After the scare of the recent recession, consumers are looking for comfort, whether in their food or their beverage. It’s value, simplicity, home – a return to basics, with anything organic leading the way.

“Consumers still see coffee as an integral part of their everyday lives,” said Robert F. Nelson, President and CEO of the National Coffee Association.  “Even if economic conditions cause some to alter their coffee choices, they are nonetheless continuing to enjoy coffee at levels very much on par with recent years.”

However, CJ says that more adults are making their coffee at home. The retail coffee market grew 6% in 2008 and is increasing each year. Small coffee roasters are benefiting and so are the consumers.

Convenience has given way to the pocket-book mentality. It’s about time – more people should be concerned with the environment, how their food is grown, and how organics are the wave of the future.

Human population is expected to soar to 9 Billion by the year 2050. A scant forty years away. If we don’t take care of the earth now, the natural resources that are being stretched at this moment will be harder than ever to find.

Organic coffee, tea and cocoa are trying to make a difference. CJ says if you buy responsibly from the co-op organizations, make sure the products are fairly traded or fair trade, you will be helping conserve what we already have. This in turn will save resources for the future generations.

However, Coffee Joe’s research shows that by-products such as coffee pulp have become a huge problem. Just a tiny amount of coffee pulp is used by farmers for compost and the remainder piles up or becomes a pollutant when the rains wash it into local rivers. Ignored by the global watchdogs, if it can’t be seen, it can’t be there.

coffee pulp piling up (ZERI)

On the positive side, new innovative plans are in the works. Growing mushrooms with coffee pulp is a new idea for poverty stricken third world coffee countries, especially for the women who usually do all the work, and receive little in return. In addition, solutions are being researched by ZERI (Zero Emissions Research and Initiatives Foundation).

“ZERI discovered that not only do mushroom spores thrive in coffee pulp, the spores also convert the pulp into a livestock feed rich in fibre. In a cycle that reuses local organic material, the manure produced by well-fed livestock can then be used as a rich fertilizer for coffee plants or food crops. This closed-loop, sustainable process developed by ZERI won the Specialty Coffee Association of America’s 2009 “Sustainability Award.”

women, coffee pulp (ZERI)

In some countries, East Africa or Tanzania for instance, coffee farming does not bring in much money, and most are too poor to realize a profit. Mushrooms will bring a little more security to their lives, their communities and their families.

CJ wants you to take the time to be responsible, include organics into your lives, even if it’s only one product at a time such as organic coffee. If you are going to drink coffee anyway, drink organic.

Someone will thank you.

1)      Refuse to buy goods with surplus packaging.

2)       Re-use as long as possible; i.e. clothing, household goods.

3)       Barter or trade with neighbours, friends, or family to reduce clutter.

4)       Recycle garden matter; leaves, grass cuttings and prunings.

5)       Compost leftovers; vegetable ends, fruit peels, crushed egg shells.

6)       Compost tea leaves/bags (no tags, staples or strings), coffee grounds.

7)       Walk – don’t drive unless you have to.

8)       Turn the heat down in winter, wear an extra sweater.

9)       Use a fan instead of air conditioning.

10)   Buy local, fairly traded or organic.

11)   Check out solar energy.

12)   Grow your own garden.

13)   Eat at home.

14)   Less pollution if you avoid take-out or fast food.

CJ has a quote for the environment, climate change and carbon footprints:

“Why don’t we pay more attention to who the farmers are? We would never be as careless choosing an auto mechanic or babysitter as we are about who grows our food. All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today.”

Coffee Joes says it’s nice to know organic thinking is growing, so to speak. However, it seems that consumers still pay more attention to what their pets eat than themselves or their children. The pet food industry is big business. There are over eight million pet cats and dogs in Canada and more than 160 million pets in the US. Last year, Americans alone spent over US$45 billion on their pets, including US$18 billion on pet food, while Canadians spent over 2.0 billion. Yes, billion with a “B”.

Coffee, of course, is our business. We deal with the coffee farmers direct, visit their communities, and try to make sure they receive fair value for their product. However, it’s all to no avail if the consumer doesn’t care enough to pay a little more to buy organic, knowing it will make a huge difference for the future health of the planet and these farmers.

Spend less on cat or dog food, and give it to the coffee farmers, or the tea and cocoa plant growers. People should be more important than animals.

Don’t you agree?

When you order coffee or tea , do you think about what is or isn’t in your drink? Do you think about the person who handpicked the coffee beans, or tea leaves? When you pay high prices for these beverages, do you consider what portion is sent to the grower?

CJ cautions that if you don’t buy organic beverages, or at least Fairly Traded products, do you realize the extent of chemicals and pesticides that have been used to produce it?

Traditionally, organic farming is a poor reality. Through the years, the income falls and rises at a rate mostly beyond control. Coffee Joe want you to imagine if your own revenue wasn’t based on either hard work, your ethics, or even a good crop but on a whimsical, inanimate concept like a commodity market. You know someone is making good money, but it isn’t you.

He says this is where the co-operatives step in. Local businesses and organic farmers band together to form a bond that will benefit everyone. In the rest of the world, ethical companies, such as ours, have their own ways of dealing directly with the growers, offering better prices and helping whole communities.

Read labels, buy with a conscience. Your brew of choice will leave a better taste in your mouth.