An Important Message Behind a Cup of Coffee+ A Keurig Giveaway

There are two things that I wanted to achieve when I became a mom. One, to learn how to live a healthier and smarter lifestyle. And two, to become a coffee drinker. Let me explain.

First, becoming a coffee drinker. Well this is an easy one to explain. Being a mom {more importantly, a mom of 2} means that we live very busy lives. Always on the go. Never ahead of the game. And our attention is needed in all directions of life: our home, our children, work, appointments, classes, and more. Being a mom has taught me that sometimes it is necessary to run on little sleep, and sometimes that means I need a little boost-me-up to get going. Thus, I needed to become a coffee drinker.

It was not until I purchased Andrew his first Keurig that I finally joined the coffee drinking club. It's amazing how the whole process of eliminating steps {coffee filters, pouring, and so forth} made me all of a sudden love coffee that much more. Remember, moms don't like to waste time; and with a Keurig® Brewing System, it did not get much simpler than that. Now we own two, and I cannot start the day without my favorite choice of K-cup packs, The Green Mountain Coffee® Nantucket Blend.

Moving along to my second goal in motherhood, living a healthier lifestyle, is something that I have been, and will continue to, work on in my life. I'm continuously learning new ways to help the environment, new products for my family to invest our money into, and new opportunities for us to help the society and those behind the scenes doing all the hard work such as helping farmers. And in this case, coffee farmers.

Andrew and I have been drinking the Green Mountain K-Cup packs for years now, but after learning about the story behind the company, we made sure to buy them more often than any other k-cup packs out there. Green Mountain Coffee® has been Fair Trade certified since 2000 and one of the largest selections of Fair Trade Certified™ coffees in the U.S. What does this mean? It means that by purchasing Fair Trade Certified™ Green Mountain Coffee K-Cup packs that we are also contributing in helping coffee farmers receive a fair price for their beans. This results in better quality of life for those smaller scale farmers, which keeps their children in school and allows women to support their families as well. How do you and I benefit from this? As a result, we get a better tasting coffee.

This October, Green Mountain Coffee will be celebrating Fair Trade month by participating in the "Great Coffee, Good Vibes, Choose Fair Trade" campaign. You know who else will be teaming up with Green Mountain Coffee for this campaign? The one and only Kelly Clarkson. She will share her own personal experience of visiting a coffee farmer in Peru and importance behind Fair Trade.

You know how I will continue to participate and promote Green Mountain Coffee and its voice in the Fair Trade community? By drinking a cup of my personal favorite a day. By continuing to live a healthier lifestyle and investing money in a cause that will in the end help support other men, women, and children out there. By providing a better quality of life for those farmers. And while doing so? I get to be that coffee {great tasting one at that} drinker that I knew I wanted to be.

**Giveaway**

Better yet, one of you ladies {or gentlemen} will have the opportunity to win a Keurig® Brewing System and a Green Mountain Coffee® gift basket. At the end of the sweepstakes, a winner will be chosen at random by the BlogHer team, and you will be notified via email your prize!

Rules are easy:

1. Simply watch a video of Kelly Clarkson's visit to Peru and learn more about Fair Trade.

2. Answer this question in the comments below: "Are you a coffee drinker, and if so, would you consider buying fair trade coffee?"

Sweepstakes Rules: No duplicate comments. You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods: Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry. This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winner will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected. The Official Rules are available here. This sweepstakes runs from 09/19/13-10/31/13.

Want more information on what Fair Trade means and how Green Mountain remains a big part of helping coffee farmers? Visit www.choosefairtrade.com