Last summer, I taped an episode of The Green Room, a local program of the City of Ann Arbor, Michigan’s Community Television Network (CTN) and the Washtenaw County Environmental Health Division. It recently aired, and you can view the episode on YouTube. I’m interviewed on the show on the issues surrounding bird conservation and your choice of morning coffee.
Green Room viewers new to Coffee & Conservation may be interested in my article in the February 2013 issue of BirdWatching Magazine (formerly Birder’s World), The True Cost of Coffee. If you are new to the whole eco-friendly coffee issue, here is a list of resources I compiled in response to the BirdWatching Magazine article:
How is coffee grown, and why is it important to birds and other biodiversity?
- What is shade-grown coffee?
- The problem with sun coffee.
- Why is shade coffee specifically important to birds?
- Know Your Coffee birds! I write short features on birds — those that nest in North America as well as resident tropical birds — that are especially dependent on shade-grown coffee.
What do all the certifications mean?
- Here is my guide to the common coffee certifications, in a nutshell, focusing on their environmental criteria.
Why should I pay more for certified or environmentally-friendly coffee?
- Farmers have many costs related to certifying their farms so that you can enjoy good coffee that protects the environment.
- If farmers can’t make up those costs, they stop growing coffee organically or under ecological standards.
- BECAUSE IT’S THE RIGHT THING TO DO!
Where can I get environmentally-friendly coffee?
- Top retailers of certified Smithsonian Bird-Friendly coffee
- More retailers of certified Bird-Friendly coffee at the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center website.
- List of retailers of Birds & Beans coffee, all certified Smithsonian Bird-Friendly
- Caribou Coffee stores; all coffee is 100% Rainforest Alliance certified
- Some top tips on how to choose coffee, especially if certifications are not available.
Feel free to leave a comment or question and I can either direct you to a post or posts that has covered the topic, or tackle it in the future!