Science Café #1: The Coffee Connection to Birds and Biodiversity

Photos and notes from our first Science Café: "The Coffee Connection to Birds and Biodiversity":

Thanks to everyone who came out -- special thanks to everyone who helped set up/tear down, featured guest speaker Sara Yearout for sharing her senior research project and passion for sustainably sourced foods, Julie Craves (head of Avian Research at Rouge River Bird Observatory and shade-grown coffee authority) for sharing her expertise, Sara Cole for sharing the photos, Birds and Beans for their wonderful "Chestnut-Sided Warbler" blend of coffee, and the SEA members who helped make this event happen! Though the books didn't arrive in time for the event, great things happened nonetheless.

In case you missed it, here are some "tasty tidbits" from the discussion:

• "triple crown" (fair trade, organic, bird-friendly) coffee is the golden standard at this time.

• Look out for the fine print on certified coffee! Some certifications, like those awarded by the Rainforest Alliance, may actually certify only a certain percentage of the coffee to be shade-grown (30% for example) in the fine print.
• Some growers and suppliers cannot afford to get certified, but may still label their coffees as "bird-friendly".
• Caribou Coffee is working to get all of their coffee Rainforest Alliance Certified by 2012, while Starbucks has internal standards for suppliers that tend more toward fair treatment of the farmers, but may not necessarily be bird-friendly at this time

• You can find out about some of the impacts through this blog by our resident celebrity (she was interviewed on PRI's The World not too long ago) Rouge River Bird Observatory researcher and UM-Dearborn alum Julie Craves: http://www.coffeehabitat.com

• For some insight on how coffee (and chocolate) tie in with climate change, this rainforest alliance webpage is a fair source: http://my.rainforest-alliance.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=6361.0&dlv_id=10981
• Even if you're not a coffee drinker, are there places where you can educate coffee consumers about their connection to coffee, or help them make more sustainable purchases? Local cafes, the workplace or at home might be good places to start.
• Since coffee is exported into Michigan, it's worth recognizing that it does have a substantial ecological footprint.

Birds and Beans: http://www.birdsandbeans.com/
Sara's Co-Op, Ypsilanti Food Coop: http://www.ypsifoodcoop.org/
Equal Exchange Coop (Chocolates and other things): http://www.equalexchange.coop/

A pleasant coincidence I forgot to mention: the event was hosted at the Environmental Interpretive Center, a building was designed to look like a bird in flight from above!

Here's to drinking sustainably -- cheers!