Coffee, Conservation, and Contributions—Caffeination is a Virtue!

For years, we’ve had the amazing Death Wish coffees, both at home and the office. Because some days, you need 708 milligrams of caffeine per 12 ounce cup (the average coffee has between 105 – 405 milligrams per 12 ounce cup), and making an offering to the gods with Valhalla Java Odinforce Blend feels right.

However, I’ve had a metabolism shift, and can’t do caffeine like that any more. But I love my coffee, and found Birds & Beans—Smithsonian Bird Friendly® shade-grown organic coffee. Their website states, “[the] certification is independently considered the best guarantee of environmentally sound, sustainably grown coffee farming. Now by simply drinking the right coffee, coffee lovers can help preserve over 100,000 acres of prime tropical habitat and biodiversity, save birds, family farms and the Earth we all share.”

[Image description: A drawing of a tree and two birds in silhouette, with the words “Bird Friendly” and “Smithsonian” in white letters.]

They go on to explain:
“For over 100 years full and partial shade farming was the traditional method of coffee production. However the industry’s boom resulted in most forests being cleared. Full-sun farms elicit a higher yield and require less management creating bigger profits for CEO’s. For migratory birds and local wildlife the result of this is habitat loss. Now less than 40% of coffee farms remain in true shade and organic. The human cost is that many coffee workers must move to find work and fair wages as this increased demand for coffee has led to lowered standards.
At Birds & Beans Coffee we pay our farmers the top price for coffee so they can keep growing coffee the old-fashioned way and so they can keep supporting their workers and families.”

They company also donates 5% from every bag sold to their conservation partners, including the American Bird Conservancy, the Urban Wildlands Group, and the national and several local chapters of Audubon, among others.

And the coffee is good! It’s so nice to be able to enjoy a cup of coffee and not bounce off the walls for the next 10 hours. They also have decaf, for people who want to avoid caffeine entirely.

Organic, fair trade, environmentally sensitive coffee that does good and tastes good! What more could you ask for?

[Image description: A photo of six bags of Birds & Bean coffee in different flavors.]

Note: I don’t receive a commission or anything from them for writing about the coffee—I’m doing this solely because I enjoy their coffee, and I appreciate being able to do some good just by doing something as simple as buying coffee.