This morning, like many of us, I woke up with a cup of jo and read online about the latest disaster to strike one of our neighbors to the south.
The tragic earthquake in Haiti has left many of us feeling helpless & wondering What can I do?
Well, in addition to sending aid during their time of urgent need, it is important to also think about the long term prospects of this impoverished nation & its environment.
http://www.coffeehabitat.com/
A recent article in the Christian Science Monitor reports that at least 10% of organic coffee farmers in northern Latin America alone have given up and are returning to producing coffee with chemicals.
Organic coffee: Why Latin America's farmers are abandoning it
Latin America produces an estimated 75 percent of the world's organic coffee. But the economic benefits many small farmers were promised if they converted to organic haven't materialized.
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That’s why many Mesoamerican farmers here are starting to give up on organic coffee: The premium price that it used to fetch is disappearing.
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Farmers have returned to the chemical fertilizers and pesticides that increase production, albeit at a cost to the environment. Although organic still pays a premium of as much as 25 percent over conventional coffee, it’s not enough to cover the added cost of production and make up for the smaller yields. For consumers, the defections threaten to make the coffee harder to find.
The benefits of organic coffee are not just economic:
Organic farms, rich with flora, trap more carbon than their conventional counterparts, an important benefit for a crop threatened by climate change.
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"I can sell [nonorganic coffee] to a coyote [middle man] for around the same price [as organic], a little less, and I can use whatever I want on the coffee plants – fertilizers I can buy, pesticides," says Jose Perez, who stopped growing organic coffee on his three-acre farm in Guatemala last year. "I can grow a lot more this way."
When we support shade-grown organic coffee plantations, we avoid clearcut forests like this one-
Coffee production in Hispaniola
Hispaniola is a critical wintering and stopover site for migrant birds that breed in North America. It was concerns about declining populations of these species (about half of all species that nest in North America) which kicked off the whole shade coffee movement.
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The situation in Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, is much more grim. The country suffers from extreme deforestation, and only about 1 to 3% of Haiti's forest remains.
The photo below, from NASA, dramatically shows the devastation of Haiti's forests right up to the DR border.
When we buy anything, we must always consider the impact of our choice. Many of us have come to recognize these moments as "voting with our dollars." Some suggest this is even more powerful than our vote at the ballot box.
When you make your next coffee purchase, please dig a tiny bit deeper into your wallet and ensure that your coffee is organic, shade-grown, & fair trade.
x-posted @ TLP