Shade Grown and Organic
If you were to look at a container of pesticides, you would see a warning about it being poisonous. Yet we spray it on our food. That doesn't seem like the best idea to us.
Organic means food that's grown or raised without the routine use of artificial pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers. Organic farming aims to work with rather than against nature, and to ensure plant health by looking after the soil.
Organic farmers often utilize a combination of age-old techniques (such as crop rotation, mulching, adding organic matter, and encouraging beneficial insects) and up-to-date research (such as advanced crop varieties, or safe, natural pesticides).
We reckon organic farming is better for your health, better for the soil and better for animals. In fact, as far as we're concerned, it's better all around.
Shade-Grown simply means coffee that's grown under a canopy of trees. Not only does this technique make superior coffee, it also gives a home to hundreds of species of birds and animals, and helps sequester carbon dioxide - thus helping to prevent global warming.
Check out these links:
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Coffee Research Basic background on the significance of Growing in the Shade. Bone up for your next cocktail party. |
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Santa Barbara Audubon Society Learn exactly how Shade-Grown coffee helps migratory birds |
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Organic Consumers Association This site is a hub for all things organic — they have information about Food Safety, Organic Agriculture & Sustainability, access to news, events and publications. They also have a great directory of eco-friendly products. |