Your cup of coffee can help save habitat for migratory birds!

What does coffee have to do with birds?

Plenty. In the mid-elevations of Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and Colombia, most of the forests still standing are in traditional coffee plantations. These provide the Last refuge for birds that have lost their habitat to the destruction of tropical forests.

Coffee, a shade-loving shrub, flourishes under the canopy of diverse tree species. Hummingbirds, swallows, warblers, orioles, tanagers and other migratory birds that breed in North America in the summer find a safe haven in the remaining forests of shade coffee plantations in the winter. Scientists and birdwatchers have noted a marked decline in migratory bird populations over the last 25 years.

Tree canopy in shade coffee plantation forests protects the soil from erosion and provides a natural mulch for coffee plants, reducing the need for chemical fertilizers and herbicides.

Until recently, nearly all commercial production of coffee was managed under a canopy of shade trees. But debt-strapped nations seeking to boost export of commodities have undertaken a deliberate campaign to modernize growing practices away from traditional "shade" coffee to new "sun," or "technified," coffee.

Sun coffee plantations produce higher yields, but at serious social and environmental costs. Converting a traditional coffee farm into a technified operation involves clear-cutting the forest. A casualty of this conversion is biodiversity, because most birds are found in the canopy of shade coffee plantations and very few forage in coffee plants.

Coffee plants exposed to the open sun are more susceptible to disease and require large applications of expensive chemicals. The removal of shade trees eliminates the fuel wood, timber, and fruit crops that often serve as insurance for growers when coffee prices are low or when crops fail. Remove the canopy and you remove the forest.

By choosing shade coffee, you can make a difference!

Until now, coffee importers, roasters, and retailers haven't had a reason to track whether their product is grown in the shade or in the sun. But due to consumer awareness of the impact of technified coffee on the environment, people are starting to ask for shade coffee.

U.S. coffee drinkers comprise one-third of the world coffee market. By buying coffee that is grown in the shade, we help keep shade coffee economically viable for farmers and protect increasingly scarce habitat for migratory neotropical birds.

And if all of that is not enough, there's one more thing we think you should know:

This is great coffee! 

Available in 12 oz. bags -- whole bean or ground.
Regular -- 8.95 members, $9.95 non-members
DeCaf -- $9.85 members, $10.95 non-members
(Plus $4.95 shipping and handling if purchased online.)
Click Here for online ordering.