Friday, 11 Jan 2002
SEATTLE, Wash.
Today I've got a big conference call scheduled with our campaign partners. Even though we haven't yet received a grant we applied for jointly, we're beginning to plan a campaign involving some of the country's largest specialty coffee retailers to increase sales of shade coffee. You would probably recognize the companies -- some have stores across the country -- but I guarantee you that the campaign is less glamorous that you're thinking. Stop picturing rowdy protesters chanting "No more bird blood for lattes!" outside the local Starbucks. Think business plans and supplier agreements, certification criteria and educational brochures.
Organic caffeinated goodness at Caffe Appassionato.
Photo: Seattle Audubon Society.
It may be less sexy, but it's what will work in the end. Putting pressure on one company is a sure way to make all of them mistrust us. We've found that building relationships, making the process as easy as possible, and providing convincing evidence based on past results is what matters. It's this low-key persistence that allowed us to announce this spring the opening of an all-organic Caffe Appassionato store, a local coffee roaster and retailer. In the end, most of the coffee companies we're working with -- whether they are national or regional -- have progressive roots and progressive customers; they want to do the right thing.
And it's the same with individual coffee drinkers. My evidence is anecdotal, but the response at our events is always positive. The problem is getting the word out. We can't run a TV commercial during prime time or put a billboard on every corner, but there are other ways to get attention. One of Seattle's recent high-profile events was a concert last spring sponsored by our coalition partner, the Songbird Foundation, that featured Danny O'Keefe, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, and Keb'Mo'.
Usually, though, I concentrate on small events staffed by our volunteers. Right now, I'm mobilizing the troops to run a booth at the Environmental Expo, part of the Seattle Home Show. We plan to have a coffee tasting, and, of course, literature available at the table. One of the big selling points with shade coffee is that the flavor is typically sweeter and less bitter than coffee made from quick-growing sun beans. For most people, the choice of coffee is determined more by quality, taste, health, and convenience than the environment. So we talk up the flavor, the organic growing conditions, and the high quality. I don't mind modifying our message to meet the consumer, so long as the point is taken.
Coffee-talking volunteers.
Photo: Seattle Audubon Society.
One the most innovative ideas for spreading the word about shade-grown coffee (and I wish I'd thought of it), is enlisting churches. Think about it: What do people do after church? They drink coffee and talk. Shade-grown, fair-trade coffee is consistent with the social and environmental goals many ministries already support, and churches offer a powerful vehicle for educating a diverse and committed audience. If we sign on enough congregations, the word will begin to spread within the religious community, we'll gain another campaign ally, and we'll reach people who would not usually hear our message.
Our volunteers also attend birding festivals, warming cold hands with warm cups of coffee and talking about the winter habitat of songbirds. And in the future, the campaign will work with Northwest colleges and universities to sign agreements to sell shade-grown coffee in campus snack-bars and dining halls. As for what's next, since the Northwest Shade Coffee Campaign has a staff of one (me), I'm willing to try anything that will work.
I got interested in avian ecology during a college internship with the International Bird Rescue and Rehabilitation Center in California. As I worked with the vets and rehabbers, I saw first hand the problems -- many of them caused by humans -- facing birds in North America. I know that, unlike me, most people will never see these problems first hand; most will never travel to the coffee farms of Latin America, just as most of us will never see the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Hopefully, we choose to protect these areas anyway, because of our values and personal commitment, our appreciation for the natural world, and our recognition of the importance of living sustainably on the Earth. On the scale of environmental commitment, drinking shade-grown coffee is pretty easy, but it changes the world -- one cup at a time.
You can find a list of outlets that sell shade-grown coffee in the Northwest on our website. National lists of certified shade-grown coffee are at the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center website and the Rainforest Alliance website.
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