Starbucks Organic Coffee in China
The largest coffee retailer in the world is going to be selling more Starbucks Organic Coffee in China. The company opened its first outlet in China in 1999 and is now in 42 cities in Mainland China. Starbucks plans to triple its presence in China in the next four years. Starbucks prides itself in selling what it calls responsibly grown coffee. With the help of Conservation International Starbucks has developed guidelines to ensure high quality coffee, economic accountability, transparency, social responsibility, and environmental leadership. In this last category it is appropriate to note that fourteen percent of Starbucks coffee passes organic coffee certification. As the largest retailer in the world expands in what could eventually be its largest market it brings ethic of fairness to farmers and protection of the environment with it. According to Starbucks, suppliers must submit evidence of payments throughout the supply chain to assure that a fair share is received by the coffee farmer. Third party overseers verify safe and humane working conditions for coffee farmers and the use of measures to manage waste, conserve water, protect water supply and biodiversity and reduce the use of synthetic chemicals. The growth of Starbucks in China is likely to lead to increasing sales of Starbucks organic coffee and China and an increasing demand for organic coffee from producers around the world.
As the company sells Starbucks organic coffee in China its press releases indicate that roughly eighty-five percent of its coffee comes from approved suppliers and fourteen percent is certified healthy organic coffee. The company buys around 270 pounds of coffee a year. The goal of the Starbucks purchasing strategy is to support small coffee farmers organized into cooperatives in achieving a better standard of living and in developing sustainable growing practices that will in turn serve to preserve that standard of living on the same farms. Growing organic coffee is the most environmentally conscious part of this endeavor. Organic coffee is grown with the most conservation attentive practices and results in the purest coffee product.
Do not expect that Starbucks organic coffee in China will be the end of the story. The company is targeting fast growing economies including Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Australia. Starbucks, which has 17,000 stores in 55 countries, plans to introduce its Via Ready Brew instant coffee this month to South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Australia. Within the next year Starbucks organic coffee in China will be joined by the product with organic coffee antioxidants in Vietnam and India. China is a tea drinking culture with some five thousand years of tea drinking tradition. However, the growth of Starbucks and Starbucks organic coffee in China indicates success in starting a coffee drinking culture in the Chinese mainland. As this coffee drinking culture expands Starbucks hopes to increase sales and profits throughout China and the fast growing economies of Asia. The company is already reporting double digit same store growth in its existing stores in China. If this translates to increased sales throughout Asia Starbucks will have a strong and growing presence in the traditional tea drinking cultures of the world.
Health Aspects of Organic Coffee
Coffee is great waker-upper and the health aspects of organic coffee simply add to the benefit of a steaming hot cup in the morning or any time throughout the day. The general health aspects of organic coffee are twofold. First of all, healthy organic coffee is free of the many contaminants that are unfortunately found in regular coffee. Secondly, organic coffee contains antioxidants, chemicals with a wide variety of positive effects on the human body. These two health aspects of organic coffee combine with the fact that organic coffee is healthy for the environment as well. The sustainable growing practices used to produce shade grown organic coffee provide small growers with a better income than if they had grown regular coffee and serve to protect the watershed and water table as well. The drinker of organic coffee has the satisfaction of knowing that as he consumes a cup of organic coffee that he is helping individuals, often half way around the world, live a healthier and more prosperous life. In the meantime just what are the exact health aspects of organic coffee?
With the use of high yield growing techniques, growers plant coffee in full sun. They use synthetic fertilizers and crowd the plants to increase production. Crowding leads to an increase in plant diseases and insect pests. Herbicides, fungicides, and pesticides used to protect the coffee plant end up in the coffee bean itself. Reliable estimates are that there can be as many as 150 unwelcome contaminants in the regular coffee that you purchase at the grocery store. Safe organic coffee, on the other hand, is typically grown in the shade and spaced among a natural plant cover. By avoiding a closely bunched monoculture of coffee plants, organic coffee growers reduce the need to fight plant diseases and pests. Organic growers use natural fertilizers and protect not only the soil from erosion but the subsoil from artificial contaminants. When plant diseases or pests arise they are treated with natural remedies preserving the health aspects of organic coffee.
Antioxidants are responsible for the positive health aspects of organic coffee. Antioxidants in organic coffee are naturally occurring chemicals that impede the breakdown or oxidation of other chemicals. By impeding oxidation in various chemical and enzyme systems of the human body organic coffee antioxidants produce a number of positive health effects. For example, a naturally occurring antioxidant, trigonelline is found in coffee beans. When good organic coffee is roasted this chemical breaks down forming another useful antioxidant, methylpyridium. Recent scientific research shows us that methylpyridium increases the activity of phase II enzymes in the human body and higher levels of phase II enzymes are protective against the development of colon cancer. Thus the health aspects of organic coffee include the fact that more organic coffee can lead to less colon cancer.
Other health aspects of organic coffee include the fact that antioxidants have the ability to protect nerve cells and even reduce the incidence of diabetes. Research tells us that coffee drinkers can have an up to fifty percent reduction in the incidence of Type II diabetes, a disease that affects 20 million Americans. Beside the fact that more organic coffee can lead to less diabetes organic coffee antioxidants have the ability to reduce the risk of prostate cancer and even tooth decay. There is evidence that antioxidants in black organic coffee can lessen the rate of cell damage that leads to aging as well. So, the next time you are enjoying a good cup of organic coffee remember the contaminants you are avoiding, the good you are doing to someone across the world, and the health aspects of organic coffee provided by its naturally occurring antioxidants.
Limits to Organic Coffee Growth
Are there limits to organic coffee growth? Considering the benefits of drinking healthy organic coffee versus regular coffee and the health effects of roasted coffee in general it would be a shame to see organic coffee consumption peak or even decline. However, the reality of the situation is that there is only so much land and so many growers of food in general. And, there is an ever increasing need to feed the people of the planet Earth. Let’s look at organic coffee and limits to organic coffee growth from a couple of different viewpoints. From the point of view of the consumer, organic coffee is a safer product than regular coffee. Regular coffee has been shown to contain more than a hundred unwelcome contaminants. Herbicides, pesticides, and synthetic fertilizers used to fight plant pests and to boost production tend to arrive along with you morning or mid-day cup of coffee. From the view of the coffee planter traditional, organic means of growing coffee can be beneficial but also at a cost that the planter does not wish to bear. The development of sun resistant varieties of coffee have boosted production of coffee and at the same time led to damage of the environment. Organic coffee growers cause less damage to the environment but there may be limits to organic coffee growth because of the work involved and the need to feed the world.
Planters often decide to give up producing shade grown organic coffee because they can boost production by 30 percent if they use sun resistant varieties. If they cannot make enough profit growing coffee they will grow something else. The alternative is for a coffee planter to stick with traditional, organic practices in growing coffee. As organic coffee sells for a higher price it is possible for a coffee planter to charge more for his product and make a better living. However, to sell coffee as USDA organic coffee the planter needs to refrain from using synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides and be certified for doing so. In addition to using sustainable growing practices planting coffee a grower needs to follow precise procedures in picking, storing, processing, roasting, storing, and shipping organic coffee. The limits to organic coffee growth may, in the end, be set by the difficulty many have in following organic, sustainable growing practices.
Following the correct procedures lends to safe organic coffee but it is time consuming and can be difficult. For many growers it ends up seeming easier to grow coffee by more “modern” methods and increase production, especially in a market where much of the world’s reserves are down and where recently el Niño ravaged coffee growing areas of Brazil, the world’s largest producer. In a recent published interview the head of Nestle, the world’s largest food company, noted that feeding the people of the world is a constant challenge and that, in his opinion, organic foods in general are something that those from rich nations can afford while of the world simply needs to put something with calories in a food dish. The limits to organic coffee growth may simply be defined in the end by world hunger.
Organic Coffee Aroma
Organic coffee aroma, bird song before sunrise, dew on the grass in the early morning are things that give joy to life. Wake up and smell the coffee is an old expression telling us to pay attention. But, just what gives coffee its unique bouquet? What gives us organic coffee aroma? If you are heavily into science, healthy organic coffee gets its aroma from more than 300 heterocyclic compounds such as oxazoles, thiazoles, thiophenones, thiophens, indoles, quinoxalines, pyrazines, quinlines, pyridines, pyrroles, hydrofurans, and furans. Organic coffee aroma also comes from phenols, acyclic compounds, and over 150 aliphatic compounds. Even for a chemist that is a mouthful! The compounds that contribute most strongly to organic coffee aroma are those that are present in higher concentrations and in sufficient concentrations to cross the “olfactory threshold.” This is a scientific term which basically says that the lining of the nose, high up in the nose where we smell things, requires a given amount of any given compound for us to be able to sense or smell it.
Researchers tell us that the most important chemicals producing our perception of organic coffee aroma are furans. These chemicals have odors resembling caramel and come from the breakdown of sugars. Other research indicates that when sugars in coffee break down in the presence of sulfur containing compounds these secondary reactions also contribute to key aspects of organic coffee aroma. The next group of compounds includes pyrazines which give coffee its walnut-like and roasted flavor. Pyrroles give coffee its caramel-like, mushroom-like, sweet aroma. Thiophens contribute to a somewhat meaty aroma when present. Some of these compounds are present in coffee beans when they are picked. A larger number of these compounds are formed, along with some important organic coffee antioxidants, in the roasting process.
In general, organic coffee aroma unique to each coffee depends upon the type of bean, the soil in which it was grown, and the process of roasting. In addition the degree of roasting not only contributes to different variations of coffee aroma but to different degrees of taste and different levels of antioxidants, such as methylpyridium which is one of the organic coffee antioxidants and is created during the roasting process of organic coffee. This is a breakdown product of trigonelline which is found in the unroasted bean. Methylpyridium not only contributes to organic coffee aroma but also increases substances in the human body known as phase II enzymes. Research indicates that phase II enzymes help protect the body against colon cancer which is the second leading cause of death from cancer in the USA. Who would have thought that quite possibly more organic coffee can lead to less colon cancer?
Organic coffee aroma will vary from coffee brand to coffee brand. The degree of roasting determines the level of many of the substances that are formed. Also individual tastes vary. This has to do with our taste buds, our sense of smell, and, very commonly, with how we perceive smell and taste in combination. So, back to our organic coffee aroma on an early morning with a cup of shade grown organic coffee in our hand, birdsong in the air and dew laden grass under our feet and then just wake up and smell the coffee!
Laotian Organic Coffee
Thinking of healthy organic coffee? Think of Laos and Vietnam. Indochina is the world’s second most prolific coffee growing region after Brazil. In fact, Vietnam by itself is the world’s second biggest producer of coffee. The central highlands of Vietnam and the highlands of Laos are idea for growing coffee and were first worked by French coffee planters in the French Colonial era. On the Bolaven Plateau in Champasak province of Laos coffee is grown at elevations between 1,000 and 1,500 meters above sea level. The cool temperatures and rich volcanic soil coupled with abundant rainfall give rise to great Laotian organic coffee.
Traditionally coffee in this area has been grown by tried and true organic methods although in the last generation more “modern” production techniques have also been introduced. Nevertheless, businesses such as the Jhai Coffee Farmers Co-operative and retailers such as Canadian owned Joma Bakery work with local growers and continue to produce and sell organic whole bean coffee grown in the highlands of Laos. Although four fifths of the coffee grown in the Laotian highlands is Robusta much of Laotian organic coffee is Arabica. In 2005 Jhai Coffee Farmers Co-operative was certified as a producer of USDA organic coffee which has helped local farmers command a higher price for their beans and helped them provide a higher standard of living for their workers whose income is almost entirely derived from the coffee harvest. The cooperative produces virtually all of its Laotian organic coffee in the shade thus maintaining a sustainable environment for coffee production, habitat and soil maintenance, and avoidance of contaminants that commonly are found in regular coffees.
It is encouraging to think that the innocent nation that became a battleground for so many years is coming into its own with a unique and viable commercial product. Think of organic coffee antioxidants and sustainable of coffee planting practices when you think of the Laotian highlands. Organic coffee, whether Laotian organic coffee, or organic coffee grown with sustainable growing practices anywhere in the world promises good taste and a respite from contamination. Laotian organic coffee also promises a number of health benefits due to the antioxidants found in raw and roasted coffee. Recent scientific research has revealed that more organic coffee can lead to less colon cancer. Drinking organic coffee reduces prostate cancer risk and more organic coffee and lead to less diabetes. It is the presence of antioxidants in coffee beans and their breakdown products in roasted organic coffee that provide these health benefits in the absence of the more than 150 contaminants known to be present in regular coffee.
When able look for shade grown organic coffee from Vietnam or Laos. Vietnamese or Laotian organic coffee is of high quality and provides the same benefits to the consumer as all organic coffee, namely a pure product that contains healthy substances. Like other organic coffees Laotian organic coffee and that of Vietnam help to protect and preserve the environment through sustainable growing practices and help the lives of the small farmers who produce this product.
Iced Organic Coffee
A wonderful companion on a hot summer afternoon is a glass of iced organic coffee. Free of the impurities found in a regular cup of coffee, iced organic coffee contains organic coffee antioxidants that are good for you too. Iced organic coffee can be made in two ways that result in equally delicious beverages but different flavors. Traditional iced organic coffee is made by adding coffee grounds to cold water and letting the mixture sit in the refrigerator for twelve hours or so. A quicker means of making iced organic coffee is to brew the coffee and then pour over lots of ice to cool it. Making the coffee and then pouring over ice retains the flavor of brewed coffee. Making iced organic coffee the slow way produces a less acidic coffee with less caffeine and a lighter, less complex taste.
Brewing healthy organic coffee creates a different set of chemical reactions and different taste created by heat. If what you like is the complex taste of a strong heat brewed coffee you will probably want to brew your coffee but make it stronger than usual. Then pour the boiling coffee over ice which will cool it and dilute it to the desired strength. On the other hand an easy way to prepare iced organic coffee is to simply place the grounds in cold water and place in the refrigerator. When the heat of the afternoon arrives a cup of ice organic coffee will be available in your refrigerator with no preparation time required. The taste of cold brewed iced organic coffee is simpler because the coffee’s chemicals simply dissolve into the cold water. There is little or no further chemical change that occurs in the absence of high temperature. Many prefer the less complex taste of iced organic coffee made by the traditional method. Both means of making a cup of iced organic coffee provide a beverage with caffeine, antioxidants, and other aromatic substances.
Many coffee drinkers enjoy the simpler taste of cold brewed iced organic coffee. May prefer a regular brew poured over ice. Many enjoy both. When making cold brewed iced coffee it is preferable to keep the grounds out of the final cup of coffee. This can be accomplished by a number of means. One is to use a container with a felt consistency pad to strain out particulate matter. Another is to use a French Press to remove particles. In order to produce enough iced organic coffee to justify the effort you can make very concentrated coffee by the cold brewing method. Then pour the cold mixture over ice and even add a touch of water to taste. Because iced organic coffee can be made very strong it can be ladled over a scoop of two of ice cream as well. Start with half a pound of USDA Organic Coffee and five cups of water. Put this mixture in your refrigerator at night before you go to bed. In the morning strain the iced organic coffee and leave in a jar in the refrigerator for use during the heat of the day.
Organic Coffee Prices
Organic coffee prices may well go up despite an ample supply of coffee worldwide. In May coffee prices were at their highest in fourteen years. The torrential el Niño rains in Brazil and Colombia had previously reduced harvests. However, Brazil, the world’s leading producer, has completed two-thirds of its harvest reducing fears of a severe fall in worldwide production. However, the USDA still anticipates a fall of around 2% in the coming year as recent sales were artificially increased by countries selling reserves to profit from historic prices. After a selloff of stockpiles, worldwide reserves are said be at their lowest since the early 1970’s. With this information as a backdrop the benchmark grade coffee at a recent auction in Nairobi, Kenya sold for as much as $544 a bag! On the other hand high volume of lower grades lowered the average price by about three percent. In general healthy organic coffee falls in the same class as the higher grades of coffee.
USDA organic coffee comes from the four corners of the earth. The common factor in all USDA certified organic coffee is that it is, in fact, certified organic by the USDA. The process required to produce commercial quantities of organic coffee virtually guarantee higher organic coffee prices than the norm for regular coffee. Part of the purpose for certifying organic coffee is to guarantee the consumer an organic product and the grower a higher return on investment for his trouble. Organic coffee is coffee grown without the use of herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, or synthetic fertilizers. It is commonly shade grown in a sustainable environment. Organic coffee is picked, processed, stored, roasted, and shipped in accordance with strict standards to avoid contamination with non-organic coffees.
Safe organic coffee has virtually no contaminants. By comparison regular coffee has been found to have as many as one hundred thirty contaminants by the Australian Food Standards Authority. These contaminants include aluminum, zinc, pesticide residues, and many other substances a person would just as soon not ingest along with his morning cup of coffee. High organic coffee prices are not too high to pay to avoid immune system impairment, liver problems, and various types of cancer that could be caused by contamination of regular coffee. If, indeed, global coffee production cannot keep up with demand and there is a drop of two or three percent it may translate into more expensive coffee in general and into higher organic coffee prices in particular. Remember when you purchase your cup of healthy organic coffee that the lack of contaminants and the help to the environment make the slight rise in organic coffee prices worth every penny.
For more useful and interesting facts about organic coffee feel free to browse our website, www.buyorganiccoffee.org . We wish you a good cup of hot organic coffee with every breakfast and whenever you wish a cup of coffee. We also support a cleaner and healthier environment at least partially paid for by higher organic coffee prices.
Safe Organic Coffee
If you are worried about all of the junk that someone might be putting in your food consider safe organic coffee. USDA organic coffee is certified to be grown according to sustainable growing practices. Coffee used to be grown in the shade and commonly in forested areas. Historically the environment and spacing out the coffee plants took care of much of the problem of insects and plant diseases. However, new coffee strains were introduced which can grow in the full sun. With the use of synthetic fertilizers the grower produces more coffee. He also erodes the soil and leaves synthetic fertilizer residue in the coffee bean. Crowding of plants brings about more plant diseases and pests which growers commonly treat with fungicides and pesticides, which also end up on the coffee bean. Safe organic coffee, on the other hand is grown and certified to be grown without use of pesticides, herbicides, or synthetic fertilizers. When the consumer has his cup of safe organic coffee each morning he can be assured that the product he is drinking is good for the environment. And, he is not drinking a contaminated beverage.
Over one hundred thirty contaminants can be found in a cup of regular coffee. The Australian Food Standards Authority found metals such as aluminum and zinc, pesticide residues, and many other unwelcome substances in commercially available regular coffee. The effects of some of these chemicals are impairment the immune system, liver problems, and even certain kinds of cancer. On the other hand, antioxidants in black organic coffee in easy to find organic coffee brands can help prevent disease.
Organic coffee antioxidants in safe organic coffee provide benefits beyond lack of contamination. Antioxidants in organic coffee help reduce oxidation. These include methylpyridium created during the roasting process of organic coffee. This breakdown product of trigonelline has been found to increase activity of phase II enzymes which are protective against colon cancer. Safe organic coffee also contains chlorogenic acid lactones and lipophilic antioxidants which are known to protect nerve cells from hydrogen peroxide challenge. Who would have thought that more organic coffee can lead to less diabetes ? However, scientific research shows a roughly fifty percent reduction in the incidence of Type II diabetes in coffee drinkers. Healthy organic coffee antioxidants are natural chemicals like polyphenols or condensed tannins that help prevent tooth decay as well as act as antioxidants. Antioxidants in black organic coffee have the potential to lessen cellular damage from aging, slow down atherosclerosis related inflammation, and possibly treat age related conditions.
Safe organic coffee is also good coffee. The procedures that growers go through to ensure that a cup of healthy organic coffee arrives at your breakfast table are also procedures that help the taste of the coffee. With the reduction of contaminants comes the reduction of competing, not very nice, flavors. With more attention to detail comes better roasting, processing, storage, and transport. Safe organic coffee turns out to be better coffee, all around, than most coffees, for taste as well as health.
Organic Coffee Reduces Dangerous Bacteria
Now we hear that organic coffee reduces dangerous bacteria that otherwise healthy people carry in their nose! Will the number of beneficial effects healthy organic coffee never cease? A report in a recent edition of the medical journal, Annals of Family Medicine, notes that coffee drinkers have fewer instances of the dangerous bacteria, methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, living in their noses. This germ is a dangerous bacterium that, as the name implies, is resistant to a strong antibiotic. It is often seen in hospitals in very sick patients. It turns out that coffee drinkers are half as likely to carry this germ as non coffee drinkers.
The bacterium called methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus infects roughly 90,000 Americans every year and kills 15,000. A public health concern with this dangerous germ is than many healthy people are carriers of this germ, in their nose! If the carrier becomes ill and his resistance falls he can become ill from the dangerous bacterium. More commonly he can pass the germ on to a person whose immune system is weak, such as someone on cancer chemotherapy or a person who has recently had surgery. The recipient of this germ can become ill with a one in six chance of dying. Now we find that organic coffee reduces dangerous bacteria in the nose. According to the study in the Annals of Family Medicine five thousand people had their noses swabbed and the results showed that drinkers of hot tea or hot coffee had half the incidence of the dangerous bacteria in their noses. The researchers noted that an inexpensive way to remove this dangerous bacterium for individual might just be with drinking hot coffee or tea.
Now that we see that organic coffee reduces dangerous bacteria carried in the nose what else does coffee do? Previous research shows that more organic coffee can lead to less colon cancer. Likewise drinking organic coffee reduces prostate cancer risk as well. In each case scientific research demonstrates that people who drink coffee in regular amounts have lower incidences of both of these diseases.
A lower incidence of Type II diabetes is also seen with coffee consumption. Interestingly diabetic patients have more trouble rejecting bacteria than others. Now we see that organic coffee antioxidants not only help with diabetes, prostate cancer, and colon cancer. Organic coffee reduces dangerous bacteria carried in the nose as well.
Organic coffee guaranteed by organic coffee certification is grown with sustainable farming practices and has long been known to contain less, or no, residues of pesticides, herbicides, and synthetic fertilizers. The healthy aspects of organic coffee and its antioxidants are only more recently known. For example, the fact that more organic coffee can lead to less diabetes has only been demonstrated in scientific studies within the last few years. New we see that a hot cup of coffee can do what many antibiotics cannot, it can reduce the incidence of a dangerous bacteria which is resistant to powerful pharmaceuticals. Organic coffee reduces dangerous bacteria as well as being a delicious and otherwise healthy beverage.
Growing Organic Coffee in the Shade
Growing organic coffee in the shade is how growers follow the traditional means of growing coffee. Coffee is grown in the tropics and traditionally grows on the sides of hills and mountains. The time honored means of planting is to put 20 seeds in a hole of which about half survive to grow into coffee bushes. Traditional planting takes place at the start of the rainy season. It takes several years for coffee to mature and start producing coffee beans. Thus traditional growers often plant other crops amount the coffee while it is maturing. Today most growers follow the example set in Brazil of growing seedlings in a greenhouse and then planting outside when they are ready. Growing organic coffee in the shade is done by two methods. One is to partially clear forest and plant coffee. The other is to plant trees among the coffee in order to provide shade. When fruit trees are used the coffee grower enjoys two crops on the same land. He grows healthy organic coffee and crops such as plantain as well.
In growing organic coffee in the shade two general species of coffee can be used. One is aribica and the other is canephora, also referred to as robusta. Many growers and coffee lovers prefer aribica but robusta is hardier and has about fifty percent more caffeine. Robusta is typically less expensive while growers worldwide plant more aribica. Robusta, or coffea canephora, is more resistant to diseases that attack coffee and can also be cultivated at lower altitudes and in warmer climates than aribica. Robusta is substantially more resistant than aribca to coffee leaf rust as well as the various beetles, bugs, nematodes, mites, snails, and slugs that attack coffee plants. In growing organic coffee in the shade growers use sustainable agricultural practices to promote growth and to avoid and control coffee plant diseases. By doing so organic growers avoid the use of herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, and synthetic fertilizers. Organic coffee certification requires that growers not use these means of avoiding and treating coffee diseases and that he can document this.
In growing organic coffee in the shade growers must wait as many as ten years for a full bearing coffee plant. An established coffee plantation will commonly stagger its planting so that some plants are bearing coffee while others are growing. Because much coffee is planted on very steep slopes growers commonly terrace the soil. This not only helps conserve water where the plant is but helps control erosion. Interspersing coffee with other plants and trees also helps keep plants from washing away in the rainy season. The last advantage of terracing is that pickers have flat a place to walk when picking the beans. It probably also makes it easier for the inspector when he comes to certify that the coffee planter growing organic coffee in the shade is growing USDA organic coffee . Growing organic coffee in the shade helps protect the environment as a sustainable coffee growing technique. It typically reduces the need for the many artificial practices that can contaminate the end product, a delicious cup of coffee.