Why Should You Drink Shade-Grown Coffee

If you're like me, you go to the grocery store without a specific idea about which products you want to buy. For example, I will know I want cereal but whether I will get corn flakes or Cheerios, I never know until I'm there. Or perhaps I know I want fruit but pears, apples, or oranges, it depends on which are of the best quality or which is on sale. When it comes to coffee I am the same way. I show up at the store and roam the aisles.

Eventually I make it to the coffee aisle and "Oh My God." there are so many choices. Sometimes I never know where to start. So how do you start making a selection. Well the first thing I do is decide what kind of coffee I want, French Roast or Breakfast Blend etc. Then I check for the organic and fair-trade coffee. Now, most people already know what organic and fair-trade mean and if they don't you can reason it out. However, the next classification that sometimes follows organic and fair-trade is shade grown. But what is the point of shade grown coffee?


Shade grown coffee is just what it sounds like, coffee grown under the forest canopy. Now you are probably saying to yourself..."Duh, obviously that is what shade grown means but what is the point or the advantage of it?" Well, shade grown coffee does not devastate the forests where it is farmed. it does not contribute to deforestation. Here is a picture and what Wikipedia has to say on the subject...

A Shade-Grown Coffee Plantation

"A canopy of assorted types of shade trees is created to cultivate shade-grown coffee. The traditional shade-grown coffee farm resembles a forest because it consists of several layers of trees, such as fruit and hardwood trees, epiphytes, and other assorted bushes and plants. As a result, up to 40 species of trees can be found on these farms, and contribute to the maintenance of soil quality and habitats for numerous species of animals and plants. One of the main arguments in support of shade-grown coffee is that it houses many species of birds. More specifically, shade-grown trees house two-thirds of the bird species found in natural forests in the same geographic areas.

Sun-grown coffee requires numerous chemical fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, and pesticides to be added to promote growth. This also contributes to toxic water runoff and lack of habitat for many species. In contrast to the previous information regarding birds, sun-grown coffee provides shelter for less than one-tenth of bird species."

You can see that there are many advantages to making sure your coffee is shade grown. especially if you care about your environmental impact.
 

A Traditional Coffee Plantation

Because coffee trees that are planted in the sun can be much more productive than shade grown trees large scale farms and agribusiness choose to plant trees out in the open. This creates more coffee in a shorter period of time. However, this coffee is not only less environmentally friendly but the sun effects the taste of the coffee. Non-shade grown coffee has more of an acidic taste. For these reasons it is preferable to spend a little extra coin for the "good stuff"

So the next time you are perusing the coffee aisle remember to look for shade grown coffee. Moka Joe Coffee is not only 100% organic and fair-trade, it is also shade grown and bird friendly. After all, who doesn't wanna be bird friendly.You can get some for yourself at our website www.shop.mokajoe.com