It's time we start saving birds with every sip!
That is my philosophy when it comes to drinking coffee. Most people don't think about it, but the coffee that we drink has huge implications. Every time that you buy coffee, your money either supports deforestation, or it supports habitat conservation.
As you can probably guess, I'm fully on the side of preserving as much rainforest habitat as possible for our beautiful beasts. :)
Luckily, there is an easy way to make sure you are supporting the right cause.
Look for the BIRD FRIENDLY certification!
Unfortunately, not many people know about bird friendly coffee and why it's so beneficial. Today, my goal is to change that.
Below, I'm providing 5 reasons why I drink bird friendly coffee whenever possible.
Before we begin, I want to answer one question:
What exactly is "bird friendly" coffee?
Bird Friendly coffee is a program started by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center of the National Zoo. They offer this certification to coffee products that meet their growing requirements. In general, coffee that is grown in a mix of foliage cover, tree height, and biodiversity that creates quality habitat for birds and other wildlife is considered "bird friendly."
The standards are incredibly rigorous and hard for farms to meet. In fact, less than 1% of ALL coffee grown in the world is Bird Friendly certified.
Ok, let's jump into 5 reasons that I feel good about drinking bird friendly coffee!
#1. Bird Friendly coffee fights deforestation.
Naturally, coffee evolved to grow in the shade, covered by a canopy of other native trees.
But in the 1970s, as coffee kept getting more and more popular, producers started looking for ways to get a better coffee yield and keep up with the demand. It was found that coffee beans that grow in the SUN mature much faster than when grown in the shade.
So, of course, forests started being cleared to transform rainforests into monoculture coffee plantations, which is the practice of only growing one crop in a field at a time (think of a corn field). Instead of growing coffee in the shade, now the majority (~75%) of all coffee is grown in the sun. Since sun-grown coffee doesn't need other trees to provide shade, every other type of tree is cut to pack as many coffee plants together as possible.
Sadly, it's estimated that over 2.5 MILLION acres of rainforest in just Central America have been destroyed to grow coffee. Moreover, coffee plantations are monocultures that don't support much wildlife, which brings us to our next reason for drinking bird friendly coffee.
#2. Bird Friendly coffee preserves biodiversity.
The main problem with sun-grown coffee plantations is they don't support much wildlife. Rows and rows of coffee shrubs baking in the sun act much like a farm field that has corn or soybeans. It's not good for animals as not many species can live there.
On the other hand, bird friendly coffee is incredibly beneficial to birds and other wildlife. For example, take a look at the chart below:
As you can see, the farms that earn the Bird Friendly Certification support FOUR TIMES the number of bird species versus sun-grown coffee. This is because many different trees live together, and the environment acts much more like a thriving ecosystem versus a monoculture devoid of life.
And it's not just birds that benefit. Think about the mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and other wildlife that can thrive on these farms.
#3. Bird Friendly coffee helps migrating birds.
Do you enjoy watching the birds in your yard?
I know that our family does! We have many feeders that offer different types of food, along with planting lots of native vegetation to support them.
But many of the birds I see each summer migrate to the tropics in winter.
These migrating birds, such as tanagers, orioles, and warblers, need appropriate habitats to spend their winters, or they won't survive. As more and more rainforests are destroyed to produce coffee, many birds are having a much harder time surviving and finding places to live.
I love sitting outside, with a good cup of coffee in my hand, watching the birds in my yard. But isn't it a sobering thought that the coffee you are drinking could be contributing to the decline of the colorful species that are so fun to watch during warmer months?
#4. Bird Friendly coffee tastes better.
So, as we discussed earlier, growing coffee in the sun makes it grow faster and ultimately produces more coffee at a lower price. But, there is a HUGE advantage with Bird Friendly coffee when compared to sun-grown coffee.
Coffee grown in the shade of other trees tastes the best!
The reason for the taste discrepancy is that coffee grown in the shade allows the beans to grow and mature naturally. And while it takes longer, the beans develop more evenly and become more saturated with oils and sugars, which leads to a more flavorful coffee.
There are some things you can't rush, and delicious coffee is one of those things!
I think it's sad coffee growers are willing to sacrifice flavor and destroy millions of acres of the rainforest for a slightly cheaper cup of coffee.
#5. Bird Friendly coffee is less toxic for you!
The last great thing about coffee that has been certified bird friendly is that it's organic!
Unfortunately, just like most monoculture farms, sun-grown coffee plantations have to use massive amounts of pesticides and herbicides to control bugs and weeds. These poisons are necessary because growing so many plants close together is incredibly unnatural.
To earn the Bird Friendly certification, the coffee MUST be grown without dangerous chemicals.
The best part is that pesticides aren't needed when coffee is grown naturally in the shade because birds keep the pests under control! Since so many different bird species can live on shade-grown coffee farms, they feast on insects and other invertebrates. These natural ecosystems keep everything in balance, so huge infestations of pests never become a problem!
I don't think I need to explain why you don't want to ingest pesticides. They have been linked with many forms of cancer and other problems. The more of these poisons we can keep out of our bodies, the better!
Please keep in mind that not all shade-grown coffee is bird friendly certified.
To qualify and earn the bird friendly certification from the Smithsonian Institution, farms have to meet rigorous standards that include requirements for tree canopy and number of tree species. There is also a cost to obtain the certification, and not all farms can afford or want to pay this fee.
The only farms that have been inspected and approved to the strict standards of the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center will have the official "Bird Friendly" logo.
Your dollars vote - what are you voting for?
Currently, roughly 37,000 acres of coffee farms have been certified as bird friendly in 11 countries. This is great but a little depressing when you think about the 2.5 MILLION acres that have been cleared for sun-grown coffee farms just in Central America.
The only way to encourage more farms to obtain bird friendly certification is by creating demand. The bird friendly program is great, but not enough people are aware of it.
Most of the coffee that we offer includes the Bird Friendly Certification. You can see our entire lineup here. We also recognize that not every farmer can afford to become certified, even though they follow the guidelines. So some of the coffee we sell may not include the official Smithsonian Bird Friendly certification.