Higher Grounds Trading Co. Hosts One-of-a-Kind Virtual Visit to Ethiopia

Oromia Photo Project Raises Awareness About - and Funds for - the Plight of Farmers at the Birthplace of Coffee

LAKE LEELANAU, Mich., Aug. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Higher Grounds Trading Co., Michigan's only 100% fair trade and organic coffee roasting company, has teamed with goNGOgo and Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (OCFCU) to offer US consumers an intimate view of the daily lives of coffee-farming families in Ethiopia via the web. The project is the only one of its kind for a major commodity. It provides consumers regular updates about the individual farmers who grow the coffee they drink. With its patent pending technology, goNGOgo provides a direct way to create change in coffee-growing regions by acting as an alternative giving method to transform consumer-buying decisions.

Beyene, a rural development specialist now working with the OCFCU in Ethiopia, is traveling the countryside of Ethiopia to capture the daily lives of farmers who produce some of the highest quality coffee in the world. Each day he relays photos to the United States plus the experiences of those he meets. goNGOgo provides Higher Grounds Trading Co. with the most relevant story of the week to share with consumers on their new website, http://www.highergroundstrading.com/ .

Higher Grounds Trading Co. is committed to sourcing all coffee from farmer-owned cooperatives at a rate exceeding the fair trade minimum and tips the farmers an extra dollar for every pound of Ethiopian coffee sold on their on-line store. The funds are being used to build a clinic, outfit a new school, and provide a water system for the communities from which Higher Grounds buys their gourmet beans. According to Beyene, no other organizations are operating in such a capacity.

The fair trade system was created to bring farmers out of poverty by paying them an internationally recognized fair price for their coffee. Coffee has largely benefited consuming countries at the detriment of farmers. Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee and the cradle of civilization, depends on coffee for its livelihood. Coffee production contributes more than sixty percent of the country's foreign exchange earnings. But, with coffee prices hovering at the cost of production, farmers live in a ceaseless cycle of poverty.

The Oromia Photo Project brings to light the farmers' plight while providing consumers the opportunity to catalyze change in the coffee industry.

Source: Higher Grounds Trading Co.

CONTACT: Chris Treter of Higher Grounds Trading Co., +1-231-256-9687,
chris@highergroundstrading.com

Web site: http://www.highergroundstrading.com/

Mr Ward Barbee

We are extremely sorry to have to confirm reports of the death of Ward Barbee, publisher of Fresh Cup, the speciality coffee magazine.

Our friends at Fresh Cup tell us that Ward died while vacationing in Italy on Saturday. He was 68.

Before launching what was to become the major magazine of the speciality coffee world, Ward was himself in the catering profession, running a fine dining establishment. Although he was known in the coffee trade for his extrovert and good-natured personality, he was equally fond of getting away from business life by spending time peacefully fishing the rivers of his native Oregon.

We at Coffee House magazine were fortunate to meet Ward at several trade shows around the world. Although his status in publishing for the coffee trade was on a far higher scale than ours, he always greeted us with the utmost warmth and made time to talk about our mutual work. We valued and enjoyed the times spent with him.

A party to celebrate Ward's life will be held in Portland, Oregon. We cannot help thinking that he would have approved of such an idea!

Fresh Cup co-owner Jan Weigel and the magazine's staff have asked that in remembrance of him, donations might be made to AIDS charities.

- Trudi Roark and Ian Boughton
Boughton's Coffee House magazine.
www.coffee-house.org.uk