More so than at any time in our history, Americans are choosing products - from automobiles to home floors to light fixtures - after considering their impact on the natural environment. And although most people may not realize it, one of the more Coffee environmentally significant product choices is that cup of coffee. When 107 million Americans reach for their coffee today, their choice can have profound cumulative environmental consequences. Their choice may have brightened or dimmed the future of rare species like the polymorphic robber frog or the painted bunting bird, along with their rain forest habitat. When they choose a coffee, people may also play a role in the health of people thousands of miles away.
As the owner of a gourmet coffee roasting company, I would ask all coffee drinkers to think before they drink, not only during Earth Day, but also year round. Their choice could make a major difference to the birds, animals, rain forests and coffee growers who rely on nature.
Many Americans are aware that some Central American coffee workers toil on farms where abject poverty has been the norm for Coffee generations.
But what’s not widely known is that how your coffee is produced, and where it comes from, also affects the environment.
To increase production and decrease costs, some coffee farmers now use “full sun” farming - eliminating native shade trees and rain forests, and replacing them with a single variety of coffee tree. The result? Heavily fertilized “monoculture” farms that hurt native wildlife or plants and decrease clean water supplies for local communities.
To minimize and reverse this trend, some roasters and conservation organizations have launched programs to encourage farmers to use traditional techniques to grow coffee beans as nature intended. These techniques allow farmers to grow coffee under a lush canopy of Coffee tropical trees that support hundreds of bird species and wildlife, from the diminutive tree frog to the magnificent jaguar.
Indeed, sustainable coffee farming is a cornerstone of some organizations’ efforts to develop cohesive, progressive communities and save dwindling wildlife and rain forest.
And saving the rain forests - “the lungs of the earth” - remains a focal point in the fight against global warming. Rain forests help absorb carbon dioxide, the primary cause of global warming. So your choice of coffee can make a difference in this fight as well.
Growing high-quality, environmentally responsible coffee may initially cost more, but in the long run, it’s a great investment. One of our Panama farms - Finca Santa Barbara - illustrates the payoff. On this 94-acre former cattle land that was once virtually devoid of nutrients, a rain forest now flourishes amid high-quality coffee trees that harbor 42 species of birds and 14 species of mammals. The rain forest has restored the local water supply and lessened birth defects and other disease, because the coffee’s grown organically - without pesticides or Coffee herbicides.
Independent “ecological audit” programs, which we commissioned for “partner” coffee farms in Nicaragua and the Chiapas region of Mexico, also show that birds and wildlife - including some at risk of extinction - can survive on coffee farms. One Nicaragua farm harbors an astonishing 200 species of birds - nearly a third of that country’s known species.
The Panama farm and these “eco-audits” are a few examples that validate a World Bank report from earlier this decade that said: “Coffee, when grown properly, is one of the rare human industries that actually restore the Earth’s health.”
I believe that most people want do their part to save endangered species, help fight global warming and protect the planet’s dwindling resources for all species, including our own.
By carefully considering their choice of coffee, consumers can uphold the Earth Day mantra to “think globally, act locally” to help make a difference in the Coffee environment.
Tags: american coffee, amp, blends, bun, central america, choices, choos, cof, coff, coffe, coffee, coffee bean, coffee beans, coffee can, coffee drink, coffee drinker, coffee drinkers, coffee farmers, coffee farms, coffee growers, coffee roasting company, coffee tree, coffee trees, coffee workers, consumers, cor, cup, cup of coffee, drinker, earth day, environmental consequences, esi, flour, generations, gourmet, gourmet coffee, hig, ita, launch, local water supply, lour, lush canopy, mexico, more coffee, paint, painted bunting bird, product choices, quality coffee, rain, rain forest habitat, rain forests, risk, roaster, robber frog, tree frog, tropical trees, ul, variety of coffee, water supply