"Sustainable coffee is produced on a farm with high biological diversity and low chemical inputs. It conserves resources, protects the environment, produces efficiently, competes commercially and enhances the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole."
-- Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, First Sustainable Coffee Congress overview paper
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Sustainable coffee: Coffee growing: Retail coffee: All the rest:
Related links
Birds, Biodiversity, & Shade Coffee- Birds that use coffee plantations
- The Grind over Sun Coffee
- The Case of the Disappearing Warbler
- Bird-Friendly coffee slide show
- WWF: Coffee and habitat conversion
- Shade certification issues
- Why Birds Are Crazy for Shade Coffee
- Audubon Magazine shade coffee article
- "Bird-Friendly" certification standards
- "Bird-Friendly" farms
- Rainforest Alliance certification standards
- Rainforest Alliance certified farms
Trade and consumer
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Coffee news and miscellany category archives
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May 24, 2009: Caffeine-free coffee species one of top 10 new species in 2008
A species of naturally caffeine-free coffee from the Cameroon, Coffea charrieriana, has been named one of the top ten new species described in 2008 by the International Institute for Species Exploration (IISE) at Arizona State University. The coffee was actually...
May 20, 2009: My mug is on In My Mug
One of the best things to happen at the the Specialty Coffee Association of America expo in Atlanta this year was meeting coffee people I had only corresponded with up to that time. Surely one of the highlights was getting...
May 5, 2009: Sustainability at the SCAA expo
Having "green" conferences is all the rage the last few years. I've been to a few in my field. Of course, a bunch of ornithologists more or less just listens to research presentations -- overall not much in the way...
April 18, 2009: SCAA Sustainability Award 2009
The Specialty Coffee Association of the Americas (SCAA) presented its annual awards last night. One is the Sustainability Award, which honors individuals, businesses, or organizations in the coffee industry that have created projects which expand and promote sustainability. Criteria include...
April 15, 2009: C&C hits the SCAA expo
Once again C&C will be at the SCAA's Annual Exposition. This year it takes place in Atlanta on April 16 to 19. I'll be there along with my husband Darrin, permanent member of the C&C tasting panel, fellow coffee farm...
April 2, 2009: Nicaragua's Finca El Jaguar in the news
On my recent trip to Nicaragua, I was fortunate to have a chance to meet Lili and Georges Duriaux-Chavarría, owners of Finca El Jaguar, a forest reserve and shade coffee farm in Jinotega. They were completely charming, and I was...
March 30, 2009: Green Mountain climate change grant finalists
Last month, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters announced a request for proposals for four $200,000 grants to organizations working on climate change. The grants will be awarded in each of four categories: transportation-related emissions, threats to coffee-growing communities, building political will,...
February 24, 2009: Shade coffee article from Cornell Lab of Ornithology
BirdScope is the newsletter for members of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, one of the world's best known bird research, education, and citizen science organizations. This latest issue has a short article on shade coffee. Yours truly is quoted in...
January 24, 2009: HowStuffWorks: coffee videos
The Discovery Channel program "HowStuffWorks" had an episode about coffee. There are short (under 3 or 4 minutes) video clips from the show on their web site. Some I thought were especially good were: Hand picking coffee Organic coffee Coffee...
January 17, 2009: My year in beans: Winners, losers, and the future
In a previous post I mentioned that I had kept track of all the coffee I had in 2008. That post emphasized the low price ($2.70 a day) of drinking only really good, sustainable, specialty coffee. Here, I'd like to...
January 6, 2009: My year in beans: The cost of coffee
At the beginning of 2008, I started keeping track of all the coffee I purchased. Since I drink (and share) a lot of coffee -- all specialty coffee and some quite expensive -- I was curious how many kinds I...
November 2, 2008: The Coffee Conference
My husband and I attended the Coffee Conference at Miami University in Oxford, OH. I've now been to meetings that covered coffee from every angle: ecological (ornithological conferences), trade (SCAA annual meeting) and now the academic and scholarly. This event...
September 12, 2008: Coffee Review covers Rainforest Alliance coffees
Kenneth Davids' excellent Coffee Review takes on Rainforest Alliance coffees for its September reviews. Please go read his concise and insightful introduction to the reviews. He provides a good overview of the RA program and how it differs from Fair...
August 19, 2008: Vietnam: Will replacing old coffee mean more deforestation?
Half of Vietnam's half-million ha of coffee trees will have to be replaced in the next 5 to 10 years. So far, farmers have ignored expert advice and cleared forests to plant cheap robusta coffee. What will they do now?
June 8, 2008: Rainforest Alliance partners with the Coffee Quality Institute
A Problem Judging by the enormous market shares of the Big Four corporate coffee multinationals, a lot of people don't mind drinking lousy tasting coffee. However, plenty of people won't do it. But more imporantly, if it doesn't taste better,...
May 9, 2008: Grounds for Change World Fair Trade promo code
Another roaster is offering a sale in honor of World Fair Trade Day. Grounds for Change is giving 15% off everything on their web site through Sunday, May 11th. In addition to coffee (which is all certified organic and Fair...
May 8, 2008: Green Mountain Coffee World Fair Trade Day promo
Saturday, May 10 is World Fair Trade Day. You can save 20% on the 10-ounce bags of four single-origin Fair Trade coffees at Green Mountain Saturday only. The varieties are Sumatran Lake Tawar, Kenyan Highland Cooperatives, Colombian Fair Trade Select,...
May 5, 2008: "Best of" the SCAA conference
I have a lot to report on sustainability and certification issues from the SCAA conference, but it will be doled out over the coming weeks. Here, I thought I'd like to give some quick impressions of some of the most...
May 4, 2008: SCAA Sustainability Awards
The Specialty Coffee Association of the Americas (SCAA) presented its annual awards last night. One is the Sustainability Award, which honors individuals, businesses or organizations in the coffee industry that have created innovative projects to expand and promote sustainability. And...
May 2, 2008: The Specialty Coffee Association of America annual conference
The SCAA's 20th Annual Conference & Exhibition takes place in Minneapolis on May 2-5, and I will be attending along with Coffee & Conservation tasting panel member (also my dashing partner) Kingfisher. I will miss the Sustainability Symposium but will...
March 18, 2008: What does a great cup of coffee cost?
The biggest obstacle, in my experience, in getting people to switch from crappy grocery store coffee to sustainable coffee is price. Even people who profess to be bird lovers, concerned with the environment, and aware of the issues surrounding sun...
February 28, 2008: Einstein's Bros. and Noah's coffees
Feb 29 cheap coffee promotion, and where it all comes from In honor of leap day/year, Einstein Bros. Bagels and Noah's Bagels, both owned by Einstein Noah Restaurant Group, Inc., are offering regular coffee for 29 cents on February 29...
February 1, 2008: La Montana update
Earlier this month I reported on Terroir Coffee's emergency fundraiser for the owner of Finca La Montaña. This farm won the 2007 El Salvador Cup of Excellence and was severely damaged by a freakish wind storm in early January. (The...
January 18, 2008: Emergency fundraiser for La Montaña
On my list of "coffees to try" is the 2007 El Salvador Cup of Excellence winner Finca La Montaña. So I was really saddened when I got the most recent newsletter from the Terroir Coffee Company which described how Finca...
December 8, 2007: Five great charitable donations related to sustainable coffee
Looking for a holiday gift idea related to sustainable coffee? Here are my five top picks of where to direct your charitable giving. These organizations either directly help coffee farmers or their communities, or support bird research in coffee growing...
November 25, 2007: "Fortified" coffee: flim-flam alert
Spava Coffee is organic coffee "fortified" with natural ingredients to "enhance wellness." There are currently five varieties, such as "Calm" and "Clarity." It's amazing to me the number of news sites and blogs (with the exception of TheShot) that have...
October 31, 2007: Coffee husks as biofuel
Dutch energy company Essent is the first company in the world to introduce the use of coffee husks as biofuel. The source will be Brazil, and the husks will be used to produce electricity in some of Essent's power stations...
September 26, 2007: Guatemalan green power project
There was an interesting article in the new issue of Fresh Cup Magazine, Green Power to the People -- Alternative energy brings greater independence to coffee growers. It focuses on the 40-family cooperative, the Union of Independent Workers of Alianza...
September 12, 2007: Direct trade in NYT today
There's a nice article in the New York Times today describing the specialty coffee industry and the workings and benefits of direct trade. The title, "To Burundi and Beyond for Coffee's Holy Grail," sort of misses the point, but it...
June 30, 2007: Counter Culture announces "Source"
One of the major criteria a roaster must meet to get favored nation status on the left sidebar as a source of sustainable coffee is transparency. C&C is all about educating consumers on how to recognize and appreciate sustainable coffee....
June 1, 2007: Recent sustainability awards
Rainforest Alliance Cupping for Quality. This event was started in 2004 as a competition for Rainforest Alliance certified coffees. The most recent cuppings took place last December and in April, with over 100 samples submitted. There are many top-flight sustainable...
May 2, 2007: Organic coffee safe for now
Last week I posted about the recent U.S. Department of Agriculture ruling which will require every farm in a cooperative to be inspected annually in order to receive organic certification. It was feared this would make organic certification too expensive...
February 15, 2007: Green Mountain and Starbucks make top 100 list
The CRO (Corporate Responsibility Officer, formerly Business Ethics magazine) has just published its eighth annual 100 Best Corporate Citizens, considered the third most influential corporate ranking. Companies are rated on their performance in eight categories: shareholders, community, governance, diversity, employees,...
January 4, 2007: KLM to serve Rainforest Alliance coffee
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines joins Asiana Airlines (Korea) and ANA (Japan) in pledging to serve Rainforest Alliance certified coffee on all its flights. KLM serves 22 million cups of coffee annually. This is a step in the right direction, but...
December 26, 2006: Genetically-engineered coffee
Nestlé, whose coffee brands include Nescafe and Taster's Choice, has obtained a patent on a genetically modified coffee plant that will improve the solubility of instant coffee powder made from its beans. The patent also includes other aspects of the...
November 28, 2006: Discount codes for coffee
Grounds for Change is offering 15% off today only with coupon code BT62. This code and a number of others for eco-friendly products came in today's Ideal Bite, which sends themed eco-tips 4-5 times a week via email. I've subscribed...
November 15, 2006: Heads up, NC readers
Counter Culture Coffee, in Durham, NC, is having a reception and public talk on November 25, 2006 by El Salvadoran coffee grower Aida Batlle, she of the Finca Mauritania we reviewed here. She'll discuss her production methods, raising standards of...
October 29, 2006: Shade coffee in bird magazine
The November/December 2006 issue of Bird Watcher's Digest has an article on shade coffee by author and well-known birder Paul Baicich. It's on newstands now, and gives a nice overview of shade coffee benefits and issues.
October 28, 2006: Roast Magazine Roaster of the Year
Roast Magazine has just announced the winners of their 3rd annual Roaster of the Year Award. Macro Category Winner: Intelligentsia (Chicago). It's hard to say too many good things about Intelly's commitment to great coffee, from the farm to the...
October 2, 2006: Rainforest Alliance to certify 10% of coffee exports
Rainforest Alliance (RA) received a seven-year, $12 million grant to increase the number of certified farms in six Latin American countries: El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia, Peru, and Brazil. By the project’s end, RA will have certified 10% of the...
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