The environmental and social concerns surrounding the production and export of coffee are complex. Here at Aurora we do our best to understand these complexities and make informed, conscientious decisions.

CONSIDER THIS: Coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world after oil. It is the most significant part of the economy in many of the world's poorest countries. The international market for coffee is capable of great good and great evil. If farmers are fairly paid and environmentally sound practices rewarded, coffee trade will improve the living conditions in equatorial developing countries. If price pressures push the trend more towards mega coffee plantations with environmentally degrading farming practices aimed only at high yields, then the coffee trade will resemble other imperialistic industries that take from these countries and give nothing back.

WHERE DOES AURORA FIT IN? First of all, the specialty coffee industry in general is responsible for introducing consumers to the value of quality grown arabica coffee. As more people switch from canned robustas and grocery grade beans, coffee growers get a better price and more sound farming practices are encouraged. Secondly, it is companies like ours who have the opportunity to educate consumers about the economic, social and environmental issues inherent in the coffee trade. And finally, we can use our buying power (a power provided by our educated customers) to seek out and introduce coffees from farms whose practices we want to support.

Our responsibility extends to the laborers picking coffee all over the world, to the environments in which coffee is grown and to the future generations who will inherit the coffee growing regions and the economies that coffee creates. We take this responsibility seriously.

ORGANIC COFFEE People usually think of the concept of "organically grown" when they consider the socio-environmental issues surrounding any agricultural product. Most coffee consumed in the U.S. is grown abroad in dozens of different countries with vastly different processing and distribution practices. This makes it very difficult for our industry to develop and agree upon a universal organic certification program. There are, however, several independent groups in the U.S. who certify organic coffees through audits and inspections. The "audit trail" necessary to establish authenticity flows from the farm or estate where the coffee is grown, through the local and international distribution processes, to the roasters and packagers of the coffee. Within the industry there are varying levels of confidence in the audit trails created by the different certifying agencies. There is, however, a growing groundswell of interest in creating a uniform process or set of guidelines. As this progresses we should see more high quality certified organic coffees at Aurora.

Organically grown generally refers to products grown without the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. These standards arise from concerns about the effects of agricultural chemicals on the health of farm workers and comnsumers as well as environmental effects. With coffee, potential health risks to consumers are minimal because most agricultural chemicals vaporize at temperatures far below those reached during the roasting process. The risks to coffee growers and the environment are, however, quite real. As the specialty coffee industry begins to take a closer look at these risks one thing has become clear: the issue of minimizing the harmful impacts of coffee cultivation and production is much broader than the question of whether a given coffee is grown without chemical pesticides and fertilizers. We are now looking to the more complex concept of growing coffee in a socially and environmentally sustainable way. Sustainable agriculture involves farming practices that protect and encourage biodiversity, allowing native plant and animal species to thrive along with commercially grown products. The end result is often a healthier ecosystem with several different cash crops and greater potential for long term productivity. These issues are central to one of the hottest topics currently under debate in the coffee industry: "sun grown" vs. "shade grown" coffee.

SHADE GROWN Shade grown refers to a practice of agroforestry whereby coffee is grown in the company of shade providing trees. The biological benefits of this system are many. The deep root systems of the trees help prevent erosion and hold rain water in the soil providing for a stable more evenly moist growing environment. The trees also regulate the temperature of the soil and plants, shielding them from the blazing tropical sun during the day and insulating them against the cooler temperatures at night. The mixed canopy created provides crucial habitat for migrating bird species that dine on insects that often harm coffee plants thus reducing the need for pesticides. Finally, the fallen leaves of the deciduous shade trees contribute nutrient rich plant matter to the soil reducing the need for chemical fertilizers.

SUN GROWN Sun grown coffee generally refers to intensive farming techniques that produce higher yields in shorter periods of time (it usually takes several years for a coffee plant to begin bearing fruit). Its easy to see the attraction of this style of farming. However, since sun grown coffee is usually a mono-culture, the biological system breaks down faster than it would if there were more diversity of plant and animal species. While shade grown coffee plants may take longer to reach maturity and yield less each harvest, they will be productive for longer periods of time decreasing the need for further conversion of forests to coffee production through slash and burn practices.

The company that purchases green coffee and roasts it for us shares our concerns and is working to find and purchase coffees that are grown in a sustainable way. Our current sustainable coffee offerings include: Costa Rica Organic, Organic Botanical Blend, La Minita Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Mexico Organic. Some of the coffee from Sumatra, Sulawesi and Kenya is also sustainably grown but as different lots of these coffees are often combined during distribution and transport in their countries of origin it is difficult to know with certainty whether any given bag is shade grown. As the awareness of the value of shade grown coffee increases it will be easier to locate and document sustainable coffees that we can all feel good about consuming.