The Environmental Impact of Coffee Production:
What’s Your Coffee Costing The Planet?

A Bitter Brew- Coffee Production, Deforestation, Soil Erosion and Water Contamination

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Environmental Sustainable Practices Used in Coffee

Sustainable farming practices are critical in the efforts to support the environment in a positive way. By combining practices such as root bending and selective pruning with natural shade canopies, farmers can grow stronger trees that produce additional crop in subsequent years. The planting of alternative crops, such as banana trees, when grown alongside Arabica coffee, create shade coverage that provide numerous benefits. Tall trees promote biodiversity by creating a healthy plant and animal habitat for birds, bees and small animals.

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Environmental, Economic and Social Sustainability

Fair Trade is an effort in the coffee industry that is designed to promote sustainability and to help producers achieve better pricing and thus improve their overall quality and standards of living. The increasing amount of Fair Trade Economic benefits the farmers receive as they continue to grow more organic coffee is helping to ensure that farmers all over the world are able to meet their everyday needs and to improve their living standards and income earning potential.

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shade-grown coffee

A Sustainable Alternative? Shade-Grown Coffee

An environmentally favored alternative to sun-grown coffee is shade-grown coffee. In this method, coffee plants are interspersed beneath a canopy of mature trees, mimicking the way coffee grows naturally in these regions.

According to the American Birding Association (ABA), shade coffee plantations are second only to undisturbed forests as the best habitat for birds and other fauna in Latin America. Additionally, the birds control the insects allowing for higher yields.

What’s more, the presence of vegetation amongst coffee plants reduces the need for intense herbicide preparations, supports at least 50% of the original forest snakes and spider fauna, and protects topsoil effectively.

Coffee is the world’s second most tradable commodity. This $10 billion industry is not harmless because there are many environmental and ecological problems that result from coffee production. For every cup of coffee consumed, it is almost certain that one square inch of rainforest was destroyed. Chemical buildup in soils and loss of forest shade are consequences of mass coffee production. This leads to chemical runoff polluting rivers, land and aquatic wildlife dying, soil eroding, and land degradation. Once lush rainforests are twisted into barren landscapes, which forever alters the ecological balance of this ecosystem. Exploitative coffee production leads to massive deforestation. There are two types of coffee plants, those that grow in sun and those that grow in shade. The sun grown coffee plant has been tailored to produce nearly three times as much coffee as the shade version.

The sun grown coffee plant has been tailored to produce nearly three times as much coffee as the shade version. Increased production of sun grown coffee plants results in greater loss of rainforest. In the 1950s, approximately 15% of the earth’s surface was covered by rainforest, whereas today there is merely 6% rainforest coverage. In addition, the remaining 6% of the rainforests could be destroyed in 40 years, as more than 200,000 acres are burned each day to clear the land for agricultural and industrial purposes. Deforestation decreases the biodiversity of wildlife and plants. These deforested habitats are left altered and unsuitable for the previous species (if any) to thrive, as only certain species can survive the destruction and habitat loss. With the loss of forested areas, moisture in the air decreases and soil composition and foliage is altered.