Coffee
Why should I buy Fair Trade Certified coffee?
The United States consumes a fifth of the world's coffee. When you purchase Fair Trade Certified coffee, you are ensuring that coffee growers are earning a minimum price per pound for their coffee, thus providing a living wage for farmers and preventing the cycles of poverty.
According to Global Exchange, a membership-based international human rights organization dedicated to promoting social, economic and environmental justice around the world: "to become Fair Trade certified, an importer must meet stringent international criteria; paying a minimum price per pound of $1.26, providing much needed credit to farmers, and providing technical assistance such as help transitioning to organic farming. Fair Trade for coffee farmers means community development, health, education, and environmental stewardship... Fair trade means that farmers, workers, and artisans receive a sufficient price under direct long-term contracts, are small-scale producers in democratic co-ops (coffee, cocoa, bananas, fruits, crafts) or workers on larger farms who receive a living wage and can bargain collectively (tea, bananas, fruits), don't use abusive child labor or forced labor, and use ecologically sustainable methods".
Please visit http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/ for more information.
Are you interested in reading farmer's stories from around the world? Please visit http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/coffee/cooperatives.html
Want to buy Fair Trade Certified coffee in Central Oregon? Please check out Coffee Shops & Bakeries in our Green Purchasing Guide.
How are Fair Trade products certified ?
According to Global Exchange, "Fair Trade products bear the "Fair Trade Certified" label and the "Fair Trade Federation" logo. TransFair USA is the third-party certification agency that places the "Fair Trade Certified" label on coffee, chocolate, cocoa, tea, bananas, and other fruits; and is the USA's affiliate of the Fair Trade Labelling Organizations International. The Fair Trade Federation is an association of businesses that follow Fair Trade principles exclusively. The presence of the Fair Trade Certified label or Fair Trade Federation logo on a product is the only guarantee that every step from the producer to you has followed international fair trade criteria. For the specific guidelines, see the Fair Trade Labelling Organizations International and the Fair Trade Federation.
Please visit http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/fairtradeqa.html for more information.
Also, please check out our Green Purchasing Guide for local businesses that sell Fair Trade products: Coffee Shops & Bakeries and Foods & Groceries.
Why buy organic foods and other organic products?
1. Protect your children's health. Children are 4 times more exposed to pesticides in food than adults. A child's exposure to pesticides is far greater than adults because their daily activities include eating food with detectable levels of pesticides, drinking water with detectable levels, crawling on floors and on the ground where pesticides and other toxins accumulate, playing with animals that are treated for fleas and other pests, and having their hair treated for lice. They eat more food and drink more water as measured per unit of body weight. Their bodies are growing, undergoing rapid cellular development. This all makes them significantly more vulnerable than adults. The standards for pesticides are for the average full-grown man, not a developing child. They are not protected by pesticide regulations. The combination of exposures to pesticides and other synthetic chemicals can be synergistic, creating a resulting toxic effect many times greater than the two separately.
2. Protect your own health. A recent US National Academy of Sciences study estimated that pesticides in food might cause an estimated 1.4 million cancer cases in the US. Several pesticides banned in Canada and the US are applied to crops in Mexico and then exported here. The FDA approved many pesticides before research linked them to chemicals that cause cancer and other diseases. Now the EPA considers 60% of all herbicides, 90% of all fungicides, and 30% of all insecticides to be carcinogenic. The bottom line is that pesticides are poisons made to kill living creatures, and can also be harmful to humans.
3. Protect farm workers health. A Natural Cancer Institute study showed that conventional farmers (non-organic) have 6 times the risk of contracting cancer than non-farmers. Over 1 million people are severely poisoned by pesticides annually in North America.
4. Protect soil and water. Over 3 billion tons of topsoil is lost annually due to non-organic farming methods in Canada and the US. Pesticide contamination in groundwater has affected the drinking water supply in most states and provinces. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates pesticides contaminate the groundwater in 38 states, polluting the primary aquifer.
5. Save energy. Industrial farming uses more oil than any other industry. By comparison, organic farming relies on labor-intensive practices and biological fertilizers.
6. Get better nutrient value A recent US study compared the nutrient quantities of organic and non-organic foods and found that organic foods consistently had two to twenty times more nutrients!
7. Help small farmers. Most organic farms are independently owned and operated family farms. It is estimated that the United States has lost more than 650,000 family farms in the past decade, creating deterioration in the culture of American rural communities.
8. Support a true economy. Superficially, organic foods might seem more expensive than conventional foods. Conventional food prices do not reflect hidden costs borne by the taxpayer in the form of subsidies. Other hidden costs include pesticide regulation and testing, hazardous waste disposal, and environmental damage.
9. Promote bio-diversity. "Mono-cropping" is the practice of planting large plots of land with the same crop year after year; conventional farming uses this method exclusively. The lack of natural diversity of plant life has left the soil lacking in natural nutrients and minerals. To replace these lost nutrients, which are necessary for plants to grow, chemical fertilizers are often used. Single crops are also much more susceptible to pests, making farmers even more reliant on pesticides. Organic farming encourages food production that nurtures our soil through the absence of pesticides and the presence of rich compost. The inherent commitment of organic farming to crop rotation, living soil, companion planting, rural enterprise, pure water and sustainable agriculture is in itself a critical step toward protecting our environment and our individual health. By buying organic, you provide a market for growers who have made the future of our planet a top priority.10. Toxic Waste in Conventional Fertilizers. The EPA has only partial authority to regulate the fertilizer industry because states determine rules for all fertilizers except those made with recycled hazardous materials. And only two or three states have limits on toxic wastes in fertilizers. It can contain a wide variety of toxins such as arsenic, dioxin, polybromated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), zinc sulfate, lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium, and other toxic metals, this type of fertilizer is strictly prohibited in organic farming.http://www.hgof.ns.ca/index2.php?function=ben_org www.davidsuzuki.org/about_us/dr_david_suzuki/article_archives/weekly06070201.asp http://www.pesticideinfo.org/Index.html www.epa.gov/pesticides/food/pest.htm
What are the benefits of shade grown coffee?
The coffee plants originally introduced to the Americas were relatively intolerant of direct sunlight, and all coffee was grown in the shade. In the last 25 years, however, the USDA encouraged the use of newly modified plants that could handle the sun and increased coffee yields. Along with the change in production strategies came the need for increased amount of insecticides, pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers. Additionally, such practices increased erosion levels and toxic run off.
Recently farms have been using shade bushes, coffee plants that grown well without such intense amounts of sunlight. This allows for decreased deforestation in developing countries which helps retain tree canopy, thus increasing shelter for birds and other animals. Organic material falling from the trees decreases erosion and contributed nutrients to the soil.
For more information on shade grown coffee, visit www.seattleaudubon.org/shadecoffee/business/faq.html To find out where you can buy shade grown coffee locally, visit our link to Coffee Shops and Bakeries
