Thanksgiving Coffee Company

I’m obsessed with numbers. I love them when they go up, and I snap into a rut when they fall below standard. Obama has widened his lead over McCain to 8 points. The Dow is down 369.88. The temperature in Fort Bragg, CA is 65 degrees. There are 75 more days until my favorite band comes to town. The average cost of a plane ticket from San Francisco to Uganda is $2,300. World Peace: Priceless.

I love numbers because they are concise while conveying a message. “Obama leads by 8” is a summary of what the next 8 year could be. “The Dow is down” equates to a global emotion of anxiety and fear, and hopefully summons change.

I was checking out the numbers for how many units of Mirembe we’ve sold so far this year (21,342), and thought, “Wow, 21,342 is pretty close to 25,000 and 25,000 is a pretty big positive even integer. I want to sell 25,000 units of Mirembe by the end of this month.” You see, I come up with these crazy ideas and sometimes I can pull them off by myself, and sometimes I need help. I am going to need your help to pull this one off.

In honor of Fair Trade Month, let’s sell the pants off Mirembe and kick some serious numerical butt (OK, images of depanting and kicking tush seem kind of violent, even if I am just talking about numbers. So sorry, let me try again). In honor of Fair Trade Month, let’s gather our allies and introduce strangers to the Mirembe project to disseminate JJ’s message of peace, boost the numbers, and prove to the world that Fair Trade is a sustainable practice. In honor of Fair Trade Month, let’s quench our thirst for tolerance, justice, and fantastic coffee. In honor of Fair Trade Month, I challenge you…

…To buy/sell 3,658 units of Mirembe to make this year’s sales be 25,000. It’s not impossible. It is a big leap. Buying Mirembe probably won’t affect the election, although it will help stimulate the economy. Hopefully it won’t affect the local temperate, or thwart the plans of my favorite band (Girlyman) coming to town. Your purchase will help send me to Uganda this winter to assess the needs of the farmers. World Peace: Priceless.

Who’s up for the challenge?

3,658 units this month = $5,889.38 to the farmers in Fair Trade Prices, plus $3,658 in rebates for a total of $9,547.38 to the farmers of the Peace Kawomera Cooperative in October.

Every afternoon I will update this blog with a sales report. The numbers reflect orders that have cleared our accounting department.
Date____Total This month___This year____Left to match challenge
October 6_____407__________21,342_____________3,658______
October 7_____501__________21,436_____________3,564______
October 8_____733__________21,668_____________3,332______
October 9__________ CLOSED FOR YOM KIPPOR _________________
October 10____745__________21,680_____________3,320______
October 11 Weekend
October 12 Weekend
October 13 I will be out of the office. Will update when I return
October 14 I will be out of the office. Will update when I return
October 15 ___1,223_________22,158_____________2,842______
October 16 ___1,398_________22,333_____________2,667______
October 17 ___1,448_________22,383_____________2,617______
October 18 Weekend
October 19 Weekend
October 20 ___1,567_________22,502_____________2,498______
October 21 ___1,609_________22,544_____________2,456______
October 22 ___2,005_________22,940_____________2,060______
October 23 ___2,026_________22,961_____________2,039______
October 24 ___2,321_________23,256_____________1,744______
October 25 Weekend
October 26 Weekend
October 27 ___2,452_________23,387_____________1,613______
October 28 ___2,687_________23,622_____________1,378______
October 29 ___2,706_________23,641_____________1,359______
October 30 ___2,838_________23,773_____________1,227______
October 31 ___3,320_________24,255_______________________

If 100 accounts each buy 36 units, our challenge is met! For every group that buys coffee this month, your name will be added to this list. For groups that order 36+, a link will be tagged to your name. Together, we can do this!! Thank you for supporting the Mirembe Kawomera project, Fair Trade Month, and my numerical obsession.

Wholesale accounts (min. 20 packages)
Adat Shalom
Community United Methodist Church
Friends of Ruwenzori
National Yiddish Book Center
Olympia Food Coop
Parkside UCC
St. Benedict’s Monastery
Temple Beth Hatfiloh
Unitarian Universalist Congregation
St. Mark’s United Methodist Church
Temple Beth El
Bnai Keshet
Congregation Beth Shalom
Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation
Communities of Shalom
Temple Aliyah Sisterhood
Society of Ethnomusicology Conference
Holy Family Bookstore
Temple Brith Achim
University of Wisconsin
Erasmus at the University of San Fransico
J. Bloch Associates
Congregation Hakafa
Taos Jewish Center
Congregation Beth Am
First Unitarian of Baltimore
Tower Cafe
Temple Beth El - San Pedro
Milwaukee Area Jewish Committee/Congregation Beth Israel - Glendale
North Suburban Synagogue Beth El
Temple Adat Shalom
The Greater Green
Sunrise House Orphanage
Duck and Decanter
Tiffereth Israel
El Dorado Peace and Justice
Bethany United Methodist Church
Jewish Community Center of San Francisco
St. James Episcopal Church San Francisco

From Facebook
Tanya Everett

Exponential smiles,

Holly

In recognition of World Fair Trade Day, I asked four friends and longtime supporters of Mirembe Kawomera to contribute to an interfaith commentary on the fair trade movement. Special thanks to the contributors: Reverend Will Scott a pastor at Grace Cathedral, in San Francisco; Nyla Khan a teacher at the Islamic Foundation School, in Villa Park (West Chicago); Rabbi Brant Rosen, rabbi at the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation of Evanston; and Reverend Anne Myosho Kyle Brown, of the Kumeido Zen Center.

Reverend Will Scott, Grace Cathedral

There seems to be a real movement happening in the United States and all around the world – a movement of “staying awake” – becoming more aware of how deeply we are connected to one another, and how much our choices affect the well being of others. The Internet and other communication technologies have helped many of us become more aware of the ways in which our lifestyles affect other people. Fair trade is one way to allow our love for God, our care for our neighbors and for the earth to infuse more of what we do.

Many Christians advocate simplicity, i.e. consume less of the world’s goods, buy less. The motto “live simply so that other’s might simply live” comes to mind. More and more Christians in addition to consuming less are also seeking to contribute to the good of the global and local community by how they engage in the marketplace. From fair trade gifts to buying livestock
for poor villages during the holidays, Christians and other people of faith are waking up to new ways of serving God and bringing hope to others.

Recently, my brother shared with me how college students around the country are asking that their campuses serve local produce to support family farms. As a priest, I think all this conscientious consumption is connected to the deep human longing to be awakened to God’s purposes, to be part of God’s realm of love and peace. I think this concern for where our food comes from, for how something is made and by whom is all about waking up, is all about loving our neighbors —even strangers— as ourselves. This conscientious consumption may be a spiritual discipline inviting us to consider how we seek and serve God in all persons, including those that made the clothes on our backs, or picked the vegetables we eat, or harvested the coffee we drink or bagged all these items at the store.

Our faith insists that we tell the truth. A modern Christian confession asks us to confess the evil things we have done, and those evil things that have been done on our behalf. We must name the cruelty, injustice, ecological devastation, and the greed that is part of our contemporary economic system. The Fair Trade Movement helps us get real, to be more honest about who we are and what we are doing to make the world a better place. May the Fair Trade Movement help us all stay alert, keeping awake to the urgent message of God’s love for us, and our responsibility to share that love with all people in all our words and deeds.

Grace Cathedral recently began serving fair trade coffee at all our church events. We have partnered with the Interfaith Council of San Francisco and Thanksgiving Coffee Company’s Mirembe Kawomera Cooperative, an interfaith co-op in Uganda. On Easter Sunday, we were treated to a visit by a group of these coffee farmers, and together celebrated in song God’s life among us.

Nyla Khan, Islamic Foundation School

Fair Trade – A Muslim’s Perspective

Fair trade is in total congruence with Islam and Islam is in total congruence with fair trade. The teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (may peace and blessings be upon him) have related over and over the ideas of fairness and justice – on the part of the buyer and the seller.

“A truthful and trustworthy trader will be in the company of the Prophets, the very truthful, and the martyrs.” (Tirmidhi)

This Hadith underscores the importance of a trader’s integrity. At the time of the Prophet Muhammad (may peace and blessings be upon him), traders wanted wealth so badly, they didn’t care how they acquired it, thus the basis of this Hadith. I think that these days, as consumers, we want THINGS so badly, we don’t care where we get these things from. It is our duty as consumers, Americans, Muslims, and human beings to be very careful about where our food, clothing, necessities and accessories come from and where our money goes. By engaging in fair trade, we can at least uphold our end of the bargain.

Rabbi Brant Rosen, Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation

One of my favorite Talmud passages comes from this discussion about the blessing after eating:

“It is written, ‘The earth and its fullness are God’s’ (Psalms 24:1), and it is written ‘He has given the earth to the children of man’ (Psalms 115:16). This is no contradiction. The first verse is before man’s blessing, and the second verse is after the blessing.” (Talmud - Berachot 35a)

As it is often fond of doing, the Talmud presents two Scriptural verses that seem to contradict on another. In this case, they are two verses from the Psalms: one claims that the earth belongs to God, and the other holds that the earth belongs to humanity. So which is it?

The Talmud points out that while the world indeed does belong to God, the earth becomes ours to enjoy in direct proportion to our recognition of God’s dominion over it. If we fail to properly acknowledge God’s proprietorship of the goods we use, in a sense we commit a kind of thievery when we dare to use them for our own ends. That’s why as Jews, we dare not enjoy the blessings of this world without first saying a blessing.

I find a great deal of spiritual power in this teaching: that the world becomes ours to enjoy only when we acknowledge that it really doesn’t belong to us. I also believe that this insight has profound implications for a world in which humanity too often claims exclusive proprietorship over its bounty – where increasingly powerful interests are claiming ownership over increasingly diminishing resources.

I sometimes find myself wondering, what would it mean for our global world economy if we truly took this teaching to heart: that none of it was ever really ours to begin with? One thing I do believe is that it would force us to confront the chronic sense of entitlement we have toward the earth’s resources. And I also believe it would give us a much deeper sensitivity to the process by which goods and services reach our door.

I think that more than anything else, this is why, as a Jew, I am so drawn to the Fair Trade movement. Fair Trade is a discipline that demands mindfulness of a greater good when we consume certain goods: of fair prices to those who actually produce the products we enjoy, to safer working conditions, to sustainable development in their communities, to the sustainability of their farms.

I do believe, as I learn from the Talmud, that when we consume with a sense of personal entitlement, we are guilty of a kind of theft. Much like the utterance of a blessing, when we support Fair Trade we demand conscious consumption.

Revered Ann Myosho Kyle Brown, Kumeido Zen Center

Dear Friends,

On the occasion of the celebration of World Fair Trade Day, I would like to express my deep appreciation and gratitude for Thanksgiving Coffee Company and the Mirembe Kawomera Coffee Cooperative in Uganda for their fine work in helping to alleviate global poverty and promote sustainability.

To move individuals and communities from a position of vulnerability and to a position of security and economic self-sufficiency is a noble task, springing from the essence of the Buddhist principle of Right Livelihood which states that Buddhist practioners not engage in trades or occupations which either directly or indirectly lead to harm to individuals or systems.

Right Livelihood is but one element of the Buddha’s Nobel Eightfold Path to enlightenment which includes: right view, right aspiration, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

Though the path is numbered one through eight, it is not a series of linear steps through which one must progress; but rather the simultaneous development of wisdom, ethical conduct and mental discipline, as far as possible according to the capacity of each individual. They are all linked together and each helps the cultivation of the others.

As such, JJ Keki, founder and director of Peace Kawomera Cooperative, was truly inspired with Right View to have conceived of the idea of bringing together his Jewish, Christian and Muslim neighbors to work for their mutual benefit and the benefit of all.
For these neighbors to bridge their historical differences and operate with trust and cooperation clearly required Right Speech, Right Effort and Right Mindfulness. For the Katzeff family to recognize the great value of their endeavor and commit to supporting and promoting not just their coffee but their values is a remarkable manifestation of Right Aspiration and Right Action.

This is an enlightened project which fills me with hope and faith in these troubled times around the world.

May all beings realize their true nature of oneness. May all beings be free from fear and danger. May all beings be happy and able to protect their happiness. May all beings be peaceful.

Deep bows to all of you.

Sincerely,

Rev. Ann Myosho Kyle Brown
Kumeido / The Little River Zen Center
A Soto Zen Buddhist Sangha

That’s a good question. It’s been almost two weeks since my last post, and I bet some of you have been wondering: where have you been?

Well, the answer is a long one. And there’s hardly been a break in our schedule to sleep, let alone drop a note on our blog. Why have we been so busy? Well…

We’ve been meeting with dozens of our supporters—churches, synagogues, and mosques—all across the country.

We’ve been packing and unpacking far too many suitcases, in cars far too small for all of our baggage, let alone all of us and all of our baggage.

We’ve been moving from city to city, town to town, sharing our story of peace, juggling radio interviews, reporters requests for photo shoots, and trying to make at least a little bit of time at each stop to see the sights. So far, Sam likes Chicago most. Margaret is taken with New York. Sinina is partial to San Francisco, but I think she likes the sunshine most, so LA may be the ultimate winner. As for JJ, as those of you who know the man, he’s pretty much happy everywhere, and would take the world for his home if he could be everywhere at once.

We’ve been welcomed in the most amazing ways by communities from Baltimore to Washington to Chicago, and now in California, Sacramento and San Francisco. We’ve been thrilled at each stop.

The Bolton Street Synagogue in Baltimore, packed to overflowing with the city’s Jewish, Muslim, and Christian communities.

A fantastic series of events in Chicago, which showed that there is truly an interfaith movement coming together because of this project—standing ovations from hundreds of young Muslims at the Islamic Foundation School, an interfaith welcome organized by the Chicago Fair Trade Coalition, a visit with our dear friends at the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation of Evanston, and an exciting first meeting with St. Sabina’s Catholic Church on Chicago’s southside.

Listen to an interview on Worldview, from WBEZ Chicago.

(Special thanks to Nancy Jones of the Chicago Fair Trade Coalition, and Elaine Waxman of the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation of Evanston for organizing our time in Chi-town.)

Then back home, a beautiful gathering in Santa Rosa, California, on our way to Mendocino, Thanksgiving’s hometown, where we were welcomed by a sold out benefit dinner to raise money for the cooperative’s efforts to combat malaria.

All in all, it’s been quite a whirlwind. A combination of exhausting and exhilarating, non-stop, and unstoppable.

I find myself thinking a lot these days about what it means to be traveling in the service of peace, to be sharing this story of hope at a time when we commemorate the fifth anniversary of the beginning of the war in Iraq. So many lives have been lost, so much hatred has been stoked and sustained. And yet, in these same five years, in this community in Uganda, people have been working together for peace. And in this country, in last 4 years, we have been working to bring this story of peace into people’s lives, and these people have been working to make sure that the farmer’s efforts succeed. Two very different stories, the same world. Two different examples of our human capacities. I hope that each of you reading this blog has had the chance to meet these amazing farmers, and I’m thankful to all of you who’ve joined us to affirm that we can in fact work for a more peaceful world. We’ll continue in our work, and we hope you will too. One day, as JJ’s been saying, maybe we’ll learn to stop fighting each other, and work to create the heaven of our dreams right here on this earth.

On our one day off, I took JJ surfing. It was amazing, and a joy for me to share this pursuit which I love so much with my dear friend. I think JJ caught the bug, and as we walked back along the beach with our boards under our arms, JJ told me, At first, I was afraid of the waves, and felt like they were trying to attack me, to hurt me. Then I saw you out there, playing, having fun, and I realized the waves were just being waves. So I tried not to fight them, but to accept them as they came towards me. I relaxed, and pretty soon, I felt like they were there to offer me their beauty and their energy.

And of course, I can’t help but comment that Senator Obama’s speech earlier this week should help us imagine a deeper vision of who “we” are, both as Americans, and as citizens of this world.

So, where have we been? Many places. I think the question really is, where are we going?

Sam, Sinina, JJ, and Margaret on the mall in Washington, D.C.

Kind of like Where’s Waldo, only with more luggage: can you find JJ in this picture?

Our friends from the Islamic Foundation School rep the coffee in Chicago.

St. Sabina’s social justice club with the farmers.

JJ and Sam on the Mendocino Coast, with the Pacific Ocean.

The crew and Holly with one of Northern California’s majestic redwood trees.
With our friends at the San Francisco Interfaith Council.