Champaign county, Illinois may have some of the most fertile soil in the world but there are some things that just won’t grow around here, atleast not without a heated greenhouse and supplemental lighting. Coffee and cocoa fall safely on this list. While we’ll never be able to get a locally grown coffee and chocolate, we can get locally processed coffee and chocolate. It still cuts out some of the food miles and helps to bolster the local economy: double WIN!
A few weeks ago we happened to wander into Columbia Street Roastery while browsing the downtown shops. The owner spent the better part of an hour chatting with us, explaining the intricacies of the international coffee and tea market, discussing the various methods of decaffeination, and showing us around the roastery. He also explained why he doesn’t carry any fair trade certified coffee: he personally brokers all his coffee guaranteeing a price that is above the current Fair Trade standard. In the end it helps the growers by guaranteeing them a higher price and cuts out the middle man. An hour and half later we walked out with an armload of freebies and a personal connection to the only coffee roastery in town. The free samples of coffee and tea were great. So good in fact, that I don’t have any photos to share because it’s all gone.
More recently someone in the Champaign area has started supplying the food coop with fair trade chocolate bars. Again, it was gone before any pictures could be taken (ahem) and they sold out in under a week. Looks like we’re not the only ones to approve of this persons hobby.