Poor Farmer

Researchers marshal technology in bid to thwart fungal outbreak in Central America. Daniel Cressey Nature January 29, 2013 Coffee growers are worried that a fungal outbreak will affect the next harvest of coffee berries. HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/GETTY IMAGES Where there is coffee, there is ‘coffee rust’. But the long stalemate between growers and the fungus behind the devastating disease has broken — with the fungus taking the advantage. As one of the most severe outbreaks ever rages through Central America, researchers are reaching for the latest tools in an effort to combat the pest, from sequencing its genome to cross-breeding coffee plants with resistant strains. Caused by the fungus   Hemileia vastatrix , coffee rust generally does not kill plants, but the Institute of Coffee of Costa Rica estimates that the latest outbreak may halve the 2013–14 harvest in the worst affected areas of the nation. This outbreak is “the worst we’ve seen in Central America and ...

Coffee output in Central America and Mexico may tumble as a disease affecting foliage spreads, prompting governments to take emergency measures to protect farms responsible for 14 percent of global production. In Costa Rica, Vice President Luis Liberman and Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Gloria Abraham on Wednesday signed an emergency decree to combat a highly destructive fungus known as “roya,” which has devastated coffee crops, particularly in the southern region of Costa Rica. Coffee leaf rust threatens production in Central America By   Andres R. Martinez ,   Andrew J. Barden   &   Adam Williams Bloomberg January 24, 2013 Coffee output in Central America and Mexico may tumble as a disease affecting foliage spreads, prompting governments to take emergency measures to protect farms responsible for 14 percent of global production. Guatemala, Central America’s second-biggest coffee grower, may lose a third of its crop because of...

By  Jessica Percifield IVN (Independent Voter News) January 20, 2013 Photo: Walter Rodriguez / Creative Commons When people talk about sustainability, they often favor a top-down approach. Traditional avenues for change, such as writing your congressperson, starting a petition or rallying around new legislation that sets new standards for businesses to follow comes to mind. However, real change often comes when there are certain prerequisites that give it natural momentum. Where is momentum building naturally and poised to yield the most returns if you add in today’s most powerful tool for change; consumer activism? The answer lies in the cup of coffee you may be sipping on right now. Sustainable coffee growing practices and consumer activism go hand in hand. America’s Largest Food Import Not many people realize that the crude they pour into their cup everyday is the second most traded commodity, beat out only by petroleum. In fact, coffee is the lar...

"Dr. H. Robert Superko, who directed the research at the Stanford Lipid Research Clinic, said he doubted that the process of taking out caffeine changes the coffee so that it raises cholesterol. Instead, he said, the difference may result from the kinds of beans that go into various types of coffee.In general, he said, mild arabica beans are used to make regular coffee, while most decaffeinated brands use more strongly flavored robusta beans." AP via New York Times Published: November 15, 1989 Middle-aged coffee drinkers who switched to decaffeinated coffee increased their blood levels of a form of cholesterol that contributes to heart attacks, a study has found. Dr. H. Robert Superko, who directed the research at the Stanford Lipid Research Clinic, said he doubted that the process of taking out caffeine changes the coffee so that it raises cholesterol. Instead, he said, the difference may result from the kinds of beans that go into various types of coffee. ...

By Adam Pesce, Director, Coffee at Reunion Island Coffee Huffington Post January 18, 2013 Since I started in coffee over eight years ago, I would have to say that my main message to the non-coffee world would be one of respect towards the product they consume every day. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, and again, and again: coffee is one of, if not the most, labour-intensive agricultural products in the world. And we don't, as consumers, pay not even remotely enough for it, given the amount of work that goes into its production. As far as we in the first world go, I would place myself in a small, yet growing cadre of coffee professionals who regularly watch coffee develop, from seed to cherry to roasted bean to beverage. Strangely enough, most coffee farm workers don't actually drink coffee, let alone the coffee that their hard work produced. Almost, but not all, farmers are woefully unaware of what is done with the fruits of their labour once...

NEWS RELEASE National Coffee Association USA January 15, 2013 New York (January 15, 2013) - The National Coffee Association (NCA) is about to launch a dynamic new website as part of a new NCA consumption promotion campaign kicking off this year. The site - MyVirtualCoffeehouse.com© - celebrates coffee lifestyle and culture within a first-of-its-kind concept of an online coffeehouse. MyVirtualCoffeehouse.com is designed to capture and celebrate the many ways coffee enhances life within the interactive frame of a coffeehouse experience. As such, it reflects the multi-faceted theme of the NCA consumption promotion campaign - that coffee is a well-rounded beverage that improves life in many distinct and complementary ways. Consumption Promotion Campaign The NCA consumption promotion campaign is designed to promote coffee across the category on a non-proprietary, pre-competitive basis. Its objectives are to give coffee consumers reason to drink more, further cultivat...