Fair Trade Products – Intro
Over the past few years, people have become more and more aware of fair trade and sustainability projects. Fair Trade is defined as a social project in which people from first-world countries believe that farmers and craft makers from third world countries should be paid the same amount as they would be paid for their products if they were to sell them somewhere like the United States. Also, people who support this like to make sure that the farmers and craftsmen are taught about sustainability projects in order to use their extra profits to help benefit the community. There are many requirements that have to be met in order to be a producer or someone who regulates it to make sure the producers get the money they are supposed to get. Most of the goods that are produced are chocolate, coffee, tea, handmade bags, leather journals, and other handcrafts. Buying these items is a good way to make sure you are buying quality products and that your money will go towards a good cause.
One of the criticisms of Fair Trade is that when a consumer buys a product they may not be sure that their money is going right to the farmers or producers. This is where the people who regulate come into the picture. The people who regulate are there to make sure that most of the profit from the purchase of a product goes to the farmer or producer involved in the program. These people also help the farmers, producers, and members of their communities use some of the money to create a project that is sustainable and environmentally friendly. The hope is that eventually farmers and producers who are apart of a community are able to support themselves and their communities. Another goal of this organization is to help get marginalized producers into the International market that may otherwise not have access to without the help of a middle-man organization. Finally, these communities can be anywhere where the people need help making good money for their products, but these areas are mostly located in Latin America, Eastern Africa, and Southern Asia.
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Shade Grown Organic Coffee
With shade grown organic coffee the consumer gets healthy organic coffee and the grower preserves the natural environment. First of all shade grown organic coffee is a return to historic and time tested growing techniques. Natural coffee strains grow best in partial or total shade. In fact, many plants dry out and die if planted in full sun. Thus coffee has traditionally been grown under a canopy of trees. This method of planting on hillsides helps prevent erosion as is still seen in regions of Colombia, Panama, and other parts of the world where coffee is grown on steep slopes. However, new sun tolerant coffee strains were introduced over the last two generations. These plants thrive in full sunlight and are capable of producing up to three times as many coffee beans as traditional coffee plants in a shaded environment. Unfortunately, in order to boost production rates growers use synthetic fertilizers, herbicides and insecticides to protect the monoculture of coffee that they plant. By taking coffee out of its more normal habitat growers subject it to the same risks as other field crops and orchards in which individual infective pests can enter and destroy a crop. Considering that it can take a decade for coffee plants to mature an infection or infestation that destroys plants can be devastating. Thus the coffee planter who ceases to produce shade grown organic coffee can find himself trapped in a never ending cycle of herbicide, pesticide, and synthetic fertilizer use. The consumers of this coffee pay the price.
Here are a few facts about organic coffee, especially the shade grown variety. Shade grown organic coffee has historically been grown in a mixed species forest that includes fruit and hardwood trees as well as other bushes and plants. Researchers have found up to forty different species of trees on traditional, organic coffee plantations. This mixture of trees helps maintain soil quality and provides habitat for numerous smaller plants as well as animals and birds. A mature plantation producing shade grown organic coffee is a mature ecosystem that is virtually self-sustaining. It does not require insecticides as birds and other animals living in the coffee forest consume the pests. It does not require large amount of synthetic fertilizers as the natural products of plant decomposition slowly leach into the soil to fertilize new plants and do not poison downstream water or the water table.
Small traditional farms produce shade grown organic coffee by planting coffee plants in existing forest. Likewise small growers will selectively clear forest in order to retain the canopy while providing room for coffee. Many planters starting with bare ground will plant plantain among coffee plants, letting the two species mature together. Both crops can be harvested and the plantain provides shade for the coffee. An additional benefit of planting multiple crops on the same ground is that the grower is not totally dependent on coffee prices for his income. In order to be assured that the coffee on the breakfast is table is organic coffee the consumer should look for proof of organic coffee certification. The USDA certifies coffee that is grown according to sustainable agricultural techniques. USDA shade grown organic coffee is labeled as such and provides the consumer with the reassurance that the organic coffee antioxidants in the morning cup of coffee are not contaminated with pesticide residue or traces of dangerous herbicides.
Fair Trade Coffee Prices – Intro
Coffee cooperatives are organizations collectively owned by their members, mostly coffee producers and workers. Members share a common vested interest in the coop’s success for the benefit of present and future generations. Each coop has a board of directors and other governing members that perform administrative tasks, manage resources, and promote safety, health, and education for all members.
The Central Piurana de Cafetaleros or CEPICAFE coop, founded in 1995, is headquartered in Piura, Peru. CEPICAFE represents thousands of coffee, sugar and fruit producers from more than 90 separate organizations from regions in Northwestern Peru. CEPICAFE is basically an umbrella organization for other producing organizations. CEPICAFE enjoys a reputation as a strong cooperative with solid objectives for growth, social improvements and environmentally focused practices.
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Organic Nescafe – Intro
Traditional coffee like Folders and the popular Spanish brand Nescafe have maintained that familiar, consistent great taste over the years. Despite pesticides and fertilizers harvested in the large, commercial coffee plantations they grow on, it manages to suit an average person’s tastes as evident by its sales. In justifying the high prices for organic coffee, many people point to its tastes as one of the main reasons. Does organic coffee taste better than traditional coffee?
To begin, organic coffee tastes better than traditional coffee because of the growing methods farmers use. Factors that weigh heavily with improved taste include shade grown and organic farming methods that are in force today that promote healthier soil, clean water, and habitats for birds that provide pest control. As an added bonus, organic coffee receives a taste boost if it is high-grown. Organic coffee under shade trees are the definition of “premium” in that fewer coffee cherries are produces unlike traditional coffee that grow under the sun. Because of this, organic coffee cherries grow slower and finer, and the difference is passed on to your I Love New York mug.
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Antioxidants in Black Organic Coffee
If you are just looking for a good cup of coffee antioxidants in black organic coffee may not be the first thing on your mind. Maybe you are happy to be drinking coffee free of synthetic fertilizer residue, traces of herbicides, and other contaminants that can be found in regular coffee. But, the facts about organic coffee include that it can be good for our health as well. You don’t need to drink coffee because it is healthy. You can just drink it because you like to. Many drink organic coffee because organic coffee is based upon sustainable growing techniques and tends to provide the small coffee planter a better income as he protects and preserves the earth.
Healthy organic coffee contains antioxidants. These natural chemicals like polyphenols or condensed tannins 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, possibly treat age related conditions, and even reduce the likelihood of a number of serious medical conditions such as diabetes and certain types of cancer.
Antioxidants in black organic coffee provide the coffee drinker with a better option than regular coffee. As many as 133 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. Some of these chemicals are known to impair the immune system, cause liver problems, and are even related to certain types of cancer. By comparison antioxidants in black organic coffee in easy to find organic coffee brands can help prevent disease.
Recent research tells us that more organic coffee can lead to less diabetes . This has been known for years but only recently it was discovered by researchers at UCLA that high levels of the protein sex hormone-binding globulin are related to a drastic reduction in the incidence of Type II diabetes. The researchers found that individuals who drink four or more cups of coffee a day have a 56% lower incidence of Type II diabetes than individuals who do not drink coffee. Considering that more than twenty million American suffer from Type II diabetes this is a significant finding.
Antioxidants in black organic coffee are also helpful in preventing both prostate and colon cancer according other recent research. More organic coffee can lead to less colon cancer and drinking organic coffee reduces prostate cancer risk according to research. In each case long term studies showed than antioxidants in black organic coffee from the bean originally or created in the roasting process are related to lowered risk of these lethal diseases. So, as you enjoy your black organic coffee enjoy the fact that you may well be helping your health with each cup of antioxidants in black organic coffee. Not one will you be saving nature from the ravages of overly aggressive farming techniques you may be saving yourself for the ravages of disease as well.
Whole Foods – Intro
If you are looking for the best whole foods, bee pollen is definitely one of them. You’ve probably heard about its outstanding benefits. Physicians all over the world are even beginning to see it as one of the best dietary supplements because of its amazing nutritional values. It is a miracle food that contains perfect blend of all nutrients. Hence, it is referred to as a ‘perfect food’.
Bee pollen is the pollen grains obtained by honey bees from different species of plants. It encompasses almost all the vitamins and nutrients that cannot be produced that are proven to nourish and sustain the human body. It has been in use since the ancient times; the ancient Greeks and Romans called it the “life-giving dust”. It is actually a whole food that man cannot make artificially.
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Organic Decaf Coffee – Intro
Coffee, like all other crops, has the risk of having toxic chemical residues from the pesticides and artificial fertilizers used in its cultivation. Add to that the already present health risks involved with too much caffeine and you have a major concern for health conscious coffee lovers across the world. Can we ever look forward to enjoying a cup of coffee without having to worry about the threats of caffeine and the presence of harmful chemicals in our drinks? Well, the time is now because coffee that’s both organic and free from caffeine is already available.
Coffee Gone Green
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Organic Instant Coffee – Intro
A lot of coffee lovers are now turning to drinking organic instant coffee not just for the convenience that such coffee brings for you but for health purposes as well. It is a known fact that many coffee farmers are not using natural methods to grow their coffee plants. As such, artificial pesticides and fertilisers might be detrimental to the drinkers’ when they consume the beverages. For the health conscious coffee drinkers, they prefer to turn to organic products instead.
In fact, besides health purposes, there are also many benefits for consuming organic products and one such advantage is that it helps to protect the environment. Therefore, when you switch to drinking organic instant coffee, you are saving the earth, improving your health and at the same time saving yourself time! That is really a lot of reasons for someone to make the switch!
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Organic Coffee Definition – Intro
What is Specialty Coffee? Is all specialty coffee organic?
What is an Organic Specialty Coffee? The definition of “specialty coffee” is pretty much whatever an individual producer desires it to be. It can refer to “special” blends of beans or it can refer to flavored beans. Coffee labeled “specialty” comprises around ten percent of the world’s market, but true specialty coffee, beans produced in optimum conditions, grown organically in the shade and processed in a way that assures the very best tasting beans, amounts to about one percent of the world’s coffee production. As the premium for growing organic coffee becomes less and therefore the incentive to grow organic coffee disappears, and as climate changes produce smaller yields and force prices in general to rise, it remains to be seen what the future holds for true organic specialty beans.
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Organic Coffee How To – Intro
The quality of life that we live now will ultimately affect future generations to live within a clean beautiful environment. In order to sustain our living within our natural resources, society will need to find ways to preserve those natural resources. The rain forest are a natural resource that is diminishing quickly. Statistics show a recent increase in deforestation by 64 percent in the last twelve months. The rampart deforestation activities are attributed to loggers and soy farmers alike pushing further into the rainforest and Amazon jungle. These deforestation activities are on the incline because of high commodity prices. These rainforest are primary growing fields for Shade Grown Organic Coffee.
Organic and shade grown coffee is grown in soil that has not been treated with chemical fertilizers for at least three years. The Coffee bean plants are planted utilizing natural compost fertilization methods within a canopy of shade. The shade canopy also becomes unique because many different tree heights allow the conditions to prevail housing for migrating birds and the like. The birds eat the insects from the coffee bean plants, which then prevents the use of any toxic and harmful pesticides. In order for plantation growers to provide these unique growing efforts in a responsible manner, organic standards have been implemented to certify organic producers are compliant with U. S. organic laws. It is prudent for society to learn why growing the organic way is good for the environment, and why one should support organically grown coffee products.
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