Coffee is the most popular drink in the entire world. It is traded more than any commodity except for oil. The coffee market is rapidly changing as the world becomes more conscious of the environment and of many of the farming practices used in the past hundred years. Organic coffee is quickly gaining ground in the competitive coffee market.

There is a story that says coffee was discovered in Ethiopia by a herdsman that observed his goats becoming extremely energetic after eating the berries off of a coffee plant. It didn’t take long for coffee to spread across the world as one of the most popular and indeed for many people the most essential beverages to ever exist.

Today people are considered by the environmental and health effect of many twentieth century growing practices. For the health conscious consumer, organic coffee is the only choice. Organic coffee is grown without toxic insecticides and herbicides. The fertilizers used are all natural and consumers don’t have to worry about being slowly poisoned.

The organic coffee companies today have to gain certification by following the guidelines of the Organic Food Production Act of the early 90s. This certification process ensures that growers don’t use toxins while growing though rigorous testing procedures.

Certified Organic Coffee Fields Required

The fields in which organic crops are grown must first be certified organic. This can be a time consuming process because a farmer may have used pesticides or heavy fertilizers for years which leads to a build up of these compounds in the soil. Before becoming certified, farmers must maintain chemical free land for three consecutive years. This ensures that past toxins won’t affect the new organic coffee crops.

Consumers will notice right away that organic coffee costs a bit more than non organic coffee. This is because the certification process takes time and money to complete. Farmers have to use new growing methods and convert their old land to chemical free land. This can take years and sometimes certification must be attempted repeatedly until it is finally granted.

Since modern fertilizers usually aren’t used when growing organic coffee, crops are often grown in the shade of large trees to protect the soil from sunlight. The delicate nutrients in the topsoil can be easily destroyed by the sun’s rays.

All of this work is well worth it for the serious coffee drinker. It provides a healthier, more eco-friendly way to grow our favorite beverage.