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.
The Bright Future for Organic Food
It’s been a long time coming, but this year more organic food will be produced than any year to date! It isn’t difficult to see why we are beginning to win this war. It all comes down to money – the almighty dollar. It’s simply becoming more profitable to farm and ranch using organic methods than it is to farm or ranch using conventional methods.
Farmers and ranchers can add and subtract. The fact is that those chemical fertilizers that they put on their crops cost money. (Fertilizer from compost piles is free, and so is the fertilizer from organically fed animal waste.) Those toxic pesticides cost money, too. (The good bugs that eat the bad bugs are free, too.) There’s a cheaper way, and that way is by using organic methods. Farmers and ranchers have discovered what we’ve been “preaching” for years – the land will stay more fertile, and it will produce more and better crops, if natural products are used.
Then there’s the little fact that those farmers and ranchers can get more money for organically produced food than they can for food that is produced using conventional methods. I told you they could add and subtract.
It is still difficult and costly for farms and ranches to be “certified” organic by the government. We don’t want the standards to be relaxed, but we are working toward making the process of being certified a little simpler and a little less costly.
Meanwhile, we can celebrate. There will be more organic food produced on more farms and ranches worldwide this year than there was last year. We believe that there will be more produced next year than this year. The future for organic food is indeed bright and getting brighter all the time.
Lose Weight with Green Coffee Beans
A recent study reports that a group of overweight volunteers lost a significant amount of weight by taking a gram of green coffee bean extract daily for five months. Without any change to their diets or exercise regimen the volunteers were able to lose weight with green coffee beans as the only addition to their lives. Researchers reported that there were no unwanted side effects such as elevation of blood pressure or heart rate in the study volunteers. On the average each person lost ten pounds. Evidence of weight loss with green coffee beans is just one more fact added to the list of benefits of regular and healthy organic coffee.
Health Benefits of Coffee
For some time we have known that antioxidants in black organic coffee and regular coffee can reduce the cell damage that occurs with aging and retard the damage of atherosclerosis related inflammation. Drinking coffee appears to reduce the incidences of various cancers and cut the incidence of Type II diabetes in half. Now we see that you can also lose weight with green coffee beans. Here are a couple of snapshots of the health benefits of coffee
More Organic Coffee Can Lead to Less Diabetes
More organic 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. This has been known for some years but until recently no one really knew why. Now researchers at UCLA have found what may be the reason. It turns out that there is a protein called sex hormone-binding globulin. Its normal job is to regulate sex hormone activity in the human body. Researchers have long suspected that the same hormone has an effect on the development of Type II diabetes. How does organic coffee come into the picture? Drinking coffee increases the body’s levels of sex hormone-binding globulin. The end result is that steady coffee consumption over the years cuts the risk of this disease in half.
Drinking Organic Coffee Reduces Prostatic Cancer Risk
Recently released research reveals that drinking organic coffee reduces prostate cancer risk. In a just published study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute shows that 47,911 men were followed from 1986 to 2006. During that time 5,035 developed prostate cancer including 642 cases of lethal prostate cancer, fatal or metastatic. Researchers compared men who drank six or more cups of coffee a day to those who did not drink coffee. The incidence of total prostate cancers per 100,000 person-years was 425 for the six a day coffee drinkers and 519 for those who did not drink coffee. The comparison for lethal cancers per 100,000 person years was 34 to 79. This study noted that the data applies to all coffee, including decaf. Thus drinking organic coffee reduces prostate cancer. Those drinking six or more cups a day had a nearly twenty percent reduction in risk of getting any form of prostate cancer. The same coffee drinkers had a 57% reduction in their risk of developing a lethal prostate cancer! Prior to seeing the results researchers believed that drinking coffee in general and drinking organic coffee reduces prostate cancer risk. This assumption was based on the fact that coffee contains caffeine as well as phenolic acids, the scientific term for organic coffee antioxidants. Similar results are seen for liver cancer, endometrial cancer, and possible colon cancer. Lose weight with green coffee beans and improve your chances of avoiding a whole host of bad diseases with a few cups of coffee every day.
The Benefits of Eating Organic
How would you like to be healthier tomorrow than you are today and do nothing more dramatic than change where and from whom you purchase the food you eat? The obvious answer is, “tell me how.”
Changing eating habits, whether the objective is to lose weight or for other health advantages, is usually a painful process. You must “give up” something that you like in order to achieve whatever results you are seeking. The fact is, though, that it really is possible to gain a great many health benefits by doing nothing more than changing where and from whom you purchase you groceries.
It is absolutely true that foods produced using organic methods cost more than foods produced using conventional methods. There’s no doubt about it, and I’m not arguing that fact. But wouldn’t you rather pay a little more for the food that you eat than pay the doctor to treat you because the food you ate was loaded with toxic substances? The old saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” applies here.
Organically grown produce has much more trace minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants in it than conventionally grown produce. That fact is not in dispute by anybody. Not only is organically grown produce better for you, but it doesn’t pose the dangers posed by conventionally grown produce, either. There are no toxic chemicals in or on organic produce – NONE! On conventionally raised produce, however, there are lots of chemicals that Mother Nature never meant for human consumption. Oh, the government sets “guidelines.” The levels of these toxins must be at or below a specific level that somebody somewhere deemed safe.
Do you know what’s in that beef you’re eating? I mean besides beef. There are antibiotics and growth hormones in it if it was raised using conventional ranching methods. There are none of those unhealthy substances in beef that was raised using organic methods, and that goes for chicken and all of the products that come from animals – cheese, cream, eggs, etc.
Yes indeed! There are many, many benefits from eating organic!
Should Children Eat Organic?
Should children eat organic? That really seems to be a silly question if you have even a few of the facts concerning the toxins that are in nonorganically produced food. The first area of concern is that the “safe” level of certain chemicals in our food supply is based entirely upon what is considered “safe” for a human adult. There are simply no guidelines available for what is “safe” for children.
There aren’t many parents out there that would deliberately allow their children to be exposed to, say, cigarette smoke. Why? The reason is because the parents know that cigarette smoke is harmful to the child’s health. These same parents wouldn’t dream of letting their kids wade in a drainage ditch for the same reason. And yet, these very same parents who are really concerned about protecting their children’s health will buy fruits and vegetables that have been raised using some of the most toxic substances on earth. They will buy and serve meats that have been produced using antibiotics and growth hormones. It’s mind-boggling.
There is absolutely no doubt whatsoever that when children eat food that has not been produced using organic methods, they are exposed to hundreds of times more toxic chemicals than those children who eat organically produced food.
Most of the tests that were done by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set acceptable risk levels for pesticide residues on fruits and vegetables were done using 154-pound adult men, not 40-pound preschoolers or 10-pound infants.
Dozens, maybe hundreds or thousands of tests have been done, and they all confirm that children who eat organic food have lower levels of toxins in their systems than children who do not eat organic. So the answer is, YES, children should eat organic – no question about it!
Decaf Coffee Risk
Many choose to drink decaf coffee in order to avoid the stimulus of caffeine. Many may still be concerned about high blood pressure, although it has been shown than regular coffee and healthy organic coffee of the regular kind do not raise blood pressure in the long run. The concern today with a decaf coffee risk is that decaf coffee contains greater of two substances which are known to elevate cholesterol. Although kahweol and cafestol are both removed by coffee filters, not everyone uses a paper filter when brewing coffee. (Think French Press or the cloth bag used in many Latin American households through which boiling water is poured over ground coffee.) The two substances, kahweol and cafestol, are diterpenes, and they have been found to raise low density cholesterol and triglycerides by as much as twenty percent. The flip side of this concern is that the two substances also seem to have anti-cancer properties. Considering that coffee consumption is known to reduce the risk of liver, prostate, colon, and endometrial cancer, it cannot be all bad. So, is there decaf coffee risk with higher cholesterol levels? There is no long term risk that we know of for increased heart disease with regular or decaf coffee.
Losing the Benefits of Caffeine
While regular and organic coffee antioxidants are known to be beneficial, it appears that caffeine itself brings about a number of positive health effects for coffee drinkers. The issue for coffee drinkers may not so much be one of avoiding higher cholesterol as missing out on the health benefits of caffeine. And, many folks drink coffee because it wakes them up and gives them a boost to start the day or continue at a productive level near quitting time. Cut out the caffeine and you cut out what is the best part of drinking coffee for many people.
No Change in Mortality
When researchers look at the risk of dying as related to coffee drinking, decaf coffee risk and regular coffee risk come out the same. There is no greater risk of dying if you drink coffee than if you do not. There are no long term studies comparing organic coffee consumption to regular or decaf regular coffee consumption as regards life expectancy or earlier death. Considering the number of impurities that one avoids by drinking certified organic coffee this may be a useful thing to do. There are as many as 150 unwanted chemical in regular coffee that are not found in organic coffee according to health authorities in Australia. Although high doses of pesticides are lethal and moderate doses of pesticides are known to produce a variety of bad results, there is no clear evidence of just how much damage is done by drinking regular coffee with pesticides added versus organic coffee from places like Costa Rica, Colombia, or Panama. Meanwhile if you are interested in great coffee, organically grown, consider Colombian organic coffee brands, Panama Mountain grown organic coffee, or organic coffee from Costa Rica. You will enjoy your coffee and you will not have to worry about a decaf coffee risk.
Leaf Rust Kills Organic Coffee Crops
A seemingly eternal threat to growing healthy organic coffee is a fungus that is native to the tropics where coffee is grown. Leaf rust attacks coffee crops and leaf rust kills organic coffee crops. If an organic grower is unable to treat the problem with non-chemical means he risks losing his crop and his livelihood. The fungus’ proper name is Hemileia vastatrix. When it is not controlled the disease kills coffee plants and reduces coffee growers to poverty. It starts as an orange to yellow somewhat powdery discoloration on the underside of the leave of the coffee plant. It begins as spots, less than a millimeter in diameter and grows to millimeters diameter with a pale yellow discoloration. It is known among Latin American coffee growers as “roya.” The issue for organic growers is that quarantine and destruction of individual plants is not always effective. Thus a grower who has put the time, effort, and money into getting organic coffee certification may lose everything unless he turns his back on organic practices and spays the heck out of his coffee plants. Then he can only sell his produce at regular coffee prices and not the higher prices that good quality organic coffee commands. If he loses his crop he needs to replant, probably after spraying the soil, and wait several years for new coffee plants to reach maturity.
Why Not Just Spray?
Before organic coffee became popular growers use a copper based chemical to retard the growth of coffee leaf rust. Then they switched to other synthetic fungicides. One of the older complaints, before folks worried about being poisoned by chemicals, was the copper treatment and others affected taste and produced a product that did not sell well nor command a good price. As leaf rust kills organic coffee crops today this is still an issue. A grower could decide to treat with a modern fungicide and save his coffee crop. He would then try to sell his coffee beans and hope that the treatment did not devalue his product compared to regular coffee. Then he would need to resume organic farming practices and wait the usual three years until he is certified to have avoided non-organic techniques long enough to be certified again.
Follow the Money
As leaf rust kills organic coffee crops the issue, as always, is money. Starbucks, McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, and many others have gotten into organic coffee in a big way. This movement has been good for the small grower and good for the environment and good for coffee drinkers who get a better cup of coffee. It has always been about pressure from consumers who want to avoid impurities in their coffee and who want to protect the environment. What will these buyers do if their hand-picked growers need to spray to stay alive? Will they create a middle category of treated coffee? Growers will not stay with the organic movement if they constantly need to recertify and do not get the rewards of better pay for their coffee each and every year. At some point buyers and consumers may need to adopt the practical approaches that farmers have used for years and accept spraying when it is necessary to keep the sources of good coffee alive.
Safety of Organic Vegetables
Those who advocate eating organic food claim that food that is produced using organic measures is safer than food that is produced using conventional methods. The fact that there are (supposedly) no chemical fertilizers, no toxic pesticides, and no drugs used in the production process is the basis of the claim that food produced using organic farming and ranching methods is safer for human consumption. But is it?
It’s been my experience over the years that there are always at least two sides to every story, and usually a lot more sides if there is money involved. There IS money involved in the war between organic and traditional food producers.
We know what organic food producers say. They say that food that is not contaminated with chemicals and drugs is simply safer, and the argument certainly makes sense. But, of course, there is another view of the subject. Those who advocate conventional farming methods say that food that is produced using organic methods is more susceptible to new strains of bacteria and pathogens.
So, who is right? Is organic food safer than traditional food? Is organic food downright dangerous? According to the information that I have read, the answer is that organic food is safer.
The people who are raising the questions about the safety of organic food are worried because organic food production is growing. In relation to overall food production worldwide, land that has been certified for organic food production is tiny, even miniscule – but it is growing. And that growth is apparently of great concern to those who stand to lose a lot of big bucks when farmers and ranchers stop buying those chemical fertilizers, toxic pesticides, and drugs.
As more and more farmers and ranchers turn to organic farming and ranching methods because it is obviously much more profitable in the long run, fewer chemical products are being sold. It’s always about the money!
Strictly Natural Coffee
What is strictly natural coffee? Is it healthy organic coffee? Who plants it? Who harvests it? Who processes strictly natural coffee to preserve its organic qualities? Can you find organic coffee antioxidants in strictly natural coffee? Where can you buy strictly natural coffee and does someone certify it? Strictly natural coffee not only grows in the wild but grows where it grows because a bird dropped a seed and the plant started to grow. After all, coffee grew in the wilds of East Africa where it was first recognized and used to brew coffee. Strictly natural coffee is not cultivated but in order for us to consume strictly natural coffee someone needs to pick it and process it, ship it, roast it, and package it. To the extent that strictly natural coffee is not mixed with anything off the coffee farm, treated with chemicals, or dealt with in any way except to roast it and package it, it is truly organic coffee.
Strictly Natural Organic Coffee
To make sure that natural coffee is free of impurities it is wise to look for evidence of organic coffee certification. This indicates that the soil in which the coffee was grown has had no chemicals applied for at least three years. It also guarantees that the coffee was processed, shipped, roasted, and packaged in conditions that guarantee no mixing with other products. There is, however, no guarantee that organic coffee is strictly natural coffee. There are, however, sources of strictly natural coffee. As an example, some types of Panama Mountain grown organic coffee are strictly natural coffee. There are coffee cooperatives in the provinces of Chiriquí and Veraguas in Panama that pick their coffee in the forested highlands. These shade grown organic coffees grow wild, are not cultivated, and receive no fertilizers or chemicals. They are picked at the peak of perfection, dried, and sent for roasting or shipment as green coffee beans. While shade grown organic coffee is normally spaced out to mimic a plant growing naturally, strictly natural coffee does not require the services of a planter to grow in the right location.
Does Strictly Natural Coffee Differ from Organic Coffee?
To the extent that an organic coffee grower replicates natural conditions when growing coffee, good organic coffee is strictly natural coffee. And, to the extent that strictly natural coffee is processed by good organic techniques the natural aspects of the coffee are not ruined by processing with regular coffee tainted with herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, or synthetic fertilizers. If coffee picked in the wild is properly processed, stored, shipped, and roasted it retains its good organic qualities. The risk with strictly natural coffee that is not certified as organic is that it is entirely possible for one to pick coffee from plants growing in the wild and mix the beans with those from other sources in order to increase the quantity. This practice all too often reduces the percentage of strictly natural coffee and may, in fact, defeat the purpose of picking coffee in the wild.
Proof of Organic Food Health Benefits
We’ve all heard, maybe even accepted as fact, that organically grown foods are safer than regular commercially produced foods. We’ve heard that there are definite health benefits that we can gain simply by eating organically produced food products. But is there any proof anywhere that organically produced food really does provide health benefits and really is safer than any other food?
There is simply no disputing the fact that there are more cases of cancer now than there were even a few years ago. In the last 20 years, leukemia is up nearly 11%. In that same time frame, brain cancer has risen by 30% and bone cancer by 50%. Testicular cancer is up by a mind-blowing 60%. So what do these sad statistics have to do with the relationship between organic food and health?
Other statistics when seen in relation to the increased cancer statistics show the relationship. The studies were done with children as the test subjects but, last time I looked, children are the ones who grow up to be adults.
Kids whose parents work with pesticides are more likely to get leukemia and brain cancer. Other studies reveal that childhood leukemia is directly related to increased pesticide use around the home. Nine different studies that were reviewed by the National Cancer Institute showed a correlation between pesticide exposure and brain cancer.
Now just because all of these facts are not in dispute doesn’t mean that anybody is saying that there is direct PROOF that organically grown food provides any health benefits. Of course, the powers that be would never make such a statement. Can you imagine what would happen? There would be panic in the streets. The demand for organically produced food would overwhelm the food industry. Nobody is likely to make the sweeping statement that organically grown food is safer than commercially produced food – but you can draw your own conclusions.