Laura
Ithaca NY
March 11th, 2010
5:16 am
Some coffee beans are grown as row crops, depleting soils and loaded with fertilizers and pesticides. This is a major factor in destroying natural tropical habitat essential for tropical wildlife and also North American birds that winter in the tropics.
The Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center certifies "Bird Friendly" coffee that is organic and grown in diverse natural rain forest that meets standards ensuring biodiversity. Coffee grows more slowly in shade, giving the beans a richer flavor which most coffee aficionados prefer, so buying Bird Friendly coffee is a win-win.
I love a good cup of coffee, but unless I'm desperate will drink only Bird Friendly certified coffee. I order my beans mail order from Gimme! in Ithaca or from Birds and Beans in Massachusetts (which sells ONLY Bird Friendly coffee), and will always choose a coffee shop that specifically offers Bird Friendly coffee over one that doesn't. I wish that you'd indicated which coffee shops offer Bird Friendly coffee, or at least which offered fair trade, organic, and shade-grown coffees.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
New York Times coffee shop article
The New York Times had an article about coffee shops in NYC, and didn't mention which carried organic or shade-grown coffee, much less certified Bird Friendly coffee. Here's the comment I posted: