Green Coffee and the Environment

How Green Coffee Farming is adversely affecting the environment, deforestation, how to balance

Deforestation is a significant issue throughout coffee-producing countries, with some of the highest deforestation rates occurring in Latin America. Traditional shade coffee production is the most beneficial in maintaining the biodiversity of tropical forest ecosystems. Industrial sun-grown coffee, on the other hand, not only destroys the tropical forests, it causes loss of habitat for bird and insect species. Sun-grown coffee, however, allows greater production and corresponding increase in profitability.

There has been a movement towards environmentally friendly or green production of coffee, with both fair-trade and organic initiatives. Many of these attempt to implement certain standards to protect the environment. Unfortunately these often penalize the poorest, smallest coffee growers who do not have the means to meet the bureaucratic requirements involved. Most of them can’t afford artificial fertilizers or pesticides, so their coffee is already organic, yet they cannot achieve certification. In spite of a push towards green production, demand and market forces exert great pressure on these growers to switch to sun grown methods.

Another aspect of environmental sustainability is in the processing of the green or unroasted coffee bean. This is an issue that impacts even fair trade or organic coffee, and unfortunately brings a new set of environmental issues. Shipping huge quantities of green beans has an impact on fuel supplies and pollution. Wet hulling of coffee beans, particularly if sun grown, is necessary to produce high quality, but it uses massive amounts of water and produces organic contamination.

Processing green coffee also requires very intense, high heat, which produces pollutants such as smoke, dust, and chemicals, and increases CO2 emissions. Energy efficient roasters are being developed, but there is resistance to changing conventional methods that have been in place for hundreds of years. Because green coffee in storage can also be subject to pest infestations, there is also increased environmental impact from pesticide treatments used at the processing stage.

Clearly a better balance must be found, given the sheer magnitude of the worldwide coffee trade and its potential on the environment. The coffee industry is a complex one, involving many players at every level, and change must be implemented at each for it to have a true impact. Education is part of the solution. Coffee lovers around the world are generally aware that coffee growing methods can result in deforestation, yet they may not realize that processing of green coffee also has significant environmental impacts, even when it comes to organic or free trade coffee.