Issues: Health

FOREWORD

For a beverage made from a humble seed, coffee is inordinately important in our modern world. From the standpoint of consumption, this is easily seen. Just imagine yourself placed at any random point in the United States. How long would it take you to find the closest cup of coffee? For that matter, how easily could you pick up a double tall latte? Coffee is equally important to the developing world where it is produced. Coffee is a major source of foreign exchange for dozens of tropical countries and provides an opportunity for thousands of farmers to earn cash income off small parcels of land.

Sipping a cup of coffee is a ritual that is played out millions of times a day throughout the world. It is an act that ties together consumer, retailer, roaster, broker, producer and farm laborer in complex relationships about which we rarely ponder. But the connections are deeper than mere commerce. For example, many of the millions of migratory birds that criss-cross the continents have come to depend upon the traditional coffee farms that still produce much of the coffee we drink. In many areas where deforestation is a fait accompli shade coffee farms provide a refuge for many forest loving birds and other organisms. Migratory birds are emblematic of the importance of coffee to both the local environments where it is grown and the global environment that we share.

In an effort to provide more coffee and make more money, many coffee farmers have modernized the traditional coffee farm. A modern coffee farm has fewer shade trees and requires more chemical inputs. Over a mere two decades, the face of the land of coffee growing regions has been dramatically changed. The Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center has been interested and concerned about the impact this conversion will have on populations of migratory birds. We believe that this conversion, although occurring on agricultural lands, is a form of deforestation. Moreover, the ramifications of these changes go beyond birds to issues of permanent soil loss, reductions in carbon sequestration, increased doses of hazardous chemicals and pollutants, and quality of life for the farmers and laborers that grow, pick and process coffee berries.

Robert Rice and Justin Ward have produced a comprehensive analysis of the issues involved in coffee conversion. More importantly they have taken a giant step in producing a set of specific recommendations to address the issue at different levels, from working with growers, educating consumers, effecting National Policies and influencing the approach of bilateral and multilateral development agencies. Within this buffet of diverse approaches, the most tantalizing is the harnessing of market forces to promote ecologically sustainable coffee production. Consumers concerned with maintaining an abundance of migratory birds, protecting forest organisms, and helping promote the environmental health of tropical regions, may be willing to help accomplish these goals by purchasing coffee from traditional shade coffee farms. At this point in time, it is difficult to make such a consumer choice. However, when such a product is more widely available, it will bring producers, roasters, and coffee drinkers together in a mutual effort to protect our common resources.

-- Russell Greenberg, Director, Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center