[TN-Bird] Re: Shade-grown coffee

  • From: Charlie <cmmbirds@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: jdjoslin@xxxxxxxxx, dmoss5@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Mon, 2 Aug 2004 16:13:57 -0700 (PDT)

I join Dev in thanking Dan.  

Those of you who KTOS was happy to host for the spring 2003 meeting
saw a lot of strong evidence for the benefits of shade-grown coffee
from Chan Robbins, one of the most important ornithologists of the
latter half of the 20th century.

A friend of mine has lived in Ecuador for 2.5 years.  He reports that
shade-grown coffee is significantly more likely to be fair trade, as
well, adding human and social benefits to environmental.  IMHO, it's
also more likely to be higher quality than the other stuff.  Since
Wallace doesn't like me saying bad things about brand names, I won't
make fun of the big 'ole blue can of environmental harm and
low-quality mornings that my mother used to drink from in the
morning.  But it's at the same level, in my opinion, as the
Clydesdale beer and the yellow M burgers.

Janet McKnight, the new "Snack Czar" for KTOS has started offering
only shade-grown coffee at our meetings.

Charlie

--- John Devereux Joslin <jdjoslin@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Thanks, Dan, for raising this important issue once again.  Only
> about 20 million
> pounds of shade-grown sold--out of 13 BILLION pounds per year
> around the globe
> really is a drop in the bucket (and over 4 billion in the U.S.)!  I
> certainly
> hope we do start to flex our bird-friendly muscles.
>     Also I didn't know that shade-coffee plantations were the most
> bird-friendly
> and biodiverse agricultural land type.
> --Dev Joslin
> 
> Daniel Moss wrote:
> 
> > In the latest Audubon magazine, there's an article by Paul Tolme
> on shade-g=
> > rown coffee and it's importance to conserving bird (and other
> wildlife) hab=
> > itat. Here's the link:
> > http://magazine.audubon.org/features0408/mexico.html
> >
> > I've pulled out a few paragraphs that I thought were interesting
> and drive =
> > the point home:
> >
> > "For Americans, who consume a third of the world's
> coffee=E2=80=94300 milli=
> > on cups a day=E2=80=94an important choice is brewing: Continue to
> drink cof=
> > fee without considering how it is grown, or deliberately seek out
> brands th=
> > at are grown in ways that protect migratory birds and other
> species. "
> >
> > "Shade-coffee farms shelter more birds than any other
> agricultural landscap=
> > e; only untamed tropical forests have greater diversity."
> >
> > "For now, shade-grown coffee is still a niche market. Roughly 19
> million po=
> > unds of Rainforest Alliance=E2=80=93certified coffee, and an
> additional 3.7=
> > 5 million pounds that is certified Bird Friendly, were shipped
> this past ye=
> > ar. Those are collectively but a drip in the carafe of global
> production=E2=
> > =80=94roughly 13 billion pounds a year. One explanation is that
> conservatio=
> > n-minded coffee drinkers "haven't yet flexed their muscles," says
> Wille. "I=
> > f they do, their potential to change the coffee business is
> tremendous." To=
> >  be sure, the 71 million Americans who consider themselves
> birdwatchers rep=
> > resent a huge, untapped market."
> >
> > I hope that all Tennessee coffee-loving bird watchers have flexed
> their buy=
> > ing power and switched over. The price is a little higher, but
> well worth i=
> > t!
> >  =20
> > Daniel Moss
> > Clarksville, TN
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> 
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> To post to this mailing list, simply send email to:
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> 
>   TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society 
>        Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s)
>         endorse the views or opinions expressed
>         by the members of this discussion group.
>  
>          Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
>                  wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> 
>  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
>      Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
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> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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>     ========================================================
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> 
> 


=====
**************************************************
Charlie Muise, Naturalist near
Great Smoky Mountains National Park

"Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of cancer."  -Edward Abbey
**************************************************


                
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

  TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society 
       Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s)
        endorse the views or opinions expressed
        by the members of this discussion group.
 
         Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
                 wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
     Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
          web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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    ========================================================


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