Did you know that?

• One cup of coffee takes about 140 liters of freshwater to produce
• Coffee ranks in the top three most heavily pesticide sprayed crops in the world
• Child labor is widespread in the industry.
• Much coffee production has been converted to sun-grown which is a major source of deforestation
• Coffee is linked to modern day slavery.

Issues related to coffee

For more than 150 years, coffee was grown in the shadow of rainforest trees. In the 1970s, new farm system were introduced in which forests are cleared and coffee bushes are packed in dense hedgerows and sprayed with chemicals. These monoculture farms produce more beans, but at a tremendous environmental cost. A traditional system provides good wildlife habitat but the new monocultures have little habitat, accelerate soil erosion and pollute streams with chemicals (1).

Water

Coffee production requires massive amounts of water - about 140 liters of water for one cup of coffee (2). Therefore, coffee is linked to the global water crisis where freshwater increasingly is becoming a scarce resource.

Pesticides

Much coffee is grown in countries that don't regulate use of chemicals and pesticides (3). Coffee ranks in the top three most heavily pesticide sprayed crops in the world and the processing is a major cause of water contamination (4).

Child labor

Child labor is widespread in the coffee industry. Most working children in the world are found on farms and plantations. Many of them in coffee plantations. Children sometimes spray pesticides with no protection (5).

Modern slavery

Coffee production has also been linked to modern slavery (6).

Deforestation

Much coffee production has been converted to sun-grown which is a major source of deforestation. Every cup of coffee consumed destroys roughly one square inch of rainforest, making it a leading cause of rainforest destruction (7).

Packaging

Coffee sold in aluminium capsules is highly unsustainable because of the energy used to mine and produce aluminium and the waste it creates (8).

Benefits of sustainable coffee

The best choice is coffee that is shade-grown, organic, and fair traded.

Organic coffee beans are coffee beans that have been produced without the use of pesticides or herbicides. This is beneficial to both the producer and the consumer. Shade grown coffee reduces the need for fertilizers and herbicides, and promotes biodiversification (9). 

Sustainable farms will also seek renewable energy resources, they will promote education programs, provide medical care for workers, and provide decent wages and working conditions for their employees. Sustainable coffee farming minimizes water consumption and will replace the natural nutrients of the land by spreading fertilizers and organic matter under the coffee trees and between the coffee trees.

Direct trade is a form of fairtrade sourcing practiced by some coffee roasters, referring to direct sourcing from farmers, with standards varying between producers. Direct trade is seen as an alternative to fairtrade certification and represents the interests of roasters who were frustrated by the limitations of fair trade standards (10).

Though the demand for “ethical” coffee still is relatively small, it’s growing daily (11).

Read more about the environmental dimensions of coffee production here http://www.nrdc.org/health/farming/ccc/chap4.asp  

Sources

(1) http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/agriculture/crops/coffee

(2) http://www.waterfootprint.org/?page=files/CoffeeTea 

(3) http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/eat-safe/Dirty-Dozen-Foods#fbIndex17

(4) http://www.goinggreentoday.com/blog/how-coffee-aids-in-deforestation-of-our-rainforests/

(5) http://www.allbusiness.com/manufacturing/food-manufacturing-food-coffee-tea/3977221-1.html

(6) http://www.antislavery.org/includes/documents/cm_docs/2009/p/1_products_of_slavery.pdf

(7)  http://www.goinggreentoday.com/blog/how-coffee-aids-in-deforestation-of-our-rainforests/

(8) http://www.coffeehabitat.com/2009/09/nespresso-greenwash/

(9) http://www.coffeeresearch.org/politics/birdsafe.htm

(10) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_trade

(11) http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/17/us-coffee-dreyfus-idUSTRE72G4DB20110317