I visited an inspiring organic shade system in Costa Rica this time last year - not only wonderfully biodiverse but the coffee was award winning and because of the lower yields they were selling to independent coffee roasters across the US. And true to organic principles they were paying a fair wage to the workers ( which is another story)
Labor is a whole other complicated story in the coffee world. The farm I mention above yields more than neighboring farms that grow conventional coffee in full sun. So, lower yields are not necessarily the case in a shade-grown biological scenario.
The farm in Costa Rica is certified organic and I think their yields were comparable to other organic coffee estates. Last year yields were down as the rains arrived early and pulled the plants into flowering early which lead to problems later in the season.
I also went to Costa Rica and it seems like the mountains allow it to have more consistent rainfall. But I think the coffee industry needs to be aware of these environmental impacts that are really hyper local in nature.
Great post Sam, thank you. And, obviously, its not just coffee. Perhaps obsession with net zero is a way to avoid the reality that land clearing for agriculture is a third of total emissions before we get to disruption of water cycles.
The experience of the coffee planters is eerily similar to that of Foresters in Germany in the 1800s who were running out of wood and turned to “rational” tree planting methods. They were very successful at first but the forests totally lacked the natural diversity needed for a truly healthy forest . The soil got depleted and the biodiversity fell drastically. In a few decades the forests were actually dying in some cases. This example is from Seeing Like a State by James Scott. And as a coffee lover I’ll try to buy shade grown beans 🫘
I visited an inspiring organic shade system in Costa Rica this time last year - not only wonderfully biodiverse but the coffee was award winning and because of the lower yields they were selling to independent coffee roasters across the US. And true to organic principles they were paying a fair wage to the workers ( which is another story)
Labor is a whole other complicated story in the coffee world. The farm I mention above yields more than neighboring farms that grow conventional coffee in full sun. So, lower yields are not necessarily the case in a shade-grown biological scenario.
The farm in Costa Rica is certified organic and I think their yields were comparable to other organic coffee estates. Last year yields were down as the rains arrived early and pulled the plants into flowering early which lead to problems later in the season.
I also went to Costa Rica and it seems like the mountains allow it to have more consistent rainfall. But I think the coffee industry needs to be aware of these environmental impacts that are really hyper local in nature.
You did it again Sam. You always give me much to think about and I get to learn something new.
Thank you. I appreciate reading what I write.
Delete coffee, insert cocoa..........
Yes, very much the same scenario
Great post Sam, thank you. And, obviously, its not just coffee. Perhaps obsession with net zero is a way to avoid the reality that land clearing for agriculture is a third of total emissions before we get to disruption of water cycles.
The experience of the coffee planters is eerily similar to that of Foresters in Germany in the 1800s who were running out of wood and turned to “rational” tree planting methods. They were very successful at first but the forests totally lacked the natural diversity needed for a truly healthy forest . The soil got depleted and the biodiversity fell drastically. In a few decades the forests were actually dying in some cases. This example is from Seeing Like a State by James Scott. And as a coffee lover I’ll try to buy shade grown beans 🫘