The conection between your dailly cup of coffee and the sweet melody of morning songbirds.

New, or conventional coffee plantations are replacing wildlife habitat at an astounding rate. The significant decline in the number of songbirds across North and South America has been widely noticed. Shade grown organic coffee bean farming is recognized as a promising alternative.

History
In the past all coffee was shade grown.

Most varieties of coffee are naturally intolerant of direct sunlight, and grow better with a canopy of shade trees. The trees not only filter sun light, they also mulch the soil with their fallen leaves which helps retain soil moisture.

The nitrogen-fixing shade trees enhance the soil, and also provide habitat for birds. The birds provide natural insect control with their constant foraging which enables this sustainable method of farming to use little or no chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides.

In 1972, new hybrid varieties of coffee beans were developed to help increase production of the coffee crop. These new varieties produced significantly more coffee beans, were smaller and easier to harvest, and produced best in direct sunlight.

A big majority of growers cut their shade trees and switched to the new hybrid varieties. Out of the 6 million acres of coffee lands, 60% have been stripped of shade trees since 1972. Only the smaller farms preserved their shade trees.

Unfortunately, the new varieties of "sun" coffee came with an additional cost: the hybrids were dependent on high doses of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Soil erosion, water runoff and soil depletion caused coffee bean growers to clear vast tracts of rainforest for new field land to plant thier coffee bean crop, and it became apparent that this new method of growing coffee beans was unsustainable.

The loss of shade trees on such a large scale caused an estimated 20% decline in migratory bird populations in the last decade, due to loss of habitat.

The declined songbird population has been noted as far away as 1500 miles from the coffee growing regions.

In 1996, the movement to support shade grown coffee was sparked by the Smithsonian Institute's Migratory Bird Center, which gathered environmentalists, farmers and coffee companies to address the problem and promote awareness of shade grown coffee.

Sales of Organic, Shade Grown Coffee are Increasing
Recent sales of organically grown, shade coffee represent about 1%, or $30 million, of the U.S. market for coffee beans.

The best way to encourage organic, shade grown coffee bean farming is to buy the organic, shade grown coffee beans. Production follows demand, and many farmers are switching back to shade grown methods as consumer awareness and demand increases.

To take a virtual tour of a shade-grown coffee farm which is committed to sustainable coffee farming, Click Here

Cost and Selection
How do I know if my coffee is organic, shade grown:

Look for coffee plantations which state in their literature, or on their website, that they produce "shade-grown" coffee and use no pesticides or herbicides.

Country of origin is an indicator. Although there are exceptions, coffee produced from southern Mexico, El Salvador, Peru, Panama, Nicaragua and Guatemala are primarily shade grown. Coffee from Sumatra, Timor, New Guinea and Ethiopia are mostly shade grown. Coffees from Colombia, Brazil and Costa Rica are more likely to be "sun" coffees, but there are some shade producers from these regions.

Cost:
Shade grown coffee ranges in price from $8 - 12 per pound for roasted blends. Although more expensive than regular coffee (because less coffee beans are produced for the same amount of labor), there is far less cost to the environment.

Benefits
Taste.
As the coffee beans mature more slowly in the shade, natural sugars increase and enhance the flavor of the coffee.

Healthier.
Next to tobacco, coffee is sprayed with more chemicals than any other product consumed by humans. Shade grown coffee is most often organically grown, free of chemical use.

Promotes healthy environment.
Shade grown coffee requires little or no chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides. The shade trees filter carbon dioxide which causes global warming, and aid in soil moisture retention which minimizes erosion.

Provides bird friendly habitat and greater biodiversity.
Migrating bird populations have been in rapid decent since the introduction of "sun" coffee and the consequent destruction of rainforest for more coffee bean plantations. As many as 150 species of birds have been identified on shade coffee farms.

Helps sustain rainforests.
Coffee plantations which are chemically dependent suffer from soil depletion and increased erosion.

Rainforest is stripped to provide more field land.
Most shade coffee farms are organic and sustainable.

Reverses the trend to chemicals.
Shade coffee farms traditionally use little or no chemical fertilizer. If they are also organic there is no chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides used.

Find your organic, shade grown, fair trade coffee beans at www.sonocoffeebeans.com or Click Here

Sono Coffee owners and Coffee Aficianados Jeremiah & Kasandra Reynolds and Josh & Sarah Schrock thank you for your support to organic, shade grown coffee bean farmers.

Original article can be found at
http://www.eartheasy.com/eat_shadegrown_coffee.htm