Shade Grown, Fair Trade Coffee
Created | Updated Nov 1, 2005
Currently there are many small-scale, local coffee farmers living in the middle of the rain forest. They get paid 50 cents per pound of “gourmet” coffee while the companies that they sell to are getting $11.10 for the same pound of coffee. Many people often work for these farmers, but they usually only get paid around 12 cents per hour because there is so little money coming into the farm. These farmers also have to buy more land than is “necessarily” needed because they are trying to be environmentally sound and grow their coffee in the shade. Something eventually has to change for these farmers because they could very easily run out of money within the year, so they assume that they have to give up growing shade grown coffee, so they to clear-cut their land to grow less environmentally sound coffee at a higher profit. However, there is another option that these farmers can try.
There is a product called fair trade coffee, where the farmers get at least $1.26 per pound. Most fair trade coffee is also shade grown , so the extra money that the farmers get is almost always put to good use. Since more money must be paid to farmers, fair trade coffee is usually more expensive than regular coffee, but being fair to farmers is definitely worth a few more cents.
Many people agree that it is very important to buy fair trade coffee; in fact some care enough to volunteer in stores that sell it, so that they don’t take any of the profit away from the original farmer. Fair trade coffee is also very important because, since it is usually also shade grown, it shows the local people that they can make a better profit by doing something that is good for both them and environment than doing something damaging.
Shade grown coffee is grown in the shade of a rainforest, which means that the land is not clear-cut, so less coffee plants can grow on the same size piece of land. It costs more, of course, but it doesn’t actually work out to cost the consumer more than fifty cents or a dollar per pound more than normal coffee. Growing coffee in the shade is also helpful to the farmers themselves, because they can also grow other plants on the same land that they use to farm their coffee. Whereas you can only grow coffee on a coffee plantation.
In general, about 150 species of bird species are able to live on shade grown coffee plantations, in the rainforest, whereas only about 20 are able to live on sun grown land. Consequently, this stops many species from becoming endangered, or extinct, and helps the farmers too because the birds eat the insects off of the plants, creating little or no need for pesticides. In addition to birds, many more mammals, beetles, ants, amphibians and epiphytes can live on shade grown land than on sun grown plantations.
The few arguments against shade grown and/or fair trade coffee are that they are more expensive, and that the plants have a lower yield per acre than on sun grown plantations. There is not much that anyone can do about the price, although the difference is insignificant enough that most American and English coffee drinkers would still easily be able to afford it. Although there is a lower yield per acre, and farmers can't fit as many plants per as they would be able to if they clear cut the forest, the plants that are shade grown regularly live for twice as long as the sun grown plants. Another benefit of shade grown coffee is that the land that it is farmed on can, at the same time, be used to grow a wide variety of other crops. Also, more trees result in less soil erosion, acid runoff and irrigation on shade grown coffee farms.
Another problem with fair trade coffee is that many farmers become "locked" into the Fair Trade Cooperative which does not allow them to then split and become their own farm once they start making higher profits. This actually often causes the farms to loose money that they should be making from their coffee.
As well as helping the farmers and the environment, shade grown coffee also benefits the consumer because many coffee drinkers think that it has a richer, less bitter taste. It is less bitter because it is not baked in the sun, and it is given a longer time to ripen. Shade grown coffee is also more aromatic than sun grown for the same reasons that it is less bitter. The drinker will also benefit if they are the kind of person that enjoys doing things that benefit other people and the environment.
Right now the demand for shade grown, fair trade coffee is just barely big enough to keep it on the market, but that can change. If more coffee drinkers started buying shade grown, fair trade coffee, not even necessarily as a regular habit, and drinking it or serving it at parties, bird species, the rainforest and farmers would not have to die so that you can drink a cup of coffee. There would also be less global warming because the trees that would normally be clear–cut replace some of the carbon in the air with oxygen. So the next time you buy a cup of coffee, just try shade grown, fair trade and see what it’s like to drink something that is morally and aesthetically satisfying.
There is a product called fair trade coffee, where the farmers get at least $1.26 per pound. Most fair trade coffee is also shade grown , so the extra money that the farmers get is almost always put to good use. Since more money must be paid to farmers, fair trade coffee is usually more expensive than regular coffee, but being fair to farmers is definitely worth a few more cents.
Many people agree that it is very important to buy fair trade coffee; in fact some care enough to volunteer in stores that sell it, so that they don’t take any of the profit away from the original farmer. Fair trade coffee is also very important because, since it is usually also shade grown, it shows the local people that they can make a better profit by doing something that is good for both them and environment than doing something damaging.
Shade grown coffee is grown in the shade of a rainforest, which means that the land is not clear-cut, so less coffee plants can grow on the same size piece of land. It costs more, of course, but it doesn’t actually work out to cost the consumer more than fifty cents or a dollar per pound more than normal coffee. Growing coffee in the shade is also helpful to the farmers themselves, because they can also grow other plants on the same land that they use to farm their coffee. Whereas you can only grow coffee on a coffee plantation.
In general, about 150 species of bird species are able to live on shade grown coffee plantations, in the rainforest, whereas only about 20 are able to live on sun grown land. Consequently, this stops many species from becoming endangered, or extinct, and helps the farmers too because the birds eat the insects off of the plants, creating little or no need for pesticides. In addition to birds, many more mammals, beetles, ants, amphibians and epiphytes can live on shade grown land than on sun grown plantations.
The few arguments against shade grown and/or fair trade coffee are that they are more expensive, and that the plants have a lower yield per acre than on sun grown plantations. There is not much that anyone can do about the price, although the difference is insignificant enough that most American and English coffee drinkers would still easily be able to afford it. Although there is a lower yield per acre, and farmers can't fit as many plants per as they would be able to if they clear cut the forest, the plants that are shade grown regularly live for twice as long as the sun grown plants. Another benefit of shade grown coffee is that the land that it is farmed on can, at the same time, be used to grow a wide variety of other crops. Also, more trees result in less soil erosion, acid runoff and irrigation on shade grown coffee farms.
Another problem with fair trade coffee is that many farmers become "locked" into the Fair Trade Cooperative which does not allow them to then split and become their own farm once they start making higher profits. This actually often causes the farms to loose money that they should be making from their coffee.
As well as helping the farmers and the environment, shade grown coffee also benefits the consumer because many coffee drinkers think that it has a richer, less bitter taste. It is less bitter because it is not baked in the sun, and it is given a longer time to ripen. Shade grown coffee is also more aromatic than sun grown for the same reasons that it is less bitter. The drinker will also benefit if they are the kind of person that enjoys doing things that benefit other people and the environment.
Right now the demand for shade grown, fair trade coffee is just barely big enough to keep it on the market, but that can change. If more coffee drinkers started buying shade grown, fair trade coffee, not even necessarily as a regular habit, and drinking it or serving it at parties, bird species, the rainforest and farmers would not have to die so that you can drink a cup of coffee. There would also be less global warming because the trees that would normally be clear–cut replace some of the carbon in the air with oxygen. So the next time you buy a cup of coffee, just try shade grown, fair trade and see what it’s like to drink something that is morally and aesthetically satisfying.
