Make coffee, not war: Why being organic matters (Daily Grind Vol. 5)
Image Credit: Gemma Minogue. Circa 2010, Peoples Coffee tee shirt design.
Did you know when you choose organic coffee, you are participating in a long legacy of peace and harmony over war and control?
Herbicides and pesticides emerged as byproducts of the World Wars. When the wars ended, the chemical companies pivoted from using these products on people and began using them to control weeds in mono-crop environments. A war on nature began that continues today with devastating effects.
Organic farming represents a deliberate shift away from this legacy to a more harmonious relationship with nature.
When you choose organic coffee, you are standing with farmers who work in harmony with the earth, honouring the rich biodiversity that sustains all of us. You are supporting practices that protect water sources, preserve vital ecosystems, and mitigate climate change by sequestering carbon in healthy soils.
As a company, it makes total sense to choose organics alongside fair trade. Supporting smallholder farmers and rejecting the remnants of war that still linger in conventional agriculture becomes an act of peace and a stand for a world where people and nature thrive together.
Our farmers, because we pay organic premiums, are not forced to use chemicals that would harm themselves, their families, animals and ultimately their soil and water - the basis of their life and livelihoods.
And it is leading to innovative solutions. Cooperatives like Anei are doing incredible things like using ants to distribute home-grown penicillin to fight coffee diseases! It's really fascinating - read the story I wrote about it here.
Our 2024 Biogro audit last week. Photo credit: Matt Lamason, 2024
Back in Newtown, our team has been living and breathing all things organic as they prepared us for our annual Biogro audit. It's a mountain of work - but one that we’re proud to make year in and year out.
I’m happy to report we passed with flying colours. So let’s raise a mug to making coffee, not war!
-Matt Lamason, Founder
