Coffee and Tea
Many of us can’t imagine an early morning without a cup of coffee, but find it much harder to stomach the thought of that caffeine jolt leading to environmental degradation and social ills. Enter organic, shade-grown, and Fair Trade certification to ease these fears. Organic coffee is produced without the use of pesticides, which helps improve working conditions for growers. Shade-grown coffee, which requires a canopy of shade trees in order to grow, promotes better bird habitats, soil quality, and less water pollution. And Fair Trade coffee means better prices for producers, as well as longer-term and more meaningful trading relationships. Of course, how your coffee is presented matters too, and we check out which brands offer more java in less packaging.
Salt Spring Coffee
Jul 2010
Who knew you could grow coffee in Canada? On Salt Spring Island, B.C., you can—and organically, too. Available in most chain grocery stores, this coffee is produced under Salt Spring’s own “Fair to Farmer Direct” philosophy, which involves paying a minimum of 25% above the fair trade base price. The company has a boatload of More >
Choice Organic English Breakfast Tea
May 2010
While only available in specialty stores and via the producer, Choice Organic teas are certified fair trade and organic. The company also has an Alternative Energy certification. Its tea bags made of unbleached natural fibres, but do come in individual envelopes. Choice Organic Teas are manufactured in a certified organic facility where Green-e Certified renewable More >
Starbucks Organic Shade Grown Mexico
May 2010
This coffee, available at Starbucks locations and in most major grocery stores, is certified USDA Organic but not fair trade. As a requirement of this certification, the beans are shade grown. They are grown near the El Triunfo Biosphere Reserve, one of the last remaining cloud forests in Southern Mexico. Starbucks claims that its farmers More >
President’s Choice Organics Honey & Ginger Green Tea
May 2010
President’s Choice Organics is a private label brand of the Loblaw Companies Limited chains. This tea is certified organic by Quality Assurance International but is not fair trade. The tea comes from Wuyuan County in Jiangxi Province, China. The tea is packaged in a recyclable box made of recycled components, but the tea bags come More >
Kicking Horse Mexican
May 2010
Kicking Horse, an Invermere, B.C.-based company, is the number one fair trade and organic coffee producer in Canada. The beans are also shade grown in the Chiapas region and Kosher. Kicking Horse employs energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions reduction initiatives, and recycling at its roasting plant. The company is also heavily involved in community initiatives More >
Tim Hortons Fine Grind Coffee
May 2010
Tim Hortons has a Coffee Partnership that supports its coffee-growing communities through training, environmental management, medical and education assistance, and “consulting farmers to ensure their coffee gets to market at the best time and at the best price.” However, its beans do not carry any certifications. Its coffee can is both reusable and recyclable, unlike More >
