Hans,

You wrote:

>hate to upset all you coffee drinkers but I read somewhere recently
>that there is such a demand for coffee that shade trees are being >removed
from existing shade grown areas in order to boost production.

First, this is not a flame.

The issue is actually a little more complicated. You're right that shade grown
coffee plants are being removed to replace them with higher-yielding,
shorter-lived, sun-tolerant varieties. But, the beans from these sun-tolerant
coffees are not of the same quality as the ones found in most finer coffee
establishments. In an earlier post someone wrote a Starbucks employee said
they only use shade-grown coffee. What that person meant was that even though
the coffees Starbucks carries are not CERTIFIED shade-grown or organic, in
practice they come from the smaller family-run plantations where old and less
environmentally destructive practices yield the beans Starbucks (and its
customers like me) prefer.

By demanding either the taste of the arabica beans that can only be grown in
"shade" plantations you can help avoid further loss of habitat.

A few point in random order:

1) the shade trees on "shade" plantations provide protection from rains
eroding topsoil, reducing the need for fertilizers.

2) the shade trees provide a variety of products for the families that tend
the plantations. From fire wood for their own use to fine hard-woods they can
sell. Diversifying production makes the families less susceptible to the whims
of the coffee market.

3) shade plantations are second only to undisturbed forest in biological
diversity, including birds. The birds in return help keep insects at bay,
hence there is less need for expensive and detrimental insecticides.

4) transforming to sun-tolerant coffee plants requires a large investment and
consequent large investments in fertilizers and pesticides, reducing product
diversity, making coffee growing unaffordable for families. So there is a
social issue as well.

5) sun-tolerant trees live shorter, needing replacement (and attached
investments) sooner.

Now the issue of either "organic" or "certified shade-grown" coffee. The
certification process is rather expensive and most families who depend on
coffee for income cannot afford it. By the very nature of their circumstances
though, you are ^almost^ guaranteed that their product is organic as well as
shade-grown.

By demanding/requiring certified coffee you are sending a message that you
care about all these issues and want the large-scale buyers to be responsible.
However, you are also making it somewhat more complicated and more expensive
for the coffee growers and merchants, to satisfy the demand. If there's enough
demand the market will adapt. So from that standpoint of view the last thing
you should do is forgo coffee. Your money speaks.

Martin coffee & chocolate-lover Muller
MartinMuller at classic.msn.com