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What is ORGANIC? 

Most Importantly, Organic Coffees are cultivated and processed WITHOUT PETROCHEMICAL INPUTS. 

“Sustainable” coffees come from farms that promote human rights, quality of life, and respect of the sovereignty of countries. However, “sustainable” is simply not an organic approval seal. It has nothing to do with use of chemicals or how farming treats the environment ecology. Plus, coffee industry giants have horribly misused the term in an attempt to jump on the organic coffee bandwagon.

Growing Organic Coffee

It starts with farmers who love and respect their land. These dedicated and skilled farmers who have the courage, dedication, and patience to grow coffee without petrochemicals naturally care greatly about their land and soil. They use natural processes to fertilize and control pests which takes more time, effort, and yields less quantity. However, they earn their satisfaction by producing high quality coffee beans in its natural form for everyone to enjoy.

Natural fertilization is a fine art. Inter-cropping, composting, and terracing rejuvenate the soil for proper coffee growth in a natural way. However, this process increases farmers’ turn-around time for harvesting coffee beans. Large industrial farms see this natural process as high opportunity cost and would rather use chemical products to shorten the cycle time.

Use of natural pest control is another key step in growing organic coffee. Most organic coffee farms use shade trees as natural pest control system. Banana and mango trees are used to support large bird population which in turn act as natural pest controllers. Moreover, the shade trees protect soil erosion (coffee plants are typically grown in tropical mountains) and provide nitrogen rich mulch that controls weeds, virtually eliminating the need for chemical fertilizers and herbicides. 

However, certain coffee growing regions such as prime coffee growing areas of Costa Rica cannot use shade trees. In these regions, lack of sun light would have devastating affect on coffee plants due to persistent cloud covering. There are still excellent dedicated and skilled farmers who refuse to use any petrochemical products.

[note: use of shade trees does not equate natural fertilization and pest control. Most farms these days claim the use of shade trees, but they still use chemicals without regard to the environment or coffee drinker]

Why ORGANIC?

• Coffee, second largest traded food commodity, is one of the most chemically treated crops in the world! Pesticides, DDT, herbicides, and fungicides are sprayed with no regulation posing health and environmental hazards
  
• This affects farmers and their families health as well as the land. Chemicals used in the coffee farms are soaked into the soil and end up in the coffee we drink
  
• Organic agriculture maintains the health of the soil through inter-cropping, composting, terracing, and utilizing biological pest control via shade trees such as banana and mango trees
  
• Organic coffee promotes the health of the farmer, environment, and coffee drinkers like us!

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