The Healthy Chemistry of Coffee
How many chemicals are there in a cup of coffee? The answer is: about 1,500! These chemicals are good for you as evidenced by the many health benefits of drinking coffee. The reason to drink healthy organic coffee is that as many as 133 contaminants may be in a cup of commercially available coffee. These contaminants include metals such as aluminum and zinc, pesticide residues, ochratoxin A, acrylamide, furan, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Some polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are found to cause cancer. Furans have been associated with skin disorders, liver problems, certain kinds of cancers, impairment to the reproductive, endocrine, and immune system, as well as effects on embryonic development. This is according to a study by the Australian Food Standards Authority. The good part about organic coffee is that it is free of herbicides, insecticides, fungicides and synthetic fertilizers that are the bad chemistry of coffee. The healthy chemistry of coffee comes for the caffeine and antioxidants. Here is a bit of info about the healthy chemistry of coffee.
The Healthy Chemistry of Coffee
This is too small a space to list all of the useful and healthy chemicals in coffee. Rather here is a list of the chemical groups into which these 1,500 chemicals fall.
|
Group
|
Number of Chemicals |
| Aliphatic compounds | 150 |
| Carbonyl compounds | 56 |
| Sulfur containing compounds | 9 |
| Alicyclic compounds | 20 |
| Ketones | 10 |
| Aromatic benzenoid compounds | 60 |
| Phenols | 16 |
| Heterocyclic compounds | 300 |
| Furans | 74 |
| Hydrofurans | 10 |
| Pyrroles | 37 |
| Pyridines | 9 |
| Quinolines | 2 |
| Pyrazines | 70 |
| Quinoxalines | 10 |
| Indoles | 3 |
| Thiophens | 23 |
| Thiophenones | 3 |
| Thiazoles | 28 |
| Oxazole | 28 |
And coffee contains caffeine. This is the chemical responsible for the morning wakeup effect of coffee. It also enhances performance when a person is fatigued and maintains attention spans when we get bored. In addition caffeine helps prevent cirrhosis of the liver and reduces the likelihood of getting Parkinson’s disease or developing kidney stones.
Antioxidants Are Good for You
As we already noted by drinking organic coffee you avoid the occasional bad chemical in coffee. The healthy chemistry of coffee revolves around the caffeine and the antioxidants in coffee. So drink organic coffee and get organic coffee antioxidants. An antioxidant is a molecule that inhibits the cell damage and cell death in human cells caused by oxidative breakdown of other molecule in the cell. Oxidation is a factor in sickness and aging. Antioxidants help prevent the damage caused by excessive oxidation and to a degree inhibit the aging process. When an oxidative reaction brought on by disease gets going it produces free radicals that start chain reactions which in turn cause cell and tissue damage. The human body has or uses antioxidants to control this situation. Natural means of controlling oxidation include vitamins C and E as well as glutathione. It is low levels of antioxidants that can lead to a condition referred to as oxidative stress and resultant damage to cells in the body. Organic coffee antioxidants are in the same class of molecules that help reduce oxidation. Enjoy the your organic coffee and take advantage of the healthy chemistry of coffee.
Panama Gourmet Coffee
We often mention Panama mountain grown organic coffee on this web page. We also note that there are a lot of small coffee growers who use sustainable agricultural practices who do not seek USDA organic coffee certification or certification by other agencies such as UTZ or Rainforest Alliance. There are several producers of Panama gourmet coffee whose products can be hard to obtain. Part of this is because they do not produce a lot and part of the problem getting Panama gourmet coffee is having someone pick up the coffee and send it from Panama.
Panama Gourmet Coffee - Volcan Baru
Panama Gourmet Coffee #1: Cafés de la Luna
This coffee is grown on a reclaimed seven acre coffee farm in the highlands of western Panama. The volcanic soil, high altitude and overcast weather favors some of the best coffee in the world. The Dos Jefes farm where this coffee was grown has been in operation since 2004 and aims for healthy, natural and flavorful coffee.
Panama Gourmet Coffee #2: Hartman Estate Coffee
This shade grown and bird friendly coffee is likewise grown in western Panama in volcanic soil. The cloudy weather and forested habitat result in growing coffee in the shade and a fine gourmet coffee. The farm boasts of having seen 273 species of birds on their coffee farm. As a point of reference 904 bird species have been seen in Panama and the entire USA has 888 bird species.
Panama Gourmet Coffee #3: Finca Lerida
This Panama natural coffee producer is one of oldest continually operated coffee farms in Panama. Finca Lerida exported coffee to Germany in 1929! This is another producer of high quality coffee in small amount in the highlands of western Panama.
Panama Gourmet Coffee #4: Hacienda Fennario
Premium gourmet coffee from Hacienda Fennario is “naturally cultivated without pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers. It is estate grown, harvested by hand and roasted in small batches.”
Panama Gourmet Coffee #5: Bajareque
This producer of Elida Estate coffees grows coffee at high altitude adjacent to the Volcan Baru National Park. This park surrounds the extinct 11,000 foot volcano that is responsible for the volcanic soil in the region. The grower describes their coffee as having a hint of rich chocolate with floral top notes and dynamic complexity. This is another coffee that grows in the cool and shade of the mountains of Panama where birds thrive.
Getting Panama Gourmet Coffee
You can come to Panama and look for these coffees but they are not widely available. You can fly to Panama and go to Boquete in the highland of Chiriquí province and have better luck by seeking out the individual coffee farms in the area. Or you can contact us at Buy Organic Coffee and ask us to pick up a bag or two and simply send them by Panama to USA or Panama to anywhere mail. From our experience it takes between seven and ten days a rule for a bag of coffee mailed from Panama to arrive in San Francisco, Houston, Minneapolis or upper New York State. If you are interested in individual bags of Panama gourmet coffee or larger quantities of wholesale organic coffee from the Cafetero in Colombia contact us today.
Environmental Impact of Sun Cultivated Coffee
Traditional coffee farms grow coffee in the shade. The plants are interspersed under a forest canopy, typically in a cloudy mountain habitat. There is no need for synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides or fungicides in such a sustainable habitat. The result is organic shade grown coffee whether it is certified or not. But, the increased demand for coffee has resulted in the production of sun cultivated coffee. New strains have been developed that are more sun tolerant. Coffee plants are spaced very close together to increase production. But, the bunching of a lot of coffee plants together increases the incidence of insect and fungal infestations like coffee leaf rust. The environmental impact of sun cultivated coffee therefore includes deforestation and the environmental impact of sun cultivated coffee includes pollution of the soil and water table with harmful chemicals. You can drink healthy organic coffee and help the world avoid the environmental impact of sun cultivated coffee or go ahead and ignore the situation. If you want to do the right thing, what is the next step?
The Best Organic Coffee Provides Bird Habitat
The Power of the Consumer
If no one buys sun cultivated coffee they will quit producing it. And if people insist on certified organic coffee they will produce more and thereby reduce the environmental impact of sun cultivated coffee. What are the certifications to look for? Look for the USDA, UTZ or Rainforest Alliance seals when you buy coffee.
USDA Certified
When coffee is certified organic by the USDA we know that sustainable agricultural practices were used and that the product is in all likelihood not sun cultivated. It is free of many of the pesticide, herbicide, and synthetic fertilizer residues that can be found coffee grown in crowded fields in direct sun.
USDA Organic Coffee Certification
UTZ Certified
The UTZ label indicates that the coffee comes from a coffee farm that employs sustainable agricultural practices, good environmental practices and efficient farm management. According to the UTZ web site:
UTZ Certified stands for sustainable farming and better opportunities for farmers, their families and our planet. The UTZ program enables farmers to learn better farming methods, improve working conditions and take better care of their children and the environment. Through the UTZ-program farmers grow better crops, generate more income and create better opportunities while safeguarding the environment and securing the earth’s natural resources.
UTZ Organic Shafe Grown Coffee
Rainforest Alliance Certified Coffee
The Rainforest Alliance is an NGA that works to preserve biodiversity. It does so for agricultural products by convincing people to buy environmentally friendly coffees and other produce. Rainforest Alliance certified indicates good land use practices. Certified coffee farms meet a strict set of environmental standards that include preservation of the ecosystem and reduction in use of synthetic chemicals of all sorts.
Rainforest Alliance Organic Shade Grown Coffee
Not Certified But Environmentally Friendly
There are a lot of small coffee farmers who use strictly organic sustainable practices in growing, harvesting, processing and storing their coffee. The problem is that they do not make enough money to pay for certification. One of our goals at Buy Organic Coffee is to find buyers for these folks who avoid the environmental impact of sun cultivated coffee. If you are interested in organic coffee in small or large quantities from such growers contact us at Buy Organic Coffee.
Best Cup of Organic Coffee
As we come to the end of the soccer (futbol) world cup a few comparisons about coffee come to mind. First and foremost is the question of where to find the best cup of organic coffee in the world. There are certainly organic coffee competitions and a few years back a Panama Mountain Grown Organic Coffee won the prize. But sometimes a given organic coffee is a sleeper. It does not compete on the world stage but rather in its own back yard. For a year or so I was convinced that the best cup of organic coffee could be had at the Juan Valdez coffee shop in the Eldorado air terminal in Bogotá. Then I tasted the organic coffee made by several other producers in the Colombian Eje Cafetero (coffee growing axis) and decided that Señor Valdez did not have a lock on the best cup of organic coffee in the world. Certainly Brazil produces more coffee than anyone else in the world but maybe, like their monumental loss to Germany, they have lost or never had a lock on the best cup of organic coffee in the world. As you can tell our preference is for the organic coffee from Panama when you can find it and the more bountiful supply of Colombian organic coffee brands.
Organic Coffee Colombia
How to Decide on the Best Cup of Organic Coffee
I distrust coffee tasting competitions. For one thing when someone sets up a competition in their own back yard the whole thing is too easily rigged so that the home town favorite wins. And, tastes legitimately vary. If you really like a dark roast versus a light roast you might miss out on some aspects of an organic coffee that really shines when roasted lightly instead of burned to a crisp. As such the best cup of organic coffee for me might not be the best cup of organic coffee for you. In the end you need to taste test a variety of organic coffees. This is why we at Buy Organic Coffee are happy to send you a few samples to choose from.
Roasted Organic Coffee Beans
Organic In Reality If Not in Certification
I recently had a chat with one of the producers of organic coffee in Panama. His coffee farm is near Boquete, Panama where they have been growing coffee by sustainable means for a century. He reiterated his story about paying $500 a year for Bio Latina certification only to find out that he did not have to change his farming practices and that he did not profit from the experience. He always sold out his crop and did not find any buyers willing to pay higher prices. So he still grows his great organic coffee the way he always has but without the USDA sticker on the bag. In this regard, as well if you are looking for the best cup of organic coffee from Colombia or Panama, check in with the folks who deal locally and know where folks produce organic coffee by sustainable means even when they do not bother to change their label.
The Best Organic Coffee Provides Bird Habitat
Does Coffee Make Sex Better?
Does coffee make sex better? Interestingly scientific research shows that coffee can lead to sexual arousal in females. Studies of sixtyish men and women show that coffee drinking women have sex more frequently and coffee drinking men have higher potency. A common sense finding is that coffee gives you a physical and mental boost that can carry over into more energy when making love. We posed the question last week, does coffee improve athletic performance. It turns that coffee does help. So, if your sex is of the athletic variety so much the better! And, better health is commonly synonymous with better sex. Both regular and healthy organic coffees have lots of health benefits.
Does Coffee Make Sex Better?
Coffee, Diabetes and Sex
Routine coffee drinkers have a lower incidence of Type II diabetes than folks who do not drink coffee. One of the effects of having Type II diabetes is sexual dysfunction. Does coffee make sex better? It does if it reduces the chances of getting a disease that makes sex worse or even nonexistent in your life.
Coffee, Prostate Cancer and Sex
Routine coffee consumption reduces the risk of cancer of the prostate. Surgery for prostate cancer commonly leads to impotency. Does coffee make sex better? It does if it helps you avoid having a surgery that makes you impotent!
Coffee, Alzheimer’s disease and Sex
Coffee drinkers appear to have a reduced risk of memory loss in later life. If your mate is a coffee drinker he or she is less likely to forget who you are which would seem to improve your odds of having sex this evening.
Healthy Life and Healthy Sex
Staying healthy is a key factor in having a healthy sex life. There are a whole host of benefits of drinking coffee from reduction of cancer risk to less diabetes to less depression. In short, drinking coffee along with a healthy diet and regular exercise would seem to lead to good health and good health is commonly a prerequisite for frequent and satisfying sex.
The Social Aspect of Coffee
How about getting together for a cup of coffee? This is a nonthreatening way to start to know someone. Taking a coffee break gets us away from many of the annoyances of the work a day world. Even for old married couples taking a break to sit down at the kitchen table for a cup of coffee and a chat can lead to a follow up session in the bedroom. Does coffee make sex better? It seems to help performance in men and desire in women. Coffee perks us up and makes us present to the world and to those whom we love. Coffee helps prevent a lot of diseases which in turn make sex difficult or impossible. So, do not overdo it as you probably do not need a dozen cups a day and if there is an issue which you should discuss with your doctor please do that. So, get out the organic whole bean coffee, grind just enough to brew and make a couple of cups of coffee and sit down to chat with someone near and dear to you.
Does Irish Coffee Make Sex Better?
Does Coffee Enhance Athletic Performance?
If you are a morning jogger, weekend soccer player or weight lifter does coffee enhance athletic performance? Does it cause problems? Is there any prohibition to the use of coffee as a stimulant in organized sports? The last question is the easiest to answer. Coffee is considered a food or beverage and its use is not restricted in organized sports. But, will coffee give you the jitters just when you want to calm down? And will coffee give you that extra boost as you approach the end of your run? Is it better for an athlete to drink healthy organic coffee to avoid the impurities often found in regular coffee? Here are a few facts and few thoughts on the question, does coffee enhance athletic performance?
Does Coffee Enhance Athletic Performance?
What Does Coffee Do for the Athlete?
We know that coffee wakes you up if you are sleepy. This is probably more important in in interactive sports like tennis, soccer, basketball, etc. where it is important to pay attention no matter how tired you are. But, how does coffee enhance athletic performance in sports like long distance running or weight lifting? Here is the Cliff Notes version.
- Via a series of chemical regulatory pathways in the human body the caffeine in coffee affects the regulation of glycogen, sugars and lipid metabolism and stimulates the release of adrenaline.
- Coffee can be effective to enhance performance when ingested as close as fifteen minutes before exercise or competition although an hour before is ideal to insure complete absorption and initiation of the regulatory pathways the help coffee enhance athletic performance.
- Coffee is effective in enhancing athletic performance in moderate amounts, three to six milligrams per kilogram of body weight and larger amounts do not appear to help.
- An eight ounce cup of brewed coffee contains from 100 to 200 milligrams of caffeine.
- A 154 pound runner weighs 70 kilograms.
- Since three milligrams per kilogram times seventy kilograms comes to just over 210 milligrams it turns out that one stiff cup of coffee taken within an hour of performance will likely enhance athletic performance.
- Two cups may be better but three will be a waste of time.
Caffeine and Athletic Performance
Thus drinking coffee increases adrenaline. Adrenaline increase heart rate and blood flow, increases blood flow specifically to the brain and helps improve short term speed and endurance. Scientifically, the caffeine in coffee is an ergogenic aid for sustaining a high degree of effort over the short term. And coffee only lasts just so long and then the body metabolizes and excretes it. Typically half of the caffeine that you ingest at 7 am is gone by 1 pm (a six hour half-life). If our hypothetical 154 pound runner drinks two cups of coffee and gets 400 milligrams into his system he will still have 200 milligrams six hours later. This is plenty of time for a slow marathon runner to complete the course or for someone to complete a soccer match. Besides the other good health effects of drinking coffee, you may play a better tennis match or score more goals in soccer as coffee enhances athletic performance.
Does Coffee Enhance Athletic Performance?
Weightlifting
There is no compelling scientific evidence that drinking coffee enhances athletic performance in power sports like weightlifting. There is likely no increase in muscle mass with drinking coffee. To the extent that a weight lifter or any athlete wants to stay generally healthy and avoid bad things in their diet, regular and organic coffee antioxidants are a good choice. These substances are known to have a whole host of good effects such reducing the risk of diabetes and various forms of cancer. You may be healthier from drinking organic coffee but you will probably not be able to lift heavier weights.
Irish Coffee
Antioxidant Rich Diet
Stay healthy with an antioxidant rich diet. Antioxidants are substances found in healthy organic coffee and other foods. They help reduce the incidence of Type II Diabetes, many forms of cancer, depression and diseases as diverse as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Although there are foods and beverages that contain higher concentrations of antioxidants, coffee is the leading source of these helpful substances simply because people drink a lot of coffee. Here is some recent information regarding better health with an antioxidant rich diet.
Antioxidants and Blood Sugar
We knew that regular and organic coffee antioxidants help reduce the risk of diabetes but now it is clear that an antioxidant rich diet can lower blood sugar. The antioxidants involved are polyphenols and are found in large quantities in the following foods and drinks. The following is a partial list from the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Identification of the 100 richest dietary sources of polyphenols: an application of the Phenol-Explorer database.
| Food or Drink | Polyphenol Content as mg/100g |
| Cloves | 15,188 |
| Dried peppermint | 11,960 |
| Star anise | 5,460 |
| Cocoa powder | 3448 |
| Dried Mexican oregano | 2319 |
| Celery seed | 2094 |
| Black chokecherry | 1756 |
| Dark Chocolate | 1664 |
| Flaxseed meal | 1528 |
| Black elderberry | 1359 |
| Chestnut | 1215 |
| Dried common sage, rosemary, spearmint and thyme | 1207-878 |
| Lowbush blueberry | 836 |
| Black Olive | 569 |
| Green Olive | 346 |
| Coffee | 214 |
| Almonds | 187 |
| Red Wine | 101 |
| Green tea | 87 |
As is apparent from the table, there are food sources that extremely rich in polyphenols and can help contribute to an antioxidant rich diet. As a practical matter you are probably not going to eat large quantities of cloves, dried peppermint or star anise. But you may use cocoa powder in cooking or to make hot chocolate. Dark chocolate comes in high on the list but sage and the other seasonings are commonly not eaten in great quantities. Coffee has about a seventieth the concentration of polyphenols as cloves but one is certainly likely to consume much greater than seventy times as much coffee in a day, week, month or year than cloves.
Practical Steps for an Antioxidant Rich Diet
A practical approach is to add enough antioxidants to your diet to make a difference. This has to be done on a daily basis and has to be realistic. Olives and olive oil can be used for cooking and on salads every day. A cup of hot cocoa can be a routine part of a diet as can two, three or four cups of coffee every day. Cloves, oregano and seasonings such as thyme, sage and rosemary all are great sources for an antioxidant rich diet and can routinely be used in cooking. But quantity is important. That is where coffee, tea, cocoa and olives or olive oil are essential for an antioxidant rich diet.
Coffee, Coffee, Coffee
Study after study has shown that daily consumption of antioxidant rich coffee is beneficial to your health. Healthy coffees such as the many Colombian organic coffee brands are great antioxidant sources and great tasting as well. For help finding the organic coffee that you like contact us at Buy Organic Coffee today.
Coffee Flavored Electronic Cigarettes
Here is a scary idea, coffee flavored electronic cigarettes! The point of our writing about healthy organic coffee is that coffee is generally good for you and organic coffee is free of many of the impurities that can creep into regular coffee. Now we understand that having a cigarette after a morning cup of coffee is still a routine for some folks. And we understand that many folks are trying to stop smoking and go the route of electronic cigarettes. But, PLEASE, give us a break! Coffee flavored electronic cigarettes???
Give Up Tobacco and Not Coffee
A friend of ours is trying, again, to quit smoking. She beat the habit for more than a decade but says that on a Saturday morning at home when she put down her cup of Panama mountain grown organic coffee that she still reached for her pack of cigarettes after a decade of not smoking. Then at a social event she was offered a cigarette and the next thing she knew she was up to a pack a day. So, our friend looked into electronic cigarettes as a way to wean herself off the habit and reduce her intake of carcinogens along the way. Now she tells us that electronic cigarette makers are offering all sorts of flavors to go with the nicotine cartridge that you put in the electronic cigarettes. There are tobacco flavors and menthol flavors, tea flavors and grape flavors, cherry, chocolate milk and cola flavors. But, now they are offering a coffee flavor. I beg your pardon!!! The whole idea of quitting tobacco smoking is healthy but you do not need or want to quit your coffee at the same time! Coffee is good for you. Keep repeating that.
Coffee, Not Coffee Flavored
A good reason for drinking organic coffee is the organic coffee antioxidants in the coffee. These chemicals have great health benefits including the reduction of various forms of cancer, Type II diabetes, depression, Alzheimer’s disease, etc. You do not get any of these benefits from the coffee flavored electronic cigarettes. In fact where is the organic part of all this? You can buy organic tobacco for ceremonial use but no one is claiming that the nicotine or flavoring in coffee flavored electronic cigarettes is organic.
Stick with Your Organic Coffee and Stop Smoking
Smoking is bad for you. Coffee is good for you. If you need help in quitting smoking and electronic cigarettes work for you go for it. But, PLEASE, do not mistake the fake flavor of coffee flavored electronic cigarettes for the rich flavor and aroma of Colombian brands of organic coffee. That is just WRONG! We wrote recently about three good reasons to drink coffee. Coffee reduces the incidence of several bad diseases and it perks you up. In fact it reduces the incidence of depression. Get rid of you coffee flavored electronic cigarettes and drink real healthy organic coffee. Realize the benefits of coffee consumption while you wean yourself off your tobacco habit.
Three Good Reasons to Drink Coffee
There are three good reasons to drink coffee. Coffee wakes you up and puts you in touch with the world. Coffee contains antioxidants that help prevent various forms of cancer and even Type II Diabetes. And coffee helps prevent depression, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and more. These three good reasons to drink coffee come on top of the fact that a great cup of healthy organic coffee tastes great. We at Buy Organic Coffee typically write about the benefits of coffee grown under sustainable conditions and delivered to you without many unnecessary impurities. But, today our focus is on coffee in general, and three good reasons to drink coffee.
Coffee, Diabetes and Cancer
Quite a while back we wrote about how more coffee can lead to less diabetes. Drinking organic coffee reduces the incidence of Type II diabetes, the type that affects 95% of people with the disease. Researchers have found that women who drink at least four cups of coffee a day have less than half the incidence of Type II diabetes as women who do not drink coffee. The American Diabetes Association says that nearly 24 million Americans have diabetes of which more than 9 in 10 have the Type II variety. That comes to about 22 million people with Type 2 diabetes. The fact that more coffee can lead to less diabetes could be a significant issue in US public health. Drink four cups or more a day and you can expect to reduce your chances of getting this type of diabetes by half. And, you can avoid cancer by drinking coffee. Cancers of the prostate, endometrium, colon, liver and skin all appear to be reduced in incidence in coffee drinkers. Browse our site for articles about this issue.
Other Disease That Coffee Helps You Avoid
Studies of large populations over many years show us that coffee drinkers typically have lower incidences of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, depression, and suicide. In some cases it is the caffeine in coffee that helps and in some cases antioxidants in coffee are responsible for the beneficial health effects. Either way there several bad diseases and conditions that are less prevalent in coffee drinkers.
Drink Coffee Because You Like To
If drinking coffee were just about the health issues our three good reasons to drink coffee would be about three good reasons to take a pill with coffee extract in it. Coffee is a great morning wake up drink. And coffee is a social drink. We meet friends for a cup of coffee. Whether you like coffee from Sumatra or Colombian organic coffee brands, Panama Mountain Grown organic coffee or Kona coffee from Hawaii, coffee is not only good for you but an enjoyable experience. Make sure to buy freshly roasted coffee beans and grind just enough for the amount of coffee that you want to make. Or, if you like, buy green coffee beans and roast enough for the week. If you want the taste of a great cup of coffee avoid letting ground coffee sit on the shelf above the stove where it loses its flavor and its therapeutic value. The three good reasons to drink coffee do depend to a degree on the coffee being fresh!
Environmentally Friendly Coffees
In general environmentally friendly coffees are organic brands of coffee. Organic coffee is grown using sustainable agricultural practices. Environmentally friendly coffees are grown without resorting to herbicides, insecticides, fungicides or synthetic fertilizers. Drink healthy organic coffee and avoid the more than one hundred impurities that can be found in a cup of regular coffee. To be sure that you are buying environmentally friendly coffees look for a certification seal on the package. There are three that you can trust when looking for environmentally friendly coffees. These are the USDA seal of the United States Department of Agriculture, the UTZ seal of certification and the seal of the Rainforest Alliance.
USDA Certified Coffee
When coffee is certified organic by the USDA we know that sustainable agricultural practices were used and that the organic coffee is free of many of the pesticide, herbicide, and synthetic fertilizer residues that can be found in regular coffee products. However, USDA organic coffee certification has primarily to do with supporting sustainable agricultural practices while delivering a healthier cup of coffee to your breakfast table. But the USDA does not concern itself with an issue critical to the small organic coffee farmer, finding buyers for their organic crop.
UTZ Certified Coffee
The UTZ label tells you that the bag of coffee comes from a coffee farm that employes sustainable agricultural practices, good environmental practices and efficient farm management. Environmentally friendly coffees with the UTZ label are traced from grower to roaster. UTZ certified coffee is sold in North America, Europe, and Japan, in nearly fifty nations. According to UTZ,
UTZ Certified stands for sustainable farming and better opportunities for farmers, their families and our planet. The UTZ program enables farmers to learn better farming methods, improve working conditions and take better care of their children and the environment. Through the UTZ-program farmers grow better crops, generate more income and create better opportunities while safeguarding the environment and securing the earth’s natural resources.
Rainforest Alliance Certified Coffee
The Rainforest Alliance is a non-governmental organization working to preserve biodiversity. It does so for agricultural products by influencing consumers to buy environmentally friendly coffees and other produce such as bananas, cocoa, oranges, cut flowers, ferns, and tea. Rainforest Alliance certified means that the coffee that you buy was produced using good land use practices. Certified coffee farms meet a strict set of environmental standards that include preservation of the ecosystem and reduction in use of synthetic chemicals of all sorts. Like UTZ, Rainforest Alliance helps small organic coffee growers find buyers for their environmentally friendly coffees.
Environmentally Friendly but Not Certified
There are, unfortunately, many small coffee farmers who abide by strictly organic sustainable practices in growing, harvesting, processing and storing their coffee and end up selling their product locally. This is because they cannot find buyers for their coffee. One of our goals at Buy Organic Coffee is to find buyers of wholesale organic coffee who are interested in connecting with small coffee farmers, especially in Colombia and Panama. If you are interested in organic coffee in small or large quantities and especially if you would like to work with us to connect small organic coffee growers to the wider market contact Buy Organic Coffee today.