Coffee is one of the most extensively traded commodities in the world with an annual production of over 12 billion pounds.
Meeting that demand is not an easy task. Hence, farming methods have been evolved to meet the demands of production- but often at the cost of health both human and environmental. The end results are non-organic, conventional coffee that many are used to.
Each coffee-growing countries have their individual monitoring systems and limits for pesticide use. The grower’s regulations vary with that of the importing countries. Along with the risk posed to consumers, there is a profusion of evidence that the pesticides and herbicides used on coffee farms enter the local watershed. Also, since pesticides are the most hazardous when they are inhaled or come into contact with the skin, they pose a major threat to the farmers, their families, and local ecosystems.
