Coffee Joe has his binoculars out, bird watching while sipping on his early morning Java. He has a question for you. What do these migratory birds, coffee and cocoa have in common?
First, CJ has a little history lesson in mind.
Not much later than April, most Baltimore Orioles have already migrated north to their breeding grounds located in most of the eastern United States and into southern Canada. Here they prefer the open forests such as those along rivers and even in city parks. But before this time, Orioles spend most of the year in the global area from Mexico to northern South America. They take over the lush, tropical forests, feeding on nectar, pollen, fruit, and insects.
They love coffee and cacao(cocoa) plantations. Such migratory birds provide a number of “green services.” They pollinate, scatter seeds, and eat a wide variety of insects, some of them coffee pests. CJ says that where the cacao (cocoa) and coffee plants are grown in the traditional manner, we now call it Organic. These coffee and cacao (cocoa) shrubs still flourish under a shade canopy of natural forest trees just like they did many decades ago. “Some things old are new again”.
The answer to CJ’s question? The environment.
