Why You Need To Support Fair Trade Coffee More Than Ever

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The consumption of coffee is rising in the US as it is gaining popularity. We consume a lot of coffee. Some of us cannot even make it through a day without a few cups of coffee. In fact Americans are responsible for one fifth of the world's coffee consumption. So we are the main economic supporter of the coffee industry.

Most Americans would have little idea how the coffee we drink is produced, harvested and shipped to us. We are just thankful that coffee is readily available over the counter whenever we want it.

The Fair Trade coffee movement aims to change all that. As better informed consumers, we are now told of the exploits of some coffee importers. We now realized that many of these coffee workers or farmers who toil tirelessly in the fields are not getting a fair price for their produce.

These farmers are often are getting paid less for their coffee than it cost them to produce and maintain their coffee farms. This will mean that these farmers and their families will never be able to break out of poverty and debt. The Fair Trade coffee movement will make certain that most coffee farmers can get a decent price for their harvest and make a living off it.

Coffee prices can be volatile and when the prices fell very low, many farmers will not be able to support their families and farm lands. Thus the Fair Trade coffee movement is needed more than ever by these farmers. When coffee prices fall, it does not mean that the average consumer will ever enjoy cheaper coffee. Instead, the prices remain just as high. This means that coffee companies are making more profits. However it will mean poverty and hunger for many of these coffee farmers.

The Fair Trade Certified coffee is being introduced in the US to ensure that the coffee was produced under fair labor conditions and a reasonable price was paid for the coffee. This money paid will go into helping the health care, education, ecological stewardship, and financial independence. It will also provide the much needed financing and credit, technological assistance in shifting to better methods of farming and other research purposes.

Help to make all these possible by buying coffee only from Fair Trade Certified coffee companies. This can not only help ensure the quality of coffee and constant supply but also let you sleep better when you know no one is starving so that you can have your cup of coffee.

For more information on coffee, coffee grinders and Fair Trade coffee , please visit Coffee Drinking Tips and Reviews

Fair Trade coffee Coffee Drinking Tips and Reviews

a look at the major difference between arabica and robusta coffee plant

Though generally referred to as a coffee tree due to the huge dimensions it can get to, the coffee plant is an evergreen specific to the warm subtropical areas all over the world. Though there are quite many species varieties, there are only two types of coffee plant that global economy exploits on a large scale: they are Arabica and Robusta, the two coffee kinds on which international commerce depends.

Though these two varieties of the coffee plant are used, Arabica leads beyond any trace of a doubt as it is responsible for 75% of the world coffee production, whereas Robusta only gives 20%. This huge difference comes from the coffee plant specificity of each of these subspecies. The beans produced by Robusta coffee plant are inferior in what the quality is concerned due to the higher level of caffeine that also influences taste.

Thus, Robusta coffee is a little bitter than Arabica and darker too; nevertheless, certain communities also depend on this coffee variety for economic survival. To make harvesting pretty easy or comfortable, the height of the coffee plant is kept under control on plantations, and it doesn't get to grow as high as ten meters as it would normally do, if left wild.

Another major difference between Arabica and Robusta coffee plant lies in pollination specificity: Arabica for instance is self fertilizing whereas Robusta depends on cross pollination. The full development of the coffee fruit, the delicious bean we depend on for our morning coffee, takes about thirty to thirty-five weeks after which it's time to harvest. As for the growth period of the coffee plant until it becomes fertile it ranges between four and five years.

For proper development, the coffee plant depends on a pretty high level of rainfall every year; it is sensitive to cold, however, it will not die because of accidentally cooler weather. The dependence on warm temperature makes it impossible to cultivate the coffee plant in Europe or in other similar parts of the world, where a temperate climate provides incompatible environments.

One great surprise came when a naturally decaffeinated type of coffee plant was discovered in Brazil, with a lot better flavor than the no-caffeine coffee brands manufactured at present. Flavor is usually lost because caffeine is extracted with the help of solvents, while if it be completely absent from the chemical composition of the plant, the flavor would remain untouched. Cultivating this type of coffee plant would mean a true revolution in the business, and things are not far from moving in that direction.