Examining the culture of agriculture

I snapped this photo of a grower I was working with. This cover crop alleviates compaction (it's a variety of raddish)

Recently I interviewed one of the growers that was in the soil health program for an agribusiness class I'm taking. And along with the typical interview questions, I asked him, "what do you consider the most rewarding aspect of your field?" His answer was "being part of a culture of people that grow their own food". That pretty much sums up anyone you meet in our field. Growers have this can-do attitude, which is rarely matched in other career fields. This doesn't mean that we have it easy; agriculture is by no means a get-rich-quick career. To be successful in this field it takes determination, hard work, innovation, and then more hard work.

It may be tough to see it if you didn't grow up in it, but ag was, and still is a place where you can be your own boss, set your own schedule (to an extent). This is the one area of the job industry that isn't going anywhere. People need to eat. Currently, agriculture employs nearly 23 million people in the US alone (FFA.org). And this is not just farming (farmers currently account for less than 2% of the labor force), in addition to growing the food, someone needs to truck it there, someone needs to process it into food, someone needs to ensure the food is safe to eat, still another person needs to sell the food. (see how this could get really big really fast?).

There's a lot of hats that growers wear. Growers are some of the most well-rounded people I meet. Not only do they need a green thumb but they also need people skills. On a typical day not only are growers interacting with coworkers, but salesmen, county agents, and consultants are frequently contacting them. In addition to dealing with people, growers must also deal with new regulations, and new findings. New and emerging technology and crops change quickly, and growers must make decisions of  which to try.

There are a lot of opportunities growing, processing, inspecting, and supporting our food supply. Our food supply is one of the safest and in the world. There's something to be said when you're part of that assembly line of feeding others through your efforts.I commend you, fellow ag employees!

So the next time you're browsing the produce aisle, or buying a cotton shirt, or a pack of smokes, think about how many hands that final product passed in growing, processing, and manufacturing to get it there. I know what you're thinking, all those dirty hands?!, but remember, someone also inspected it along the way. We often forget how much effort is going on behind the scenes to maintain our high quality of life, and agriculture is responsible for many of the items we take for granted.

Growing up rural

I got a hay fort whenever we baled hay, you jealous?

Growing up in the country, you face the problem of not a whole lot to do. Looking back, I don't know how I survived. I mean, we just got high speed internet a few years ago. We weren't allowed to have any video games in the house, which explains why I'm no good at COD, (unless it's with the riot shield, then I just kinda hide behind it and run into people). We didn't have cable, though we did get satellite TV when I was about 10 or 11.

Growing up, we spent a lot of time outside. Summertime was, and still is my favorite time of year, mainly because it's ideal outside time. Growing up, I would help bale hay when the time came, and swimming was always a good memory. Looking back, we didn't run the air conditioners a whole lot (compared to other households), which probably explains why I'm used to the humidity. I came from a household, where, as long as you put on your sunblock, the sun was good for you.

One very fond memory I have is for my second or third Christmas, my parents had bought me one of those toy jeeps, the ones that were big enough to drive around in. Well, my father is pretty handy, and rigged a way to take the measly 6 volt battery out and drop in a car battery. After a few tweaks, there may have been a small electrical fire along the way, I had a super-jeep. No, really, I used to hitch that little jeep up to my father's trailer, and pull it around. This jeep was a beast. So, at a young age, I was "encouraged" to spend as much time outside.

Later on, as I became older, I took up other hobbies after harvest. Another fond memory while I was homeschooled was making air cannons with PVC pipe. I would shoot anything that would fit down the barrel, though vegetables were my favorite, as they would explode on impact. Ah, the joys of being a strange homeschooled kid with a mad-scientist's brain.

And while I may have said multiple times that I wanted nothing more than to live in a place with sidewalks and street lamps, looking back, I don't think I could sleep in a place where anyone could walk up to my front door, or have a street lamp flooding my bedroom with artificial light. I'll stick to my starry nights and empty spaces.

Eat your vegetables: battling malnutrition the old-fashioned way

Malnutrition is the problem where someone is undernourished and is missing vitamins or minerals from the diet. This unbalanced diet was a common problem in ancient and medieval times, mainly because the nations were developing, and the poorer classes tended to be limited to a grain diet. This is still a problem in developing nations today, but it's still a problem here in the US. In this week's post, I'll attempt to unravel why this is STILL a problem in the US. There's two ways to combat malnutrition, dietary supplements or eating right.

When growing up in our house, it was mandatory to eat your vegetables. There was no sneaking them past my eagle-eyed mother. There was no fussing and there was never any negotiation. They were always there, staring back at me. And, after enough staring, I grew to like them. Growing up with a serving (or two) of vegetables on your plate is a disappearing trend. In the US, we have maintained a surplus in our food supply to the point where we export the extra, yet we still have problems with nutrition in the US. What's going on?

Instead, we are leaning towards a white bread, white rice, and bleached flour diet with vitamins added back in (fortified or enriched). This never made sense to me. The one product I never understood was the "Splenda Essentials', it's an artificial sweetener that is fortified with B-vitamins, fiber, or antioxidants. You know where you can also find antioxidants, B-vitamins, and fiber all in one? Vegetables! If you can afford to buy artificial, fortified sweeter, something tells me you could afford vegetables.

I think that the malnutrition problem is more of a choice problem rather than a lack of buying power. Two large programs in the US which help people out with food encourage vegetable consumption. Food stamps can be used to buy vegetable seeds under Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). You can start a garden using tax dollars! Then, there's the Women Infant and Children (WIC) program also offer the option for fruits and vegetables. And just like any government program, there are regulations and restrictions. (and I checked, and pizza is not considered a vegetable under the WIC program, they seem to have more sense than the school lunch program). But, alas, it's up to you, the consumers to make the right choice to fight malnutrition with all your available resources. Whether it's supporting your local grower, or you're receiving assistance from the government, there ARE options to eating well.

Vegetables are great either fresh, frozen, or canned. While I love vegetables fresh, I would encourage you to work it into every meal, whether they are boiled, steamed, or even roasted. In fact, last night, my mother served beets and turnips, blanched and frozen from our garden the season before. I guess some things never change.

The next time you're out shopping, look into your cart, how much color is in there? And I'm not talking about the packaging, look at the color of your food. Just like anything else, vegetables are an acquired taste, but the nutritional benefits from eating well are well worth it!

Use your words: Organic

This week, we look at the most over-used buzz word in the discussion of our food. We will look at what organic means, how it differs from conventional production, and how organic food is produced.

What is Organic?
When talking organic agriculture, this is a specific term that is owned by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). This government agency regulates the certification process and deems what is considered an organic practice, and conducts audits on farms to maintain growers' certification. This is important, because without a regulating agency, anyone could slap an "organic" on anything (a misuse of the logo is punishable with an $11,000 fine). There are synthetic items that are banned from organic production (unless there's an exemption). Additionally, there are organic items that are allowed in organic production (unless they have been banned for any reason).

Wait, so what kind of synthetic compounds are still allowed?
Although this is a fairly long list (the sum of which can be found here), many of which are used in negligible amounts. A few synthetic compounds include: hydrogen peroxide, some antibiotics (bacteria derived), plastic mulches, Ozone for sterilizing, bleach, gasoline.

If something is organic is it pesticide free?
NO! this is the most common misconception about organic agriculture. Organic just means that only organic pesticides can be used. These pesticides are normally plant-derived, or an organic by-product. This applies to growing the crop AND processing the crop, say, into snack foods.

Is organic automatically sustainable?
Not necessarily, organic is not automatically sustainable. Sustainability is a management goal that many growers strive for, whereas organic is a restriction on what can and can't be use on the crop. An organic grower has just as many tools as a conventional grower in many cases. In fact, many growers use a hybrid system with conventional chemistry and biological tools. Many people found that having the most tools in their belt makes sustainability more attainable.

Why does organic cost so much?
This is connected to the previous question. In many cases, management is more difficult, and organic producers are limited in what they can and can't use for specific problems (mainly insects and pathogens). This often leads to more blemishes, and more losses in marketable crops. Additionally, there's a pricetag on maintaining your USDA certification. It's a sliding scale cost, but the average is about $750 per certification. There's a value added to the produce and in many cases it's more difficult to maintain profitability without raising prices.

So the next time you see that USDA organic logo on something, remember that the product, along with going through the same rigors of growing, inspecting, packing, and marketing, the grower also has additional regulations to comply to. It's a lot of extra work (and money), and doesn't guarantee success for the grower. But, it does provide a value-added product to the market that some people enjoy just based on the principle of the matter.

Busy bees

What's in the box?

While it's not a typical crop, beekeeping is an extremely old form of agriculture. The honeybee was first cultivated in Egypt, and later in Rome and Greece. This ancient art and science included artificial hives (known as skeps), smokers, and even using them to boost vegetable yields. This was the major source of sweetener in the ancient world, along with dates. Honey was considered to be the superior sweetener, and was reserved to many of the wealthy.

Skeps were ancient baskets that were used for artificial hives, (believe it or not, that advanced basket-weaving class was essential back then). Unfortunately, in retrieving the honey, the skep would be destroyed, so that advanced basket weaving would be needed more than the final exam. Skeps could also be made out of mud or clay, (see that's your pottery class too). Smoking the hive was discovered to sedate the bees, making honey retrieval less treacherous.

In today's beekeeping, the hive has changed, but the concepts have stayed the same. Today's hives are in the form of boxes, which contain frames, which encourage uniform combing, which makes it possible to extract honey without destroying the hive. A complete anatomy of a modern beehive can be found here.

Above, the wooden frames can be seen resting inside the box hive structure.

The honeybee is a unique crop, not just because it's an insect crop, but the crop is self-managed. Honeybees are controlled by a queen bee. This queen is in charge of laying all the eggs, called brood. The queen emits an array of pheromones, which keeps the workers in check. The workers are all female, and live about 6 weeks, compared to the 2 year lifespan of the queen. This short lifespan of the workers is attributed to the exhaustive work of collecting nectar. Then there's the guys of the hive, the drones, who's sole purpose is to mate with the queen, not a bad life...until wintertime. In the winter, the drones are ousted, why feed the deadbeat boyfriend when you can make more next season?

While it may seem like a dangerous crop to manage, the hive really isn't as dangerous as you'd think. Between the smokers and the protective equipment, beekeeping is a fairly low-maintenance (and safe) crop to manage. For more information, there's a really good book available at Amazon or at your local library. In the coming weeks, look for an additional post looking at commercial beekeeping and honey extraction!

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Chicken or Junglefowl? (Answer at the bottom)

Ah, the age old question, which came first, the chicken or the egg? I never quite understood why people even bothered with such a question, I mean it's obviously the chicken...right? And why the chicken and egg? why not plant vs. seed, or fungus vs. spore, or even bacteria vs. endospore? Ok, maybe I'm a nerd that looks into things too much. While no one knows for sure, I'm going to attempt to debunk this question and maybe teach you, the readers, a thing or two about chickens and eggs.

First, we will start with the egg. Now, the egg is not something that is exclusive to the chicken. This is something I always called as a technicality and beat the argument. Eggs are also found in reptiles and amphibians, and I'm pretty sure pterodactyl eggs were around long before chickens were even domesticated. Eggs are also found in other birds, which have been around much longer than domesticated birds, like chickens. I think you know where I am going with this argument. Eggs were eaten in ancient Egypt, but they weren't chicken eggs, rather they ate pelican, ostrich, and quail. It wasn't until 1500 B.C. that chickens were introduced and cultivated, before that time, quail were the primary domestic egg source for the civilization.

So, before we can tackle the question of what came first, we must first examine where the chicken (or it's eggs) came from. The chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (Gallus gallus). The chicken is actually a descendant of this Asian jungle bird, found naturally in China and Malaysia. The chicken was domesticated in China around 6000 B.C. and in India around 2,000 B.C. Originally, these were bred for cockfighting, but I guess they found out they were pretty tasty being cooked. From there, they were bred for their plumage, meat production, and their egg production. Chicken is one of the cheapest animal protein sources available, which feeds millions of people daily.

While the egg may have arrived well before the chicken was a major food source, both are an important food source for civilizations now and then. Without these major staples, not only would we not have this eternally confusing question, along with omelettes, deviled eggs, chicken salad, fried chicken, and hundreds of other dishes.

Answer: Red Junglefowl

Now, the question to you: what is your favorite chicken/egg dish?

Roses are red

It's that time of year, Valentine's day! Fellas, make sure to buy a dozen red roses for your lady.

When I was president of Hortus Forum, the undergraduate horticulture club on Cornell's campus, we did an annual rose sale to celebrate the holiday, and I received an email from a gentleman who wanted 35 long-stem red roses, but he was insistent that the plastic water picks be removed. When he picked them up, he boasted, "I'm trying to be sustainable this year". While a noble new year's resolution, I think he missed the point, and by the end of this, you'll see why.

The origin
First, roses are typically NOT grown in the US. Rather the large producers are Colombia, Ecuador, and Ethiopia. These are grown year round, but, the busiest time is undoubtedly the week before Valentine's Day.

Now, there isn't a direct sale of grower to florist, rather, there's a series of middlemen. After the roses are cut in the producing nation, they fly to Europe, Aalsmere Holland in fact. This nation is home to FloraHolland the largest warehouse in the world, at 10,750,000 square feet. Here, they are auctioned off, in addition to about a million other flower lots...daily.

At each flower auction hall, there are four clocks, which indicate 4 auctions going on simultaneously. (courtesy of bunches.co.uk)

This is the warehouse portion of the Aalsmere flower auction. We were on a catwalk for over half a mile. (courtesy of plantsgalore.com)

So, once one of the hundreds of brokers has bought the lot of roses, they are repackaged and send by rail to the airport, where they are shipped to the US about 3 or 4 days before valentine's day.

Next stop: The United States!
But, when they reach the US, they have to go through customs. Being inspected at the Miami Airport. The USDA inspects nearly everything coming into the US at this one airport. Here, they are inspected and repackaged for insect pests, and fungal pathogens. This is to protect the US from invasive species and other devastating diseases that could ravage our economy and food supply.

The flowers are being transferred from a cargo plane to a refrigerated warehouse for inspection and fumigation

Ok, so perfect score! the roses passed inspection. From here, the roses are repackaged onto palettes and then ready to be sent off. Now, roses are very fragile. So, there are some companies that even specialize in transporting flowers.

Boring Botany Lesson of the Blog
Plants put out hormones, just like humans. One common hormone is ethylene, which is used for ripening, and dropping leaves. The hormone is actually, a gas, and flowers tend to be very sensitive to this hormone, and too much ethylene will make these flowers open before Valentines' Day. Plants are more sensitive to ethylene in relation to temperature. The colder the air temperature, the less sensitive the plants are to ethylene. That's why roses tend to be kept in the cooler at your local florist.

Keep on trucking
Armellini trucking is located in Miami, and they specialize in flower transport. What makes them special? well, all of their trailers are refrigerated, and are designed to allow for flowers to be transported cool. These trailers are designed to maximize air circulation throughout the trailer during transport. These are shipped to local distributors, who in turn repackage and distribute it to local florists.

The floor grates here are used to get air exposure to the bottom of the flower stack

The area noted by the red strip is left open for air circulation.
Needless to say, other trucking companies don't find this a useful.

So, from the growers in South America or Africa, to the auctions in Aalsmere Holland, and through the customs in Miami, there's a lot of stops that those roses take to make it to your lover. There are at least two plane rides and a long truck ride that take place, and at least one inspection, and three repackaging processes. So, while leaving those plastic water picks off  makes you feel better, it is by no means makes a serious difference in the process.

The final stop of Coffee

A large scale drum roaster in Panama, this place did everything.

Recently, Starbucks introduced a new line of their "blonde roast", but what does a "roast" really mean? Also, how does a green bean turn into a productive morning? When we last talked about coffee, it had been hand picked, pulped, dried and bagged. Now, it's bound for the US, where it's final stop will be in a coffee shop near you.

Once the coffee arrives here, it's sent to a roasting house. Most of the coffee arrives here green, so when you hear the term "green coffee", it's not that it was environmentally friendly, rather, it just wasn't roasted. Very few cafes actually roast their own coffee anymore. Rather, they are sent to these big roasting houses, the largest roasting over one million pounds annually.

What do all those roasting terms mean?


French Roast? Cinnamon Roast? Vienna Roast? what all does it mean? Serious coffee drinkers have a certain roast that they prefer, and the industry itself has designed different levels. The style of roast is determined by the temperature and duration of roasting. Another indicator that is used is often the "cracking" of the bean. The first and second crack separate out varieties. Each type of roast gives the coffee a unique flavor, whether it's a caramelized hint or a charcoal blast. To learn more about the roasting phases, and to figure out what all those roasting styles are, I've found that this website has a nice pictorial of the phases. (everyone loves pictures).

Onto grinding and blending


Once the coffee "bean" has been thoroughly scorched, it's onto be pulverized into a coarse powder. It's in this grinder that different blends are made too. Many coffee experts believe that a single roast style isn't complex enough for our taste buds. Blending is also done to balance the flavor profile, to make for a smoother drink. Some people like a comprehensive breakfast blend, that hits on hints of chocolate with a burnt cherry wood. For me, I simply don't have that refined a palate, but it is an interesting science behind it.

One distinct memory I always had in college was going to Manndible Cafe and I never knew what kind of coffee to get. I would read descriptions about them, and I could never decide what sounded better. And after agonizing over what tone, balance, taste, and finish I wanted, I would undoubtedly go with what I knew, either a coffee from Panama of Guatemala.

Home roasting, a new trend


Home roasting is trend that is growing in the US. People can actually buy in green coffee and roast it in their own home. This can become a serious hobby for some, including some doctors my mother works with. You can buy specialized equipment, or in many cases, you can use household items to complete the roasting, including a popcorn air popper and even a skillet.

A quick recap


Starting in the fields of South America, or Africa, or Asia, coffee is handpicked, pulped, dried, and bagged. Then, it's shipped to the final destination, in this case the US, roasted, ground, and blended. Needless to say that the journey of coffee has a lot more stops than meets the eye.

Spring is on its way!

Tulip bulbs emerging from a long cold period

Every year, around this time, it starts in our house. My mother sits down with a stack of seed catalogs, and here current seed inventory, and begins planning for the season. Not a space is left empty on our dining room table, as seed packets are sorted and inventoried in addition to multiple catalogs opened comparing varieties and prices. In a normal season, this would be the dead of winter, or just past it at least. But this tradition was always a hopeful sign of warmer weather and greener pastures.

In the next few weeks, we will regularly receive packages in the mail of different seeds from different companies. As the inventory of seeds gathers, the seeds are sown in small trays with potting soil. The trays are filled and the seeds sown on the same dining room table. In case it hasn't been made clear, our dining room table is a central hub for all activity.

Once the seeds are sown, the trays are put into large clear bags (to keep the moisture in). In the olden days, the bags were laid in our living room, as that was a largely unused space at the time. This was before we put up our new greenhouse, and it just made sense. Over the following week, as the weather started to warm, the seemingly empty soil was invaded by tiny green shoots, the first signs of life! This was always encouraging that winter was on its way out.

While she may not realize it, this was a secretly exciting part of growing up. It was a sign that soon the snow would be gone, and more outside time would be upon us. Growing up, this also meant little league baseball, baling hay, and summertime was close at hand. And all the anticipation started with a tiny green shoot.

Now, my question to you, the readers, as the "dead of winter" is behind us, what do you look for as a sign that springtime is coming?

Use your words: sustainability

Recently, my sister told me that I use too many big words in my blog. Being the big brother I am, I simply wrote her off as a bimbo.Then I got to thinking that this could be a good platform for a new form of discussion of terms we hear all the time, but what do they really mean?

So, this week's term is "sustainability". This will basically run as a fast-paced interview to appeal to people that don't have a long attention span.

What is sustainability?

Sustainability is a hot topic in a bunch of industries. Sustainability is defined as the ability for us to live in a world where resources are not exhausted (sustained) for future use. This is an especially important issue in energy and agriculture.

What is sustainable agriculture?


Sustainable agriculture is a goal that growers work towards. Typically, there are 3 points that growers strive for: economic profitability, stewardship of land, air, and water, and maintaining a high standard of living for the community. (According to SARE). This idea of managing the resources we have as smart as possible is an old idea which has evolved over the years as technology developed.

How do growers do it?


Growers make changes to the way they use resources. The biggest resource managed is water. Irrigation has made it possible to feed more people on less land, but, the amount of water that actually makes it to the plant varies. Creating a more efficient watering system (such as drip irrigation) is a sustainable practice.

Using drip irrigation only waters the immediate root zone, which is much more efficient compared to soaking the entire ground. The amount of water used is measured in gallons per hour instead of gallons per minute. (courtesy of indianairrigation.com.

Conservation is also a good way to create a sustainable system. For example, growing the same crop year after year can create a deplete soil of nutrients. To combat this depletion, growers use crop rotation, cover crops, and soil amendments (manures and composts) to sustain the productivity of the soil.

These practices are collectively known as Best Management Practices. And there are literally hundreds of tools available, depending on what the grower grows, how much land they have, and how much they are willing to spend. In many cases, the upfront costs are offset by higher profits later on.

If it wasn't for sustainable practices within our nation's farms, our landscape would look very different, and we would not be as technologically advanced as we are. Once the land was depleted, we would at best, revert to our hunter-gatherer way of life. In a worst case scenario, without proper resource management, we could potentially cause our own extinction.

And for the record, I don't think my sister is a bimbo...all the time.

A second cup of coffee

This is what a pile of dried green coffee looks like

When we last visited the coffee plantations, workers were dumping full baskets into large bins, once this bin is full, coffee begins its second phase of becoming your morning motivation. Processing.

With the "beans" neatly tucked inside the pulp of a cherry-like fruit. They use a process known as pulping (makes sense right?). This is either done by hand by squeezing the fruit at one end to eject the seed out the opposite end. Or, this can also be done by a pulping machine. Just as picking, it's a very labor-intensive process.

The place we visited used a dry method of processing. There's an excellent video of wet processing which can be found here. After the seed has been removed from the cherry-like fruit, the seed still has a layer of mucilage (goo) and a paper seed coat (known as the hull). This layer protects the seed, and must be removed before roasting. The dry method simply involves spreading the seeds out in the sun (see below).

Coffee seeds being dried on a platform in the sunshine

After about a day of drying, the paper-like seed coat is brittle with the goo being dried. Just as sundried taste different than fresh tomatoes, this sun-drying creates chemical changes which gives coffee a unique taste. In many regions, the coffee is graded using a process known as elutriation. This process simply separates high quality seed from low quality seed. The high quality seed sinks, and the lower quality (along with all the other garbage), known in the industry as "floater coffee" is sieved off and sold.  Interesting fact, the #1 and #2 buyer of floater coffee in the world is Folgers and Nescafe respectively. I guess the old adage, "you get what you pay for" holds true. At this point, the hull is removed in a dryer, and the seed is bagged. The next step in the journey of coffee is the US, Europe, or Asia.

Not until I've had my first cup of coffee...

Our Panamanian guide next to a demonstration coffee plant

Coffee, it's "essential" for many of us to get our day started, but where does it actually come from? What does it look like growing? This is part one of a multi-part journey based on the drink we all need to get going in the morning, or an afternoon pick-me-up, or to burn the midnight oil.

The coffee plant is in the family Rubiacea; popular relatives include: Quinine (that's what gives tonic water it's taste) and West Indian Jasmine. And while people often use the term coffee beans, the botanical term is a bit off, the coffee you drink is actually the seed of a fruit. Beans tend to be associated with the pea family (Fabaceae), but that's enough botany for one day.

Legend has it that coffee was discovered by an Ethiopian goat herder by the name of Kaldi. While out herding his goats, when he noticed that they were more energetic than usual. Curious, Kaldi noticed that they were chewing on this bush with what looked to be cherries on them. Being the brave, adventurous man he was, Kaldi also tried some of the red berries from the shrub, and was delighted to see that the berries gave him a boost of energy. Coffee is believed to be first cultivated in Yemen around 575 AD. From it discovery, coffee growing has taken two very different avenues of production. We start our journey in the fields of Brazil, Colombia, or in the case of all these photos, Panama.

This is what the coffee plant looks like. It's a shrub, but can reach heights of 25 feet.

There are two major species grown commercially. The first is Coffea arabica, which prefers higher altitudes, 900 feet or higher. This species is described as "delicate". Coffea arabica is the original domesticated variety, and tends to be more prone to heat and disease. Additionally, the flavor in arabica tends to be finer, with less caffeine content per bean. The arabica plant is typically grown under shade, as to alleviate excessive heat. Traditionally, they growers have used trees to provide shade, which was employed well before the advent of shade-houses, or shade cloths. This created what is known as a polyculture. A polyculture is when more than one crop is grown in a region at the same time. This is beneficial for many reasons, polycultures have fewer pest problems, and tend to be less damaging to the environment. In a polyculture, songbirds can still nest in the trees, this was a big selling point for smaller growers of shade coffee. This is also a good way for small growers to hedge their risk. If the coffee fails, they can always harvest the timber. Small growers also pick the fruit by hand. This is great when demand is low, but when demand increased, people needed a better way to produce coffee.

Presenting, Coffea canephora var: "robusta", commonly called robusta. This was a variety that was developed much later, around 1850, and addresses many of the shortcomings of arabica. Robusta coffee has much more tolerance to heat and disease; however, most of the alluring traits of arabica simply aren't there. Robusta coffee is, as the variety name suggests, a more robust bean, containing more caffeine, and what experts call a harsher taste, including more astringency and bitterness. Given the nature of this species, it does not have to be grown under shade, so, just like many of the other commercially produced crops, this species can be grown as a monoculture, more commonly called sun coffee by industry officials. A monoculture, as the name suggests, is a system where only one crop is grown at a certain period of time. This can lead to a more precarious state for profits, if a fungal pathogen comes in and wrecks the entire crop, there's no safety net. However, the payoff is a more efficient system to harvesting coffee. More efficient harvest can lead to more product to sell.

Sun coffee can be seen growing on the hillside in Cerra Punta, Panama 

Coffee is grown in several tropical and subtropical nations, with the largest producers being Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Mexico, and Ethiopia in that order. A more extensive list can be found here. In 1996, the world production of coffee was estimated to be 13.6 billion pounds. During this same time period, approximately 26.8 million acres were dedicated to coffee production.

Most of the coffee in the world is still hand harvested. For many in these regions, coffee harvest is a way of life. Workers are typically paid by the basket, known in the US as piecework. Entire families will show up to these plantations during harvest to earn a living. In many cases, being paid one dollar for a basket full of ripe cherry-like berries is the only means of income for families. For every dollar spent on coffee in the supermarket, about 8 cents goes to the farm labor, and 5 cents goes to the grower. So the next time you claim that you NEED coffee, just remember that a world away, there's a family that needs coffee as well, but for a totally different reason.

Further Reading:

One large resource throughout my research was The Coffee Book, available on Amazon, or at your local library.

These are excellent websites, and you will most likely see resources in others parts. Coffeescience.org has all sorts of facts on the health benefits of coffee. Coffeegrail also has a lot of information, including on some southeastern Asian coffee, which we almost never see in the US or Europe.