News Room Topics
Birds, Environment & Coffee
Coffee Production
Coffee Trade
Coffee Certification
January
Assessing the Value of Shade Coffee posted 1-17-10
Promoting coffee grown under diverse and complex shade, and preserving natural vegetation remnants, emerge as complementary, rather than supplementary, conservation strategies for birds in the Colombian Andes. Read more.
Bird Friendly: Good for Coffee, Environment posted 1-17-10
It just so happens that what’s good for migrating birds is also pretty darn good for coffee, coffee farmers and consumers. Read more.
Green Coffee posted 1-17-10
Best of all, the shade trees provide a habitat for birds and other wildlife such as bats, insects, reptiles, and other small mammals who can live comfortably among the crop trees. Read more.
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January
The Environmental Cost of Coffee Production posted 1-17-10
Coffee production has the potential for considerable global impact on the environment. Read more.
Drink Bird Friendly Coffee posted 1-17-10
Growing coffee in shade allows coffee flavors to develop more deeply and provides habitat for migratory birds, enabling them to work as a natural pesticide and eat insects on the coffee plants. Read more.
U.S. Forest Service Partnership posted 1-17-10
The Forest Service helped launch an effort to conserve habitat for neotropical migratory birds by modifying coffee-growing and drying techniques, in partnership with the Univ. of Mass., the Mesoamerican Development Institute, and the Montes de Oro coffee cooperative in Costa Rica. Read more.
The Cost of Coffee posted 1-17-10
The implications of these conventional coffee production methods are severe: Crucial habitat for exotic and migratory birds, as well as other species, has been lost, leading to rapid extinction. Read more.
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January
"Bird-Friendly Coffee" on Facebook posted 1-17-10
Companies that sell coffee with the "Bird Friendly®" seal of approval contribute 25 cents per pound to support SMBC research and conservation programs. Read more and become a fan.
Your Coffee and Our Birds posted 1-17-10
Apparently the buyers of some organic coffees (McDonalds, Walmart and Starbucks to name a few) aren't paying the top premium price that the farmer needs to cover his costs. Read more.
Pay More for Organic (and Shade-Grown) Coffees posted 1-17-10
When you take into account the fact that the soil and coffee trees on chemical-dependent farms become depleted many years sooner than on organic farms, or the costs involved in environmental and human health due to exposure to chemicals, primarily pesticides, "cheap" coffee is no longer cheap for anybody. Read more.
Sales of Bird Friendly Coffee Grow posted 1-17-10
SMBC sees growing consumer interest in taking viable actions to protect migratory birds and with roasters interested in providing coffees with double or triple certification. Read more.
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January
Coffee Label Decoder posted 1-17-10
The Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center's "Bird-Friendly" certification guarantees that a minimum of 40 percent of coffee berries have been grown under rain forest canopy. Read more.
What Is Bird Friendly Coffee? posted 1-17-10
You may have seen the Bird Friendly label on your coffee, but what exactly does it mean? Read more.
Facts About Organic Coffee posted 1-17-10
What labels might you see on organic coffee and what do they mean? Read more.
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