Dear HCN,
I wish to comment on the
Hotline item, “Coffee is bad for birds,” in the May 12 issue of
HCN. The article left the impression that consumers, until now,
could not obtain shade-grown (bird-friendly) coffee. Actually,
bird-friendly coffees are and have been available to the discerning
coffee drinker. This is an important consumer, ecological and
social justice issue. Next to oil, coffee is the second most
valuable commodity traded. Coffee drinkers in the United States
consume one-third of the world’s production.
By
probing a little deeper into the production of coffee, several
significant problems are revealed:
*
Insecticides, fungicides and fertilizers, including DDT,
manufactured in the United States, are used extensively in both
sun- and shade-grown coffees. These pesticides are harmful, even
deadly, to birds and other wildlife.
*
Soil-damaging erosion frequently occurs as a result of monocropping
or clearing hillside forest to plant coffee trees. Herbicides are
used to keep unwanted plants from competing with coffee
trees.
* Perhaps the most overlooked issue in the
production of coffee is worker dignity. Over 90 percent of coffee
is grown on plantations and middle men profit disproportionately.
Virtually all major coffee brands rely on this exploitative
practice.
We can help by buying coffee grown in a
sustainable manner, with a shade canopy, from farmer-owned
cooperatives. As consumers we are responsible for how our choices
affect environmental, economic and social factors. Coffee drinkers
can make choices that respect wildlife, people and the
land.
Jim Barngrover
Helena,
Montana
The writer markets
organic commodities, and is an avid organic grower
himself.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Coffee drinkers can choose.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
