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 is a worthwhile read and makes the connection, again, between quality in the cup and quality of life for farmers and the environment.
The mammalian communities in coffee plantations around a protected area in the Western Ghats, India. A. Balia, A. Kumarb, and J. Krishnaswamy. 2007. Biological Conservation 139: 93-102.
This study looked at the number of mammal species found in 15 coffee plantations around the Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary in the Western Ghats of India, and any correlation between the number of species and distance from the park or vegetation characteristics.
First, a bit of background. Climate conditions in India — monsoon seasons followed by long dry periods — require coffee to be grown under a protective canopy of shade trees, usually under a three-tier system. Although coffee plantations have replaced much of the mid-elevation moist deciduous and evergreen forests in India, coffee has at least traditionally used native forest tree species for shade, such as Ficus glomerata (Doomar, Gular, or Cluster Fig), Dalbergia latifolia (Rosewood), Sapindus laurifolius (Soapnut), and Artocarpus integrifolia (Jackfruit tree).
More recently, non-native species have been used in Indian coffee plantations. In the lowest layer, nitrogen fixing species such as Erythrina lithosperma (Dadap; native to the Philippines and Java) and Gliricidia maculata/sepium (native to Mexico and Central America) are planted. The middle layer, trees that shed their leaves in the monsoon and maintain a dense canopy during the summer, are often native Ficus species. For the canopy layer of hardwood, many coffee farmers are now planting a fast-growing, sparse shade timber species from Australia, Grevillea robusta, often called silver oak although not related to North American oak species.
Twenty-eight species of mammals were recorded in the plantations; this included a number of large carnivores (e.g., tigers and leopards) and herbivores (e.g., elephants and deer). Not surprisingly, more species were found in plantations nearer to the sanctuary. The authors concluded that coffee estates act as a buffer around the park for large mammals, protecting them from the direct effects of more intensive agriculture and higher-density human settlements.
The study did not find any negative correlation with Grevillea abundance, but the fact that the estates with the highest proportion of Grevillea were the closest to the sanctuary may have diluted the effect. The percentage of Grevillea was about 30%; a high percentage of this species is usually avoided, because they drop their leaves during the monsoon, a situation which can cause rot.
Nonetheless, the authors noted that the non-native timber species provide few or no resources for resident wildlife and cautioned that “Such conversions not only lead to the loss of biodiversity values of these plantations, but also severely affect the integrity of the adjoining protected areas.”
Kraft Foods recently announced that beginning this fall, all of its Maxwell House brands of coffee (except instant and Master Blend) will be 100% arabica beans rather than a blend of arabica and robusta.
Robusta is the lower quality coffee species often used in cheaper coffees and blends. Robusta is able to grow at lower elevations and hotter temperatures than arabica, and is typically grown in sun. The biggest source of robusta is Asia, mostly Vietnam. Typically, getting any of the big corporate coffee roasters to admit they use robusta and/or how much or where it comes from is like pulling teeth. In a response to Kraft’s move, Proctor & Gamble offered that it will continue to use robusta in its Folger’s brand and Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA will keep on using robusta in Chock Full o’ Nuts. Now we know.
Kraft says they are doing this to improve flavor and quality. However, any sudden pronounced change in flavor profile would risk losing customers. So that reason doesn’t totally hold water, unless the change will occur over a long period, yet Kraft says the change to 100% arabica will be complete by year’s end. Kraft denies that this move is in response to rising robusta prices, brought on by low supply — recent robusta crops from Vietnam have been too inferior for even grocery store blends.
An important fact in this announcement is that Kraft also says the price of Maxwell House coffees will not change. Therefore, they will be buying arabica beans at robusta prices. That, in combination with keeping true to the established flavor profile, means that the arabica beans Kraft will use will be low grade and (for all the cost and economy-of-scale reasons we have previously discussed here) likely grown in big sun monocultures. I expect much of this cheap arabica to come from Brazil and Colombia. An increase in demand for cheap arabica could result in more forested areas or (in the case of southern Brazil in particular) savannah being cleared for production.
If anybody who knows more about coffee market forces can propose other possible environmental impacts, please chime in!
I have updated my post covering botanical varieties of coffee with a link to James Hoffman’s family tree of coffee, and a table of coffee genotypes from a paper published in the Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology which I found in the comment section. Hat tip to Doug at Bloggle for posting the original link.