What’s The Big Deal With Organic Coffee?

Coffee. It’s the fuel of the modern world. Many of us depend on it to help us function every day.

But I’m not talking about coffee drinkers. I’m referring to the over 25 million farmers and workers who rely on coffee to earn a living every day.

The top 10 globally-traded commodities are:

Coffee is the world’s second most valuable traded commodity, next only to petroleum! Globally, more coffee is traded than corn and sugar — and we sure consume a lot of corn and sugar!

You’re already thinking: “I get it, coffee is a big deal... but I don’t want to listen to another rant about organic coffee.”

When launching Javazen, I had to decide whether to use organic coffee or conventional coffee. It was a simple decision with two potential answers - but the impact of the final choice was deeper and more personal than I ever imagined.

Intuitively, it made sense that organic coffee would be healthier. It grows in healthier soil, contains less pesticide residue, etc.

But that is not the BIG deal with organic coffee (remember the headline above?).

Let’s take a quick step back to make sure we understand the difference between organic coffee and conventionally grown coffee.

Conventional coffee uses synthetic pesticides, herbicides, etc. to manage weeds and pests.

Organic coffee doesn’t.

Instead, organic farming practices work in harmony with the environment and promote biodiversity, soil health and a whole bunch of other benefits that are simply good for the world.

The pesticides and chemicals have to go somewhere. Where do they go?

Runoff ends up in the farmer’s community drinking-water source. Yes, the pesticides used to grow non-organic coffee end up in the drinking water of those who dedicate their lives to sponsoring our beloved morning coffee ritual and post-lunch coffee break. In fact, coffee is one of the most heavily pesticide sprayed crops in the world.

That doesn’t sound healthy to me.

Part of living a healthy lifestyle involves not only caring for yourself, but also caring for the people and environment around you.

If you care about other people in the world, look for an organic logo on the package of the next coffee you buy.

Cheers to healthy bodies - and a healthy world for them to live in!