A cup of coffee for the environment

All commercially grown crops come at a cost. Of forests which apart from being home to numerous flora and fauna are essential for the ecological well being of the region, being natural carbon sinks. So as farmers expend their farms, clear more forests to derive the benefits of growing on a large scale, it leaves many species of animals, birds and plants high and dry. It destroys the already fragile balance of nature. India being so dependent on seasonal monsoon rains, we can hardly afford to annoy the balance.

 

Given all the above facts, the one cash crop which can be environmentally inclusive is coffee. Coffee, a tropical region crop loves to grow in shade and that's exactly how it used to be grown till about 20 years ago till the human greed took over common sense and 'economies of scale' became a fad. To feed the greed and comply to the fad, more forests were cleared, sun-growing coffee variety was developed which needed chemical fertilizers to grow. Machines started to be used where earlier human labour was employed providing employment to the local populace. That's when things started to go haywire. Erratic weather, delayed and deficient monsoon, fluctuation in coffee prices, pest attacks etc.. all lead UN to band this crop as a 'disaster crop'. There were coffee crop related farmer suicides as well.

 

The solution to most of these problem lies in growing coffee the way it likes to grow. In shade. Coffee likes to grow with 2 layers of shade, a lower layer and an upper layer. The upper layer shade is provided by trees like jack fruit, silver oak, orange, rose wood, fig trees (& many more) with pruning done in the pre-blossoming period to let the required amount of sunshine through. The lower level shade is through a whole lot of spice plants like pepper, cardamom, vanilla etc. This grooms a variety of birds and animals, becomes a carbon sink in the region and requires almost no chemical fertilizers making the coffee and spices organic. Coffee grown like this imbibes the flavour of the shade trees and plants, providing variety in the taste.

 

Now for a little bit of compiled statistics, before I make an appeal and sign off the post.

India for 2011-12 was ranked 7th largest producer of coffee in the world accounting for just 4% of the world coffee production(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/India-slips-to-7th-spot-globally-in-coffee-production/articleshow/16637928.cms) behind a lot of other smaller countries. Coffee industry provides employment to more than 600,000 people in the country directly and indirectly to at least 3 times that number. As per statistics compiled by Coffee board of India 70% of the production is by farmers with small-holdings. We consume less than 1/3rd of the coffee grown and the rest is exported. (http://www.indiacoffee.org/indiacoffee.php?page=CoffeeData#area)

 

To quote the board, "Indian coffee is the most extraordinary of beverages, offering intriguing subtlety and stimulating intensity. India is the only country that grows all of its coffee under shade.(This is changing, but being a quasi government entity, it is yet to see the truth )Typically mild and not too acidic, these coffee possess an exotic full-bodied taste and a fine aroma" But Indian coffee is not very popular outside of the country and the local consumption patterns are such that it favours MNC's the likes of Nestle (Nescafe) and HUL(Bru) over the local brands.

 

I visited a departmental store today to check out my options. All I found stocked there was Nescafe, Bru, Tata and a few lesser known brands and not one of them had bothered to inform the consumer if the coffee was shade-grown and organic. So the next time you shop for coffee, prefer the local brands, if your departmental store doesn't stock it, step out and go to the local coffee powder dealer (He will roast and grind the coffee you want). And when you step into any of the coffee joints, ask them for shade-grown coffee. If they don't know what that is, let them find out and serve you that. You can make a difference with the choice you make and the questions you ask. For the joy a cup of coffee gives you, it is time you gave back something to nature which gave that coffee to you.