Just Coffee Cooperative

After several years of the US fair trade movement quietly searching for its identity behind the scenes, three interesting initiatives have come to the foreground almost simultaneously that will surely influence the FT movement in the near future. I don't know what y'all are thinking, but I think we should check them out. Sound good?

Well okay then, in order to understand why these three initiatives have emerged in 2010 and how they have influenced each other, it seems like we should take a look at the recent history of the fair trade movement in the United States in order to place it into context.

TransFair USA recently announced that it is changing its name to “Fair Trade USA”. According to an article on bizjournal.com, the rationale for the move is that “the simplified name change will better support the group’s brand.”. Strategic rebranding might make sense for any business that is trying to increase presence in the market or that is seeing its market share eroded. There are, of course, risks in doing this. When a company has spent years-- as in TFUSA's case-- building its brand, the move seems to be a particularly risky choice.

This weekend Madison will host the US Hardcourt Bike Polo Championships at the MATC Truax campus tennis courts. The weekend will feature many skinny-jeaned juggernauts of bike polo including our comrades-- Heavy Kev and the Hunter Boys. The team JC Jackalberry Crush will be in it to win it, so please witness.

The action starts Friday morning at 10am with matches all day. On Saturday the jousting begins at 10am and will continue Sunday it will begin at 11am.

Please come out and see this spectacle-- it will do your heart good. And have you some JC espresso or iced coffee over in the coffee cart.

For more info go HERE and we'll see you there. 

Mr Hunter Goes to Columbia from Mr.Do on Vimeo.

If you are in or around the Madison area, please come to this event!

The Guatemalan Dream: Fair Trade and Fair Politics
DESGUA Speaker in Madison
Monday, March 15th
5:30-7:30pm
Speaker presentation, follow up conversation, and potluck dinner
Centro Hispano of Dane County
810 W. Badger Road

Speaker Omar Mejia will discuss DESGUA's work to create economic development and alternatives to immigration for rural Guatemalan communities through fair trade. A conversation will follow to exchange information and ideas.

This event is part of a nation-wide speaking tour organized by DESGUA (Economic Development for a Sustainable Guatemala/ Desarrollo Económico por una Guatemala Sustentable) to strengthen a network of solidarity among Guatemalan migrant communities, community coops in Guatemala, and supporters in the United States.

DESGUA is working to cultivate a relationship between Guatemala's producer community and U.S. markets to generate a sustainable and dignified way of life so that immigration in exchange for food is not the only option.

Event Speaker: DESGUA member Omar Mejia is an agronomist who has worked for more than 4 years providing technical support in various organic farming projects such as organic coffee and livestock. He has worked with Café Conciencia to market products with organic and Fair-trade principles within a network of fair-trade conferences and educational workshops.
DESGUA: is composed of Cafe Conciencia(Guate), Santa Anita La Union(Guate), Grupo Maya K'iche(U.S./Guate), Grupo Cajola(U.S), and the Canary Institute(U.S)