Comments on: Bird Friendly Coffee

By: Roaster Dave

Roaster Dave — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 21:20:00 +0000

Hi there, I just came across your blog. I roast organic, bird friendly, fair trade coffee……100%. I must say, coffees of these type are far superior to most any coffees you can find out there. Not many people even know what a fresh roasted coffee is……but when they find it, they seem to delve even further into understanding what makes such a great cup of joe. I’ve been to origin and seen first hand the effects of ecologically grown coffee. Thumbs up on a great post!

dave

Roaster Daves last blog post..Ethiopian Harrar Grade 4 Dry Process OROMIA

By: Vegan Coffee? | Vegan Bits

Vegan Coffee? | Vegan Bits — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 03:10:06 +0000

[...] in the growth or production of coffee, it comes from a bean… However, as we learned at the Healthy Living Blog, if you’re not drinking shade-grown coffee, you may be contributing to a reduction of [...]

By: Julie

Julie — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:42:41 +0000

I’m an ecologist that writes a blog all about sustainable coffee, so perhaps I can answer George’s question.

For a coffee to get Smithsonian’s Bird-Friendly certification, it must also be certified organic. Farmers get a price premium for the organic certification, and often also get a price premium for the Bird-Friendly certification. Some of these coffees may also be Fair Trade certified, some may not. This might be due to a number of reasons, not the least of which is that Fair Trade certification is only available to cooperatives — individual small farmers or even larger family-owned estates do not qualify.

Smithsonian Bird-Friendly has the best and most stringent environmental criteria, but is also the smallest certifier. Still, if you know what to look for you can find sustainable (eco-friendly and providing a good living for farmers). I have a post providing some tips:
http://www.coffeehabitat.com/2007/05/top_5.html

And a whole lot more about these issues! Thanks for bringing this to the attention of people!

Julies last blog post..What is the market share of eco-certified coffee?

By: Mike Touch

Mike Touch — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:47:49 +0000

Great information and it’s great that you spend so much time answering the questions commentators have.

Personally I don’t drink coffee so that’s today’s good deed ticked.

By: Breadcrumbs | Bird On A Wire

Breadcrumbs | Bird On A Wire — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 13:59:37 +0000

[...] got a couple of links I’d like to point you to before I go. Will Taft has a post about environmentally friendly coffee. (go figure, its ” Bird” friendly) Ok, I know I’m carrying that too far. But give [...]

By: Will

Will — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 22:09:53 +0000

You are welcome, Larry. Your comment took a while to show up because of all the stuff related to transferring my domain, but it came through! I really like the photo of the beautiful bird on your March 4th post. We certainly don’t have anything like that in our backyard!

-Will

By: Larry Jordan

Larry Jordan — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 21:41:00 +0000

Thanks for the great information on bird friendly coffee. I appreciate all the research you have done to answer questions also. I am a very concerned birder and an avid coffee drinker so now I am on a quest in my local area to find some of this obciously superior coffee!

By: Will

Will — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 17:25:57 +0000

Hi George! I have been told that the Smithsonian “Bird Friendly” label coffee is fair trade in addition to being organic and sustainably grown. I have indeed purchased Bird Friendly Organic coffee at Fred Meyer that also has a Fair Trade stamp. It is difficult to find the Fair Trade claim in the Smithsonian site, however. I have emailed them asking to make it more clear on the website, and will send another request for clarification today.

So, in summary, I believe all “Bird Friendly” coffee, in addition to being organic, is also Fair Trade, but that may not be correct. There is nothing on the Smithsonian site that specifically says that. I would be even more sure of that if the Smithsonian would put it more visibly on its web site. I’ll let you know if I find out anything more specific.

By: George conomos

George conomos — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 14:31:25 +0000

Does Bird Friendly coffee need to be Fair Trade?

Does the farmer get any of the money or is it with the broker and roaster and how does that work?

By: Will

Will — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 23:54:45 +0000

Hi Kopi! You and any comments are welcome here. Your blog sure fits the definition of “niche”!

-Will