ON THE SUSTAINABILITY OF COFFEE

I am a little behind with my week-long roll out on SMOOTH OPERATOR – homeschooling will do that to you – so I should get on with it. But I really wanted to talk about the sustainability of coffee before anything else. Because, as any plant is becoming a popular skincare ingredient, there is a serious knock-on effect on the planet somewhere. And as we partake in the glorious benefits, we must also be aware of origin, production and procurement. And make choices that benefit not just our skin.

A fair few decades ago, most coffee coffee was produced naturally, as a ‘forest understory crop’ – grown under the shade of orchards, forests and trees, requiring minimal water and zero chemicals. It was small scale, environmentally sustainable and economically beneficial to the communities.

Then big business busted in: Coffee production became aggressive, coffee trade exploded, Starbucks & co mushroomed. Farmers earned less, coffee quality dropped, and Nature suffered.

Enter the visionaries, the wild, the naturals (and the baristas). People who returned to the permaculture growing methods. People who believed in them and invested in wholistic sustainability as a base for long-term, fairly shared profit. People who love not just the buzz in their cup or collagen boosting properties in their bottle, but also want to know it’s socio-ecological impact. People like you, people like us.

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I love reading the origin stories on @meccacoffee’s website, and, if you have time, watch ‘Shade Grown Coffee’ by @northabroad, who also took the cover pic.