Tag: archives

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from the archives – we love coffee! 11 october 2007

coffee is one of the best reasons to get up in the morning. at least that is how i feel about it. it was quite easy for me to become addicted to this liquid while working in a cafe. one free pound of beans per week and as much coffee as i could ingest during my shift was enough to get me hooked. who wouldn’t get addicted?

at that time, in the mid-late 90’s, i must admit that i was pretty much in the dark about coffee. i knew nothing about fair trade, shade grown or bird friendly coffee. i didn’t realize the effect that the coffee i was drinking had on people in hot climates picking beans for less than $1.00 per pound.

then one day the mail came and there was a coffee trade magazine in the mix. since we weren’t that busy i decided to sit and read up on the coffee industry. i came across this great article about an organization called “coffee kids”. their mission was simple –

to help coffee-farming families improve the quality of their lives.

reading on in the article i learned the following –

•Coffee is the second-most traded commodity in the world economy, after oil.
•The global coffee industry $60 billion annually. Coffee farmers earn as little as 4 cents a pound for the coffee they pick by hand.
•For every pound of gourmet coffee sold, small-coffee farmers receive between 12¢ and 25¢.
•25 million families around the world work in the coffee-fields and totally depend on the coffee crop as their only source of income.

these statistics are mind boggling, considering we were selling pounds of coffee at our cafe for anywhere from $9-$15 per pound (and even higher for types such as kenya aa ($25/pound) and jamaica blue mountain ($30/pound). after reading the article, i spoke to our district manager to find out if there was any way that we could start looking into fair trade coffee. i was told to speak to the owner of the cafe i worked for. a few days later i had a conversation with our owner and was told that fair trade coffee was too expensive. this answer coming from a lady that drove around in a bmw and lived in a good size home while paying her own employees well below the standard for baristas in the coffeehouse industry. i’m not sure where i thought i would get with my suggestion, but i had hoped to see a little bit of goodwill on the part of the company i worked for.

needless to say, this was the beginning of the end for me at that particular coffee establishment. it was sort of the last straw to find that my employer wouldn’t even consider something that would make the company better global citizens and, in the long run, help many people in need. fair trade is important. it saves lives and mends families.

if you are a coffee drinker (or tea totaller, cocoa consumer or chocolate fanatic) please consider buying fair trade for these products. whenever you visit your favourite coffeehouse be sure to ask for fair trade products. if each of us does our part to keep up the push on these coffee places, eventually everyone will carry the best and most conscious products available. and believe me, the cup of coffee that you know helped the whole supply chain better their lives is the best cuppa java you will ever sip!

peace – hippiegrrl

links of use for this topic…

frankenbucks campaign from organic consumers
fair trade federation
global exchange
make trade fair from oxfam international

where to find fair trade products in Buffalo and Rochester –
Lexington Co-Operative Market
Abundance Co-Operative Market
One World Goods
The Coffee Connection
Java’s
Lori’s Natural Foods

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from the archives – the holiday spirit – 13 november 2008

Now that my birthday is over (and it was lovely I might add) I am ready to move on to the other November holiday. I bet you thought (judging from the title) that this was going to be a post about the December holiday season. Well – you were wrong! Before we start shopping for Christmas/Chanukah/Kwanzaa we need to celebrate Thanksgiving. I realize that each year the Holiday shopping season begins earlier and earlier, but I like to wait until 1 December to shop. That’s just me. Maybe you are different. Either way – let’s talk turkey instead!

This year we are spending Thanksgiving with my side of the family. My mother will be cooking the bulk of the food, but I will be baking my yearly pumpkin twist cookies. I use a recipe that I have modified from this book – Halloween: 101 Frightfully Fun Ideas. I say modified because I don’t bother with all the additional decorating. They are good with just the pumpkin and vanilla twisted together and don’t really need additional sugar to make them tasty. Although these cookies are a big hit I do like to help in other ways as well.

Last year (when I was working) I ran a turkey drive at my place of business. We raised a bit of money and bought 2 dozen turkeys to give out. Our Helping Hands committee chose two worthy recipient organizations and a couple days before thanksgiving we dropped off the frozen turkeys. It was a great thing to do for the two groups and it also helped us to feel good about the Thanksgiving season.

People tend to gloss over Thanksgiving because it gets in the way of their December Holiday shopping season, but I really feel that we all need to take a moment and think about what Thanksgiving means. What are we thankful for? What we can do to make our world (locally and globally) a better place? What was the original Thanksgiving feast about and how can we carry on a more equal and honest celebration? How do we undo the mistakes of the past and move to a better future? These are things to think about at Thanksgiving and beyond. Before you rush out to the stores to fight with other customers for the “latest holiday item” be sure to reflect on the season and what thankfulness really means.

Peace and Happy Autumn!

Chantale

appropriate links:

– Looking for great baking ideas and recipes? Check out Bakerella or Cakespy or I Heart Cuppycakes!
– How about party planning and/or host(ess)ing? Try Hostess with the Mostess
– Mahalo.com is a good source for How to Cook a Turkey.
– The “mother” of all party planners – Martha Stewart gives ideas for a perfect Thanksgiving!
– Not Martha Stewart, but still interesting and fun – not martha.

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from the archives – eat local – 1 september 2007

rise up buffalo has been looking into the possibility of going completely local with our diet. the 100 mile diet, to be exact. in order to do this though, a few items may need to be given up in the winter months and other items given up altogether. with the help of a few great websites, we are learning more about eating locally and how it can help the environment while keeping our local farms in production.

local harvest is a great resource for finding and maintaining the means to eat locally. you can punch in your personal zip code and the site will show you all the farms in your area. there is also a wonderful section of the site explaining why we should buy locally and the effect it has on our planets and local economies. just in case you needed an explanation or would like to be more informed in discussing this 100 mile option with friends and family.

quoting from the sites about us page – “The Buy Local movement is quickly taking us beyond the promise of environmental responsibility that the organic movement delivered, and awakening the US to the importance of community, variety, humane treatment of farm animals, and social and environmental responsibility in regards to our food economy.”

for an even more in depth explanation about buying local, check out sustainable table.

isn’t this cause to at least give it a try? see what we can do as a community to continue the sustainability of our local farms and, while doing so, help the greater ecological issues we are facing in this current time.

staying on the local topic, but away from food there is a new movement in our buffalo community to buy local goods from retailers in our area. buffalo first “aims to encourage Western New York residents to make purchases at locally-owned independent business whenever possible. We also encourage local “mom and pop” stores to source with Buffalo’s farmers, producers and retailers; and work with local nonprofits, credit unions and other institutions whenever they can.” they are getting in on the movement as well, so isn’t it about time for you?

peace & happy marching!
hippiegrrl

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From the archives – back from the big city – 30 june 2007

yes, we have returned!

spending a weekend in toronto (or canada in general) always makes us want to do more for the environment. it also nudges us more in the direction of activism. realizing that toronto is a major metorpolitan area, you would think this wouldn’t be the case, but they are very conscious of usage, recycling, etc. up there.

so – considering the fact that we don’t want to be left behind when it comes to environmental awareness & activism, here are a few links to things happening locally in the western new york community!

re-tree wny – group formed to start the replanting process this coming fall for the trees that were lost during our storm in october 2006.

streets are for people – this group is organized in the toronto gta (mainly the queen west/kensington market neighbourhoods) to take back the streets for people. buffalo could use a little of this.

buffalo blue bicycle – buffalo’s bike sharing program. a great way for citizens to get back into biking without making a large investment in a new bicycle. you can join the club, learn how to repair bikes and share with other like-minded biking citizens! a season membership is only $25 or 6 hours of service helping to repair/maintain bikes. not bad!!!

freegans – As it states on the freegan website – “Freegans are people who employ alternative strategies for living based on limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources. Freegans embrace community, generosity, social concern, freedom, cooperation, and sharing in opposition to a society based on materialism, moral apathy, competition, conformity, and greed.”

push buffalo – helping low income individuals and families turn the page and become homeowners – one house at a time.

massachusetts avenue project – the mission of map is to “nurture the growth of a diverse and equitable community food system to promote local economic opportunities, access to affordable, nutritious food, and social-change education” and they have several ongoing programs to help them accomplish these goals!

queen city farm – a project that is still in the early stages, bringing the ability for fresh food and growing to the east side of buffalo.

i realize that this is quite a bit of information, but we are trying to get back on the right foot with this site. please join us in supporting these amazing groups and give you two cents on the comment board!

peace & happy marching –
hippiegrrl

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Archiving

I was able to recover the old rise up buffalo posts this past week, through a tiresome and timely retrieval process (thanks to the wayback machine) and I am hoping to get the best of the best up on the current version as soon as possible. This week is my vacation, so my hope is that I can get rise up buffalo back to its former glory and move forward in a positive writing direction.

Keep visiting as I create new pages and posts from some of the best of the old material. Thank you for being there, my loyal readers, for without you rise up buffalo would be nothing!

Peace –
Chantale (aka hippiegrrl)