help to staff it and help spread about the Co-op to C-U!! If you can
sign up for a 3-hour shift (catch up on those worker hours, wink, wink!)  
either on Saturday or Sunday [9-12, 12-3, or 3-6] we need YOU! If we don't
have enough people to cover all the shifts, we may have to back out. The
Co-op will supply the tent, chairs, and materials, you just have to sit
back and gab it up to folks at the Fest!

Also, we'd like to have a regular presence at the Urbana Farmers' Market 
on Saturday mornings but need a few hands. 8-10am or 10-12. It is very 
fun! Let us know!!!

Ciao for now,

Molly Stentz
Common Ground Food Co-op
www.commongroundcoop.org


--