Three Reasons to Go Organic
There are probably a few dozen reasons that I could think of why people should go organic but I only get limited space here so I’ll just give you the top three reasons why I think that going organic is the thing to do.
Reason #1: Decrease the toxic load. The fact is that buying organic food as well as buying other “green” products makes the world less toxic for all living things, including but not limited to humans. Today there is only about ONE HALF OF ONE PERCENT of the land that is dedicated to agriculture that uses organic farming and ranching methods. If you do the math, that means that 99.5% of the land that is dedicated to agriculture does NOT use organic farming and ranching methods. That is one serious toxic load for the world to carry. We CAN do better, and the way that we will do better is if the consumer insists that the food that we eat be raised without the use of toxic pesticides, fertilizers, and drugs.
Reason #2: Reduce pollution. Have you ever thought about what happens to those toxic pesticides and fertilizers after they are used? They don’t evaporate into thin air. Some of the chemicals in them become airborne. They pollute the air of towns and cities miles away from where they were used. The ones that don’t become airborne are washed away when it rains, and the runoff goes into the streams and rivers that supply the drinking water for all of us.
Reason #3: Bring our kids into a cleaner world. Sadly, babies are now exposed to the toxic risk of pesticides, fertilizers, and drugs before they are even born. The “tolerance” levels that have been established for the use of these toxic substances are based upon adults – not tiny babies that haven’t even been born yet.
Caffeine Withdrawal Headache
Love your healthy organic coffee? Ever forget to drink coffee because you are too busy or for whatever reason? Did you feel irritable, unable to concentrate, experience stomach or joint pain and have a headache? If so you might have had a caffeine withdrawal headache. People drink one and a half eight ounce cups of coffee a day take in about 235 mg of caffeine. If someone with this coffee intake stops drinking coffee they may experience a caffeine withdrawal headache and other symptoms as quickly as 12 hours after their last cup. Research tells us that fifty percent of people who stop drinking coffee experience a caffeine withdrawal headache for around two days.
Saturdays When No One Makes Coffee
A friend of mine was a heavy coffee drinker who consumed about ten six ounce cups a day. He only drank coffee at work where someone made coffee in the break room five days a week. He worked Saturdays until mid-day and always left work complaining of a headache. When he arrived at work on Mondays he complained of a terrible headache all weekend. The complaining stopped by mid-morning. A reportedly thorough neurologic workup failed to reveal a reason for his headaches and my friend was pleased to find out that testing failed to show a brain tumor. Then a new employee came on the scene who was also a coffee drinker and who didn’t mind making coffee on Saturdays. The fact that my friend quit complaining about headaches upon leaving work on Saturdays led us to think about the coffee. Someone suggested to my friend that maybe he could have a cup of coffee, even instant, on Sundays, and the headaches went away. We drink coffee because we like it. Along the way regular and organic coffee antioxidants provide a wide range of health benefits such as a reduction of the incidence of Type II Diabetes. But what about the headaches when we neglect our favorite brew?
Research Shows
Medical researchers from Johns Hopkins and the University of Vermont Medical College studied what happens with abstinence after regular coffee intake. They looked at brain waves with EEG’s, blood flow in the brain with ultrasound, and symptoms as reported by test subjects. They published their results in the journal Psychopharmacology.
The results were as follows:
- Increased blood flow velocity in the brain
- EEG changes, an increased theta rhythm
- Increased complains of fatigue
So, it is apparent that symptoms of caffeine withdrawal are not imagined even if they are all in the head.
Does A Cup Of Coffee Help A Headache?
If you are suffering from a caffeine withdrawal headache a cup of coffee is, in fact, the treatment of choice. But other headaches also seem to be helped by adding caffeine to the remedy. Many over-the-counter and prescribed headache medications contain caffeine. The addition of caffeine appears to speed up absorption of the pain medication and seems to help reduce headaches as well. The next time that you have a headache, think back to when you last had a cup of coffee. If your last cup of Panama Mountain Grown Organic Coffee was more than twelve hours ago you may want to grind a few beans a make a cup.
Best Coffee Certification
What is the best coffee certification to look for when you want great coffee? What is the best coffee certification to look for if you want a product that has a low environmental footprint? What is the best certification to look for if you want coffee that was produced without child labor, dangerous working conditions, and a fair price paid to the coffee farmer and his family? With these thoughts in mind we consider USDA organic coffee, UTZ certified coffee, and Rainforest Alliance certified coffee.
USDA Certified
The United States Department of Agriculture, USDA, provides certification for foreign coffee growers. USDA organic coffee is subject to strict standards and organic coffee with USDA certification is reliably organic.
According to the USDA, the following applies to USDA organic coffee as well as to all organic food production. : “… Organic food is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations. Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation. Before a product can be labeled ‘organic,’ a Government-approved certifier inspects the farm where the food is grown to make sure the farmer is following all the rules necessary to meet USDA organic standards. Companies that handle or process organic food before it gets to your local supermarket or restaurant must be certified, too.” Organic coffee certification reliably gives you a safe and flavorful coffee.
USDA certification has to do with agricultural practices, sustainable agriculture, and the absence of unwanted residues in a cup of coffee. It says nothing about labor practices or a fair price for the coffee farmer.
UTZ Certification
UTZ certified coffee conforms to much of what is required of organic coffee and more. The UTZ label tells you that the coffee you are buying came from a coffee farm that employed sustainable agricultural practices, good environmental practices and efficient farm management. UTZ Certified coffee is 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
Rainforest Alliance certified coffee covers, like UTZ, a wider range of issues than whether a coffee is strictly organic in origin. The Rainforest Alliance is a non-governmental organization that works to conserve biodiversity. It does so for agricultural products by influencing consumers to buy what is good for the environment and good for small farmers. 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. In addition, strict health and safety requirements are part of getting Rainforest Alliance certified.
Which is the best coffee certification? Each of these certifications guarantees coffee that was produced with a minimum of environmental impact and a minimum of impurities in the coffee. USDA certification may be stricter when it comes to what is in the cup of coffee. However, both UTZ and the Rainforest Alliance are also concerned with a broader range of issues and will be the best coffee certification if child labor, fair pricing, and other issues are important in your choice of which coffee to buy.
The Truth about Organic Foods
There are those out there in the big bad world who would try to convince us that organically produced food is not a bit better or better for us than food that is produced by what is referred to as “traditional” farming and ranching methods. There is even one group that is out there trying to convince the world that organically produced food is actually detrimental to human health as well as to the health of the planet. Oh, PLEASE!
All food that is labeled “organic” isn’t, of course, actually really completely authentic. There are, however, rules and regulations that control how food can be legally labeled. When you see a food label that says “organic,” you can reasonably expect that the food has been raised without the use of chemical fertilizers, chemical pesticides, or drugs of any kind.
It is still difficult for a farm or ranch to be designated as “certified organic.” The process is long and it can get expensive. We don’t want to change or slacken those rules, but we can use some good old common sense – which, apparently, isn’t all that common.
You cannot tell the difference by looking at fresh fruit, vegetables, or meat whether it has been produced using organic farming and ranching techniques or not. But if it SAYS organic, then it most likely is organic.
Foods that are packaged without flavor enhancers or preservatives are also labeled as such. You can expect that foods that are labeled organic are produced using at least 70% organically produced products.
Sometimes the government does get it right. The truth-in-advertising laws are examples of the government getting it right. Only food that is produced on farms and ranches, that have met the requirements, and that have been certified can use the “certified organic” label. Still, whether the food is question is “certified organic” or just “organic,” it’s got to be a better choice!
Sustainable Coffee Production
Does sustainable coffee production mean that the coffee produced is healthy organic coffee? Organic coffee certification tells the consumer that their coffee was grown, harvested, processed, stored, and roasted in accordance with rules of the United States Department of Agriculture. But, does coffee need USDA certification to be organic coffee? The answer is obviously no. Many growers find the yearly $500 needed for USDA certification to be too expensive and many find that being certified does not bring them any more customers or customers who pay any better. Although organic coffee grown and certified by the USDA is the result of sustainable coffee production so is coffee that is UTZ certified or Rainforest Alliance certified.
Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Coffee Production
Rainforest Alliance is an NGOP that works to conserve biodiversity. They seek to convince buyers to purchase what is good for the environment and good for small farmers. Their certified coffees are produced using good land use practices. Certified coffee farms meet a strict set of environmental standards including ecosystem preservation and minimal use of synthetic chemicals. Rainforest Alliance and its partners work to increase and maintain sustainable agricultural practices. In addition, Rainforest Alliance works to convince consumers to buy Rainforest certified products and businesses to provide them.
UTZ Sustainable Coffee Production
The UTZ Certified label tells you that the coffee came from a farm that employed sustainable agricultural practices, good environmental practices and efficient farm management. UTZ Certified label is that UTZ Certified coffee is traced from grower to roaster. UTZ helps farmers reach its long term goals of good agricultural practices, safe and healthy working conditions, abolishment of child labor, and environmental protection by gradual steps. This allows a grower to sign up to get his coffee UTZ certified, learn what is necessary, and grow into the long term requirements of the program. Close tracking of all UTZ Certified products assures consumers of healthy organic coffee produced by these growers as well as of business practices beneficial to the preservation of small family owned coffee farms.
USDA Certified Organic Coffee
According to the USDA, the following applies to USDA organic coffee as well as to all organic food production.
Organic food is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations. Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation. Before a product can be labeled organic, a Government-approved certifier inspects the farm where the food is grown to make sure the farmer is following all the rules necessary to meet USDA organic standards. Companies that handle or process organic food before it gets to your local supermarket or restaurant must be certified, too.
All three labels noted above tell the consumer that his coffee was the result of sustainable coffee production. Whether the label says organic or not these coffees have minimum impurities and the same qualities that help reduce the risk of diabetes and various cancers.
The Pesticide Issue
Conventional farming uses a lot of toxic pesticides every year. It’s not just farmers, either. Toxic pesticides are used by groundskeepers for all of our nation’s city and municipal parks, and just the average city-dwelling home owner contributes to the problem by using pesticides on his lawn. There’s a LOT of toxic pesticides out there. Go look on the shelves at your local grocery store, hardware store, farm and garden store, or discount department store if you don’t believe me.
Have you ever read the list of ingredients on the can of spray that you use to dispatch roaches? Read it…if you can. Every day, more and more pesticides are being approved for use. It seems wise to look at the past for an indication of what the future might hold.
You’ve probably at least heard of the chemical DDT. The active compound was first discovered about 1936. By 1940 DDT was in use everywhere. It was hailed as a “miracle” pesticide. It killed all kinds of bugs on contact. It was even used during World War II to kill lice on war prisoners and on immigrants. DDT was some really good stuff, according to those who should have known. It took more than 20 years for those who should have known to figure out that DDT was deadly, all right – it was deadly to bugs, it was deadly to people, and it was deadly to the planet. DDT is no longer used today, but it WAS used for a long time with the blessings of the government.
Do you even wonder just a little bit what those who should know will discover about the chemicals that are used in pesticides today might be doing to us and to the earth? I do – I wonder, and I worry.
Rainforest Alliance Certified Coffee
An alternative to organic coffee certification is for a grower to be Rainforest Alliance certified. The Rainforest Alliance is a non-governmental organization that works to conserve biodiversity. It does so for agricultural products by influencing consumers to buy what is good for the environment and good for small farmers. Rainforest Alliance certified means that the coffee that you buy was produced using good land use practices. Rainforest Alliance certified coffee is part of a broader sustainable agriculture program of tropical crops, including coffee, bananas, cocoa, oranges, cut flowers, ferns, and tea. 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. In addition, strict health and safety requirements are part of getting Rainforest Alliance certified. The Rainforest Alliance works with the Sustainable Agriculture Network which is a group that includes conservation organizations in nine countries in Latin America. These organizations work to increase and maintain sustainable agricultural practices. On the other end of the coffee spectrum Rainforest Alliance works to convince consumers and to buy Rainforest certified products and works to have businesses buy from certified farmers and sell to the public.
Criteria to Become Rainforest Alliance Certified
The process of getting certified by Rainforest Alliance is similar to getting UTZ Certified. Growers start by achieving partial success and grow into the eventual requirements. Rainforest Alliance requires that coffee growers meet half of the criteria for any given area of concern to start with and meet eighty percent of requirements overall. These criteria include ecosystem preservation, safety of wild animals, watershed conservation, fair hiring and labor practices, appropriate safety measures for workers, and strict adherence to agrochemical use standards. An additional feature of this program is the prohibition of genetically modified crops.
Does Rainforest Alliance Certified Mean That Your Coffee is Organic Coffee?
To the extent that Rainforest Alliance certified means that your coffee was grown according to organic farming practices, yes, this is typically healthy organic coffee. However, organic coffee certification by the USDA is too expensive for many growers and they forego the process even while they produce organic coffee year after year. It is an all too common story throughout Central America and the coffee growing regions of Colombia that a grower pays his $500 a year to get Bio Latina organic coffee certification or certification by another agency on behalf of the USDA. The grower passes inspection and pays his dues every year. He does not change his farming practices as he has always produced organic coffee. However, he does not get any new buyers and he does not get any new buyers who pay more because his product now has organic certification. After a few years he quits paying the $500 a year as the extra expense was not a reasonable investment. Such a coffee farmer may well chose to be Rainforest Alliance certified or UTZ certified as in each case he believes that the certifying agency is helping him connect to the market for organic coffee and helping him sell his organic product at a price consistent with its increased value as organic coffee.
The Legal Definition of Organic Food
In order to be “certified organic,” products must be grown and manufactured in a way that abides by the standards set by the country they are sold in and those “standards” do vary from country to country.
When you see a label that says “certified organic,” that means that the way in which the food was grown and processed met the standards set by the government of the United States. You will see labels that simply say “organic.” This label doesn’t really mean very much unless you could know what country’s standards was used to produce the food. In many countries, the standards for organic products are considerably lower than they are in America.
In order for the products produced on a farm or ranch in the United States to be “certified organic,” the farm or ranch must have met some very, very tough standards. The farmer or rancher must also have paid some pretty substantial fees. It really isn’t quite as simple as it sounds.
Basically, from the point of view of the consumer, organic food means that the food was raised without using toxic fertilizers, pesticides, or drugs. You might think of the tomatoes that you grow in your backyard without the use of commercial fertilizers or pesticides are “organic,” and basically they are, but they don’t meet the standards set by the U.S. government to be “certified organic.”
I’m not telling you not to raise those “organic” vegetables in your backyard garden. Of course, you should. They won’t be covered with all kinds of harmful chemicals, and that is much better for you and your family. But if you want to set up a fruit stand on the corner and sell your overflow, you can say that the produce is organic – but you cannot say that it is “certified organic” because it isn’t.
The Cost of Organic Food
It’s an accepted fact that organic food costs more than food raised using conventional farming techniques. I’m not sure, however, that this additional cost is actually warranted. That doesn’t mean, though, that we won’t continue to pay more for food that is “certified organic.” We will.
The reason given for the higher price of organic food is that raising food using organic methods is more labor intensive and that there is less production per acre. Maybe. But I kind of think that prices are governed more by the supply vs. demand equation than any other factor.
If a miracle happened and the market was suddenly flooded with “certified organic” food, the price would drop like a rock. If there was more supply than demand, the price that could be charged would become much more competitive and would decrease. That’s just the way the world works.
Of course, that miracle isn’t likely to happen anytime in the foreseeable future. Only 2% of the land in the whole world is dedicated to producing food using organic farming and ranching techniques. More that 2% of the world’s population demands organic food, and the number is growing larger by the day.
But supply and demand is a one-way street. When demand increases, it’s a pretty good bet that supply is going to increase as well. When supply catches up or surpasses demand, organically grown food will get cheaper. That’s probably not going to happen anytime soon.
So, I pay more for organic food. I will continue to do so. The fact is, I’d rather give the money to the producers of the organic food than to give it to the doctors to try to cure me of whatever was caused by all that pesticide residue that’s on fruits and vegetables and heaven-knows-what kind of antibiotics and growth hormones are in meat and dairy products.
Cold Weather Threat Raises Coffee Prices
Expect to see the price of your cup of coffee raise dramatically if it freezes in Brazil where a third of the world’s coffee is produced. As cold weather raises coffee prices, North Americans may be surprised at the thought of a South American nation having genuine cold spells. But remember that if you go far enough south you get to the South Pole! The largest coffee growing region in Brazil is really two adjacent areas, Morgiana and Sul Minas. In both regions coffee is grown at elevation. This general region is in the South of Brazil. The equator passes through the north of Brazil. However, the southern tip of the country is as far south of the equator as Florida is north. Frost is an occasional risk to Florida orange growers and that is essentially at sea level. Now add the reduced temperature of higher altitude. Thus there is at, at times, a risk of frost in the largest coffee growing region of Brazil and when this happens, as it threatens to do now, the cold weather threat raises coffee prices. The concern of buyers is that coffee production will fall creating relative scarcity. Current coffee futures on the New York Commodities Exchange, NYMEX, are $1.44 a pound for July delivery and $1.50 for December delivery. The March 2015 delivery price is $1.59 a pound. The futures markets are expecting the price of coffee to go up.
Other Reasons for High Coffee Prices
Although Brazil produces a third of the coffee in the world, the combined nations of Central America plus Mexico and Brazil approach the production volume of Brazil. A major concern in this extended coffee growing region is coffee leaf rust. We discussed this problem as it relates to producing healthy organic coffee and noted that many organic growers may need to spray their plants and lose their certification in order to avoid being wiped out. However, even regular coffee growers run the risk of lower production and extensive crop damage even with the use of standard commercial measures to control the blight. As a cold weather threat raises coffee prices so does the risk of hard to control plant disease.
Demand as Well as Supply Drives Coffee Prices
A recent survey found that coffee consumption in the USA rose from 78 percent of adults last year to 83 percent this year. Although the USA is leading consumer of coffee it is nowhere near the top of the list in coffee consumed per capita. The USA ranks number 12 with 4.2 kilograms of coffee consumed per capita. The leaders are Finland at 12 kilos per capita, Norway at 9.9 kilos, Iceland at 9 kilos, Denmark at 8.7 kilos, and the Netherlands at 8.4 kilos per capita. The Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, and a dozen or more other nations all rank ahead of the USA in kilograms of coffee consumed every year per capita. More folks drinking more coffee every year drive up the price of coffee, especially as a cold weather threat raises coffee prices as well.