August 2009 Coffee News

-Honduras - Suspended in Uncertainty
-Automatic Billing
-Expanded Delivery Route in Twin Cities

Suspended in Uncertainty
The country of Honduras remains in a suspended state of uncertainty with differing opinions about what might come next in the power struggle for the presidency (we'll share some interesting links we've found to news about the situation below and let you make your own guesses). But thankfully, our family members haven't experienced any serious challenges from the situation other than the canceling of two groups that were planning to visit the coffee farm in August. The loss of tourism income for them is unfortunate, so we're glad to be getting ready for our big August coffee deliveries next week and keep that source of income flowing.

The country of Honduras remains in a suspended state of uncertainty with differing opinions about what might come next in the power struggle for the presidency (we'll share some interesting links we've found to news about the situation below and let you make your own guesses). But thankfully, our family members haven't experienced any serious challenges from the situation other than the canceling of two groups that were planning to visit the coffee farm in August. The loss of tourism income for them is unfortunate, so we're glad to be getting ready for our big August coffee deliveries next week and keep that source of income flowing.

As you might imagine, we've been following the Honduran political situation closely this past month. The ousted President Zelaya remains in limbo in neighboring Nicaragua while coup leaders try unsucessfully to get support for their position from the international community. There are some who think the Costa Rican talks between the two parties have failed and Zelaya has few options left and others who think the coup leadership is ready to start negotiating and a breakthrough could happen any day now. Hondurans themselves remain mixed in their opinions of the situation. If you'd like to hear a good representation of what Honduran immigrants have to say about the matter, check out this video clip.

If you'd like to learn more, check out the "people's movement" viewpoint of the Narcosphere. Kristin Bricker wrote a lot about Honduras earlier in the month and outspoken Narcosphere founder Al Giordano just returned from 7 days of checking out the on-the-ground citizen organizing that he believes will ultimately topple the coup government. And just to keep things balanced, here's a link to a Wall Street Journal opinion piece that claims Zelaya's ouster was justified and legal. It's still hard to know exactly what to think about the situation, other than to hope for a peaceful solution and a transformation away from corrupt politics as usual.

Automatic Billing
Switching now from politics to bookkeeping -- we just started accepting credit cards in April (other than through our website which we've been doing for a while) and have found to our surprise that it is wonderfully easy. Although there is a small charge to us for processing, it saves us lots of time processing checks and visiting the bank. You may have noticed on your coffee invoice that we've added a spot for credit card information and this month we're also adding a place to sign up for automatic monthly billing. Let us know if you'd like more information about this convenient option for paying your monthly coffee bill. 

Expanded Delivery Routes in the Twin Cities Area
A reminder that we have expanded our free monthly delivery area to include the following cities and suburbs in the Twin Cities Area: East Metro: St. Paul, West St. Paul, Woodbury, Maplewood, White Bear Lake, Shoreview, Vadnais Heights, Falcon Heights, Roseville; West Metro: Minneapolis, Edina, St. Louis Park. We are also considering expanding into Brooklyn Center, Robbinsdale and Columbia Heights if we have enough interest.

If you know anyone in these communities who might be interested in purchasing our coffee, have them contact us to see if we can add them to our free home (or office) delivery route on the 2nd Friday of each month. They can also check out our frequently asked questions and answers (FAQ) about how a monthly subscription works.

We hope you are taking time to enjoy the long slow days of summer!