‘Bird-friendly’ coffee

By ⋅ November 10, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment
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by Diane Toomey

Scarlet Tanager (Image: US Fish and Wildlife Service)

Pay a visit to the coffee aisle of an upscale market, and the choices can be a bit overwhelming.

There’s coffee from local roasters, coffee stamped organic, coffee stamped fair trade, even coffee stamped with something called “Whole Planet Foundation Supplier Alliance for Microcredit.”

Now add one more specialty label to the conscientious coffee list: Bird-Friendly coffee.

Robert Rice, a scientist with the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, says researchers have documented steep declines in many migratory bird species in recent years. And while there are a number of reasons for that, Rice says habitat destruction on coffee farms is a big one.

On a recent day, Rice was marketing what the Smithsonian center calls its bird-friendly coffee certification program at a crowded natural products convention in Boston. Rice sat beside a big picture of a Baltimore oriole sitting atop a tree.

“The concept really grabs people when they understand it and get it,” Rice says.

“The concept” is about preserving bird habitat. Rice says the declines in songbird populations happened at the same time much of the coffee lands in central America were undergoing a change from traditional farms, in which coffee is grown under a lush canopy of shade trees, to high-yield varieties that grow in full sun.

“The differences are quite drastic,” Rice says. “Even though sun coffee is quite green, it’s actually in terms of diversity, it’s very much of a green desert”.

In other words, these new coffee plantations are bad news for birds. And even fair trade or organic standards don’t say anything about habitat preservation.

That’s why the Smithsonian developed its standards–to encourage coffee farmers to keep their shade trees.

Earning the Smithsonians’ trademarked “Bird-friendly” label isn’t easy. Among other things, coffee farms must have a minimum number of native tree species and even a certain density of leaf volume. They also have to be organic. In exchange, the farms earn a premium price for their beans.

But the Smithsonian program isn’t the only shade-grown coffee game in town. You might’ve seen a little green frog on some coffee containers. That’s the seal of approval of the rainforest alliance.

Alex Morgan of the Rainforest Alliance’s US & Canada sustainable agriculture program says the organization’s certification program is a comprehensive set of standards on social, environmental, and economic principles. The Alliance’s standards are broader than the Smithsonian’s but not quite as rigorous when it comes to shade trees.

Another difference is that farms don’t have to meet those shade standards up front.

The rainforest alliance strategy, Morgan says, is more about helping coffee farmers move in the right direction.

“When you’re dealing with coffee farms that may not have means to comply in year or two, then you have to be practical within the realities of what people can do on a farm,” Morgan says.

So which approach preserves more bird habitat?

Morgan says bird-loving coffee drinkers shouldn’t sweat the difference. Choose coffee certified by his rainforest alliance or the Smithsonian, he says. But Morgan adds that it’s important not to pit any of the certifications out there against one another.

“Because when you add up what is certified you’re really talking about less than 10 percent of the coffee supply,” Morgan says.

“What we should all be doing, is really looking at, how can we get the rest of that coffee supply under the umbrella of one or numerous of those certification programs.”

Bottom line, observers say, look for substance behind any claims.

Take for instance the term “shade grown.” There are bags of coffee on the shelves with that claim, but without any certification.

That doesn’t sit well with Julie Craves, an ornithologist at the University of Michigan who runs a website analyzing coffee certification programs.

Craves says “Shade coffee” means more than just having a shade tree.

“Shade coffee is that there is habitat,” Craves says.

“So I don’t think they’re trying to be purposely deceptive, but unless it’s verified by a third party, under some scientific standards, I don’t think it means very much.”

Whatever the standard–Rainforest Alliance, Smithsonian Bird Center or something else – if you want to buy truly bird -friendlier coffee, you’re likely to pay a premium.

But if you don’t, ornithologist Julie craves says, it’s the birds that pay the price.

“I have a little thing I tell people,” Craves says. “There is no such thing as cheap coffee.”

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Audio extra: bird calls
Chestnutsided Warbler:

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Scarlet Tanager:

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WoodThrush:

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- Bird call sound files courtesy of the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York.-


Discussion

11 comments for “‘Bird-friendly’ coffee”

  • Bruce Zalneraitis

    The story on coffee plantations and deforestation was well done but I wanted to comment that the Baltimore Oriole is a baseball player and the Northern Oriole is the migratory bird. The fans of the Baltimore Orioles however, would sometimes like to see their Orioles migrate away from Maryland.

  • Robert Rebman

    I would take issue with the comment that “And even fair trade or organic standards don’t say anything about habitat preservation”. Fair Trade standards include protection of sensitive natural areas, prohibition of certain pesticides, and safe handling of pesticides and waste. Maybe the standards are not as strong as the author would like to see, but the comment makes the Fair Trade label seem to be unconcerned with environmental issues, which simply is not true.

  • august16

    While I am not looking for any more guilt to pile on myself,this was fascinating!! Obviously a lot of research and work went into this.Thanks. will have a lot to think about over my morning coffee

  • http://www.coffeehabitat.com Julie Craves

    Two clarifications for the commenters.

    At one time, Baltimore Oriole and Bullock’s Oriole were considered one species, Northern Oriole. They are now once again separate species. So, Baltimore Oriole is correct for both the bird and the ball player.

    Second, the piece is correct: there are no specific requirements in Fair Trade certification standards regarding use of shade, biodiversity preservation, and other measurable criteria used in Bird-Friendly standards. There are more general environmental guidelines as the reader indicates. You can learn more about exactly what is included in the Fair Trade standards at my site (http://bit.ly/c66PeK).

  • B.W.

    I find it interesting that out of all the food products grown in the tropics, chocolate and coffee are the two commodities that receive the most environmental and social “certifications”. What about bananas, pineapple and sugar cane? These foods affect far more acres of land. Sure, you can buy “certified” versions of these products, but I when I go to the store, I see far fewer “fair trade” or “bird friendly” labels on the produce isle than the coffee isle or chocolate stand. Could it be because coffee and chocolate are both luxury items, for which consumers are used to associating higher price and distinguished qualifications with exclusivity? Until I see “moral consumers” paying more attention to the lowly banana or package of granulated sugar, I remain skeptical of the relative impact that certified coffee has on the environment.

    • Fabrice DeClerck

      Actually, they are two crops that are highly adapted to partial shade conditions, and which provide ample habitat for birds. We’ve been monitoring coffee, cacao, sugar cane, pastures, and forests for three years now, the majority of birds (richness and abundance) is in the coffee and cacao (even more than in the forest). However the composition does not approach that of the forest. Furthest from the forest are the pastures and the sugar cane.

      Note that Rainforest Alliance has just launched a standard for cattle production. Look for the green frog on you steaks in the next 3-4 years.

  • http://www.coffeehabitat.com Julie Craves

    Coffee (and cacao) can be grown in a “bird friendly” way because it can be grown as an agro-forestry crop and still produce a quality product and reasonable yields. Also, it grows in climates and areas of very high biodiversity which happen to be important habitat for birds. Sugar cane is an entirely different type of crop so it doesn’t lend itself to the same type of conservation initiatives. Bananas are, in fact, often grown with coffee, although not on a commercial basis so far as I know. Rainforest Alliance does certify bananas but again, on a commercial level the situation doesn’t lend itself as easily to bird habitats.

    • Fabrice DeClerck

      Rainforest Alliance is working more and more with banana and pineapple. Though unlike with coffee and cacao where the trees are typically integrated into the fields in agroforestry systems, pineapple and banana plantations purchase offsets – or protect forest outside of the plantation itself.

      Some commercial coffee farms include bananas with coffee. Indeed, at lower elevations, the bananas are often worth more than the coffee.

  • http://urbanodes.blogspot.com/ Darrin O’Brien

    Congrats to PRI for a great segment on a topic that needs awareness so we can all make a difference in our daily lives.

  • http://www.caffeibis.com randy wirth

    We helped pioneer Triple Certified, Organic, Fair Trade, and Smithsonian “Bird-Friendly” coffee. We have 26 offerings that meet all three certifications at the 100% level.
    If you care about biodiversity on the farm there is only one certification that uses scientifically based criteria to maximize for biodiversity and that is the SMBC “Bird-Friendly” certification. All others are dilute and most do not even require the biodiversity to qualify for the certification.

  • S B

    A couple of things not mentioned in the article:

    Rainforest Alliance-certified coffee is only required to contain 30% of coffee that meets RA standards. Which means in a pound of RA certified coffee, 70% of it can be factory farmed with machines and poison in a clear-cut field in Brazil.

    Also, the coffee farms that are destroying bird habitat are the same huge factory farms that produce cheap coffee like Folgers, etc. Most or all specialty coffee is grown on small traditional farms and costs more and tastes great. If you buy organic specialty coffee, you get to have your coffee and drink it too: farmers are paid much more than Fair Trade standards guarantee; the coffee is grown under a canopy of trees, and it when roasted properly, should be delicious. Forget about Rainforest Alliance greenwashing!