The Coffee Conundrum

I love coffee, and I've found coffee to be an interesting subject for contemplation. Who grows my coffee? What does a coffee bush look like? Where are Sumatra, the Rift Valley, and Torajaland? Do the farmers make a decent wage? What kind of impact do the farms have on the local ecosystem?

Unfortunately, the answers to some of my questions led me to give up coffee. There are a lot of problems surrounding the treatment of workers on coffee plantations, and many plantations contribute to significant environmental problems like deforestation, the decline of migratory songbird populations, and a loss of biodiversity.

I tried first buying only organic, fair-trade coffee. These coffees came closest to meeting my desire to have a cup of joe that was socially and environmentally responsible. Fair trade basically means that the farmers who grow the coffee get a reasonable price for their crop. We all know what organic means, but in many cases it also means that the farmers grow their coffee in the shade of taller trees. This practice provides shelter for migratory birds, firewood for the farmers, fruit for the farmers' tables, and greater biodiversity. Here are a few places I found to get fair-trade, organic coffees:
the Giant Grocery store on Wayne Ave. in Chambersburg, PA.
Ten Thousand Villages http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/home.php They have many locations, but I used to go to the one in Mechanicsburg.
and my favorite local coffee shop Greencastle Coffee Roasters. http://www.greencastlecoffee.com/ They have an incredible selection of teas and coffees including a couple fair-trade, organic coffees.

After some time, I began to place a higher value on locally produced food and could no longer justify paying the higher price for the fair-trade, organic coffees. That was when I decided to give up coffee. I still have a cup occasionally with desert or with friends, but my regular morning coffee is gone. I had headaches one or two days. I felt a little sluggish in the mornings, but, in a matter of days, I found I functioned just as well without my coffee.

Here's a link to an article that goes into greater detail about the coffee conundrum and offers some additional resources: http://www.nrdc.org/thisgreenlife/0410.asp.