What Exactly Are Organic Coffee Beans/

By Bart Forcey

Environmental awareness has awakened the sense in consumers to preserve the resources supplied by mother nature. What better consumable to start the earth saving project of organic farming with than growing of organic coffee beans?

The best organic coffee beans are grown in Africa. The farmers plant their coffee trees in naturally mulched and composted soil under other vegetation such as banana trees. Here the coffee plants flourish as the other vegetation provide shelter from direct sunlight and heavy rain allowing just enough light and rain through for the coffee trees to grow healthy and strong without added hormones and chemicals. Non-synthetic pesticides may only be used in terms of the organic growing organizations regulations.

Coffee beans firmly occupy the second spot just after oil in terms of world trade.Although seemingly unimportant to the average person, this little seed has a market capacity of an estimated Seventy Billion American Dollars. Trade organizations fixed minimum prices on the beans as pricing in the past had been hit hardest by price fluctuation caused by market conditions. Minimum price fixing could not have come at a better time as coffee farmers and traders will not suffer the impact of worldwide recession.

When ready for harvesting, seeds are carefully picked from the coffee trees as a tree produces a mere 2.20 pounds of coffee beans per year. The beans are soaked in water until no pulp is present around the seeds. The seeds are then dried in the sun and weighed. After the weighing, the seeds are prepared for their long journey across the world to various coffee drinking countries. The seeds are sacked and re-weighed where it's then stored in special organic produce store rooms and safe guarded until auction and final shipment is done.

A downside to organic produce is the scarcity of the products. Organic foods have a tendency to be associated with higher prices to consumers due to the products' steeper pricing in relation to conventional products. Prices are higher due to various direct and indirect influences such as low yields, higher labor requirements, business start-up financing and additional land needs.

Organic coffee farmers have to comply with strict International rules and regulations prescribed by independent organic organizations, Fair Trade and KNCU (Kilimanjaro Native Cooperative Union). Compliance with these directives entail recognition for producing and supplying high quality coffee beans of international standards, which in turn assist the farmers of organic coffee beans to tap into global markets.

Farmers of organic coffee beans and their nations make a commitment to changing their lives for the better by taking positive actions in countries often labeled as third world. By participating in farming of organic coffee beans, these farmers are helping to build up their communities, establish better health care and education opportunities as well as creating brighter economic futures. - 30241

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