When you buy Organic Foods, you help keep the Earth’s air and water free from pesticides and chemical fertilizers. You help preserve a piece of the Earth’s past for future generations. You help support small entrepreneurial farmers who are committed to building the living soils of their farmland and the living souls of their employees. diversity that has always been the backbone of cultural individuality. You help make the commitment to renewal that sustains the Earth’s ability to nurture life. And you help others embrace the gratifying taste that can come not only from eating good foods, but also from doing good things. When you buy Organic Foods, you make a conscious choice to eat well and to treat the Earth well. Thank you for making that choice.
At present, more than ninety percent of our coffees are organic, meaning they are grown without extra chemical inputs. We feel that consumers should choose organic products, not just for their own health but to lower the chemical loads in the countries of origin and so reduce the toll chemicals take on farmers. Traditional, organic, coffee-growing practices enhance biodiversity and the environment rather than destroying them. Supporting these practices helps to improve the overall health and welfare of these communities. Organic products may be certified by a number of different organizations including UCIA (Organic Crop Improvement Association) and SKAL. To obtain these certifications, coffees must be grown in fields that have been free of chemicals for at least three years.
The principle behind fairly-traded coffee is that farmers should receive a fair payment for their crops. Fair trade requires a guarantee that the price paid for coffee meets or exceeds a certain minimum threshold - regardless of the market price at a given moment - and that the money should go directly to the producer groups, not to middlemen. There are other components to this system including access to credit at reasonable interest rates, organized groups of small growers (cooperatives), and that buyers agree to purchase beans on a long-term basis. This system often supports a ‘traditional poly-culture, improving the quality of life for the farmers, the environment, and the quality of the coffee through access to other crops if the coffee harvest declines. Traditional methods allow growers to remain in tune with their environments and preserve their cultures.
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