by Mopes

Created on: January 28, 2009

The interest for organic coffee coincides directly with the increasing interest of Americans for organic food. Coffee is the third most commonly traded commodity in the modern world, and as such, there is a huge market for coffee amongst those who prefer their foods to be harvested in a sustainable environment.

The focus when growing coffee organically, as with any other organic food, is to ensure the enviroment is as natural as possible. There are three major aspects to growing coffee sustainably, and they are:

Inter-planting

In it's natural environment, coffee grows in the shade. Most coffee farms have great fields under open sunlight. In fact, this is a major cause of deforestation in South America. Organic producers sacrifice their overall planting space by inter-planting the coffee with trees. While being more natural, as this is how coffee would grow in the wild, the trees also help prevent water-contamination in the soil. Not only that, but the trees are also a natural environment for birds, which of course work as a natural pesticide. Birds eat bugs, so the bug's won't eat the plants.

Pesticide use

Of course, for a coffee farm to be completely organic it must avoid the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Not only does this help lift any concerns regarding health issues, but of course results in a better tasting cup of coffee.

Fertilizer

Without being able to use chemical fertilizers, you would think that finding a low cost solution would be difficult for the coffee farmer. It turns out that inter-planting had yet another benefit. The trees, as they shed their leaves, provide a free and easy fertilizer for the coffee plants. In fact, by simply allowing the trees leaves to compost directly into the soil, you don't need any other fertilizer.

These changes to the standard coffee-farm that allow for it to be grown sustainably are actually quite minor, but they do decrease the over-all efficiency of the farm by a great degree. This is why organic coffees tend to be expensive. But when it comes to a good cup of coffee, you have to consider the implications of what you are drinking. If you want to get a cup for less than a dollar, then go ahead. But if you want to be sure that you have no concerns for your health, the environment, or deforestation you should spend the extra dollar and enjoy a guilt-free cup of coffee with a richer and more enjoyable flavor.

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