Articles of Interest

Organic Coffee – The Wise Choice 

Let's take a look at coffee, as a common everyday consumer product, which is enjoyed in virtually every city, town and village throughout our planet. As the second most traded commodity after oil, it has indeed reached just about every home in the world! Could it be that we are slowly killing ourselves unless we are buying organically grown coffee? 

Far from being an alarmist, one can easily realize that we are ingesting small doses of harmful herbicides and pesticides with the food we eat and drink. Wouldn’t it make sense to eat and drink healthier? That is why the organic industry is now growing at 22% each year. 

Drinking organic coffee is an easy way to make positive changes toward a healthy lifestyle. It is grown without the use of harmful herbicides and pesticides, and it actually costs the same or slightly more than ordinary coffee. When you think about how often you drink coffee, and the fact that those beans were sprayed with chemicals meant to kill bugs, doesn’t it scare you, just a little.

Colon Cancer Prevention

TOKYO (Reuters) - Drinking three or more cups of coffee a day may cut the risk of  colon cancer in women by half, according to a study by Japanese scientists. Read More

Nicaragua - Ecotourism allies with fair trade in Central America by Matthew Kadey

 With light coming only from the gleam of a well-worn lantern and a sky set ablaze by a preternatural canopy of stars, I find myself answering questions about the particularities of my life in Canada and learning about the ins and outs of coffee farming with my host, Juan Acuña. As we talk into the wee hours in his modest adobe house while a hard rain turns its outer edges to mud, it's clear that the sweat and blood of this slight, congenial, 58-year-old man has been poured into a 17-acre farm nestled in Nicaragua's northern hills. With his red cap casting a half-moon shadow on his life-hardened face, he assures me that the only things keeping him busier than producing specialty coffee are his nine children and "lots of grandkids."  Read More

Food Certification Labels

Confused about food label certifications such as  Rainforest Alliance Certified, Bird Friendly Certified, Fair Trade Certified and more? Here's what you need to know. Read More

Coffee and Memory

Coffee and Memory.  Aren’t we fortunate that a beverage so delicious can be good for us in so many ways? We’re told by scientists that it looks like coffee can offer protection against type 2 diabetes, liver disease,Parkinson’s disease, some types of cancer  Read More

Why Buy From Independent Roasters?

This country was built by small independent businesses. The owner was always available to take care of his/her customer’s needs. There was a sense of pride and personal connection to that company. With today’s bigger corporations swallowing smaller companies and read more

Fair Trade Certification 

Fair Trade Certification is a market-based model of international trade that benefits over one million farmers and farm workers in 58 developing countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Fair Trade certification enables consumers to vote for a better world with their dollars, simply by looking for the Fair Trade Certified label on the products they buy....Read More  

Facts about Coffee

That cup of coffee you’re enjoying is full of surprises. Here are a few facts that scientists around the world have reported. Read More

Trading Fairly

The outlook for many poor farmers is looking brighter thanks to a movement that’s gaining real momentum—fair trade. Every morning millions of Americans stumble into the office with a hot cup of java in hand. While we’re more than aware of its power to give us a little oomph during those early hours, very few of us have any idea what’s involved in the production of our much- beloved brew. Read More

History of Coffee

The history of coffee can be traced to at least as early as the 9th century, when it appeared in the highlands of Ethiopia. Shepherds were the first to observe the influences of caffeine from the coffee beans when, after their goats consumed some naturally occurring coffee beans in the pasture, the goats appeared to "dance" and have an increased level of energy. From Ethiopia, it spread to Egypt and Yemen, and by the fifteenth century had reached Persia, Turkey, and northern Africa....Read More