Except for oil, coffee most traded product in world

But not all coffee is created equal in terms of environmental friendliness

 
  
BY THOMAS GOUNLEY FOR GREENING OF OIL

You don’t have to look far to find statistics indicating the popularity of coffee; from the fact that it’s the second most widely traded commodity in the world (trailing only oil), to the approximately 11,000 Starbucks locations in the United States, to the fact that 54 percent of Americans consume the stuff daily.

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But not all coffee is created equal. Not just in terms of “mmmm” or “blah,” but also in terms of environmental friendliness.

For most of us here in the United States, coffee will never make the cut of a 100-mile locavore diet, but there are other things we can take into consideration. There are three buzzwords out there about your brew—organic, shade-grown and fair trade. And each relates back to the environment in some way.

‘Organic’ talked about the most

“Organic” is the one you’ll hear most often, because it’s the one of the three that’s often used to describe things other than coffee.

Just as it does with fruits and vegetables, organic coffee means that the coffee beans were grown without the use of synthetic pesticides or fertilizers.

There are several reasons this is beneficial from the environmental standpoint. Not using pesticides and synthetic fertilizers forces farmers to find alternative methods of enhancing production and protecting crops, such as crop rotation and minimum tillage, which are better for soil sustainability in the long term.

Organic produce also eliminates the threat of groundwater pollution by excess pesticides or fertilizer. The runoff of fertilizer, for example, increases the nitrogen concentration of waterways and can leads to eutrophication of the world’s estuaries.

So organic products have a definite environmental advantage.

‘Shade-grown’ is new wave in coffee

It’s interesting to see “shade-grown” as the new wave in coffee because, originally, all coffee was shade-grown, grown under the natural canopy of the tropical forest. In fact, most varieties of coffee are intolerant of direct sunlight.

But the development of hybrid varieties in the 1970s allowed coffee to be grown in direct sunlight, and with higher yields (up to three production rates of shade-grown coffee). Now 40-60 percent of the acreage devoted to growing coffee is sun-grown.

There are several environmental problems with this.

First of all, the desire for the yields associated with sun-grown coffee has led to clearing of vast stretches of native forests in countries in which coffee is grown. This is part of the reason that Latin America, which produces much of the world’s coffee, also has the world’s highest rate of deforestation.

The deforestation has had an effect on wildlife. The “shade canopy” that remains when coffee is grown in the shade provides a habitat for migratory birds such as orioles and hummingbirds.

For this reason, shade-grown is also sometimes referred to as “bird-friendly,” and products sometimes carry that label as opposed to shade-grown.

The canopy also serves as a habitat for insects, reptiles, and mammals such as bats. Besides providing a habitat, the trees protect and maintain soil quality by protecting against erosion and contributing nutrients to the soil.

A final environmental concern is the fact that the hybrid sun-grown coffee varieties also require more pesticide and fertilizer use than their shade-grown counterparts, which often require little to none, in return for their higher yields.

So shade-grown coffee also has direct environmental benefits, although slightly different from those of the organic designation.

Fair trade designation more about social responsibility

Fair trade in its simplest form is about paying growers a “fair” price for their harvest. According to Global Exchange, this means a minimum price of $1.26 per pound, whereas typical prices are significantly less. The latter means that farmers often receive less than their costs of production.

This desire to pay a living wage is the main focus on fair trade. So the label applies more to social responsibility more than environmental responsibility.

However, fair trade proponents generally try to suggest a link to environmental awareness, and there likely are indirect environmental implications.

Transfair USA, the only third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the United States says on its Web site that certification “guarantees that farmers use eco-friendly practices,” which might be a little much, but it goes on to say that 80 percent of its fair trade coffee is shade-grown, and 60 percent is certified organic (Transfair USA is one of 20 certifiers in the world).

Which brings us to our final topic—the link between these three certifications.

The thing is, you don’t necessarily have to make a choice between organic, fair trade, and shade-grown. All have altruistic intentions, so perhaps it’s not surprising that they often show up together.

You can certainly buy just organic coffee, or just fair-trade coffee, but it’s not impossible to go out today and buy organic, shade-grown, fair-trade coffee. Many fair-trade growers are also organic or shade-grown, as mentioned above.

It’s hard to get exact numbers on this. I found numbers ranging from between 60-85 percent when trying to find out what percentage of fair trade coffee is certified organic. Despite these inconsistencies, the good thing is that it’s easy to find these certifications when you’re at the store. Most brands wear their certifications proudly.

This covers all your bases.

Otherwise, shade-grown and organic offer established environmental benefits, and fair-trade works itself into the mix by often being closely associated with the other two.

About Thomas Gounley

Thomas Gounley is an undergraduate student at the University of New Hampshire, where he’s double-majoring in Environmental Conservation Studies and English-Journalism, with the eventual goal of getting into science or environmental journalism. He’s a staff writer for UNH’s twice-weekly newspaper The New Hampshire, where he covers issues related to science and sustainability.

When not writing or in lab, he enjoys running, cycling, hiking and any other excuse to get outside. He’s a leader in UNH’s Outing Club, and is looking forward to finishing his quest to summit all 48 peaks in New Hampshire above 4000 feet. Originally from Virginia, he also enjoys traveling and photography.

Contact Thomas Gounley at: tai36@unh.edu
Visit his blog: http://va2nh.wordpress
Follow him on Twitter: www.twitter.com/tgounley