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We are a country of coffee drinkers, although I am not among them. Americans collectively drink 400-million cups of Joe each day. Our national drink is served in almost every concession stand in the country, from golf courses to ball parks. It is not a benign beverage, however. While we often focus on trying to ”green up” the type of cups in which coffee is served, the real culprit is in the source of the coffee.
Because we live in an already overpopulated (6.8 billion) and expanding world (9,000 people net gain per hour), any popular drink is riddled with environmentally detrimental effects. Conventionally raised coffee is particularly bad. Even if the ever-confusing research were to prove that coffee is a healthy beverage, it is not beneficial to the thousands of species of wild animals forced from rainforests that are then replaced by millions of acres of coffee plantations.
Conventionally grown coffee invites a mono-cultural and pesticide-filled landscape to the tropics. It frequently represents grossly underpaid workers and coffee traders who reap the stolen profits as the product is traded throughout the world. In addition, cases of pesticide poisoning have increased among coffee growers. These farmers often mortgage their small land holdings to pay for costly pesticides in an attempt to keep up with production. When they default on the loans, large agri-business companies are only too happy to snatch up land, which may have been in a family for generations.
