Why is it important to support shade-grown coffee?

It's better for all of us.  Fewer chemicals are needed, and shade-farming protects birds and the native rainforest.

Tropical rainforests
are an
essential planetary resource.

No need for chemical pesticides. The forests of Central America are home to the migratory birds we enjoy in the spring and summer. The birds act as nature's pesticide, eating the insects that can harm the coffee plants, reducing or completely doing away with chemical pesticides.

Natural fertilizers. The diverse plant life which makes up the shade canopy provides the nutrients the coffee plants need as it decomposes on the forest floor, eliminating the dependence on chemical fertilizers.

Reduces Erosion. The shade canopy also provides another benefit. It protects the soils and waters of the region by reducing erosion. Great coffee grows on the sides of high mountains. If there is no plant life around the coffee to hold the soils to the mountain sides, the soil and any agro-chemicals used gets washed into the rivers and lakes of the region.

Protects natural ecosystem. Plants in the rainforest which have medicinal properties are being discovered every year. When forests are clear cut to make way for sun coffee farms, we all lose.

Protects conscientious growers. In recent years the sun coffee growers have flooded the market with their coffee and created a coffee crisis. The price has bottomed out sending the shade grown coffee producers into poverty and unemployment. By supporting shade coffee producers, we help to preserve the earth's environment and their social and economic well-being.