We are strong supporters of shade grown coffee.  "Shade grown" is when coffee plants are grown under forest canopy.   There are various degrees of how scientist quantify what constitutes a coffee to be considered shade grown, from density to species diversification.  Likewise, there are various organizations which certify and set standards as to what shade grown by definition constitutes:  Two prominent organizations are:

1. THE SMITHSONIAN MIRGRATORY CENTER

2. THE RAINFOREST ALLIANCE

While we earnestly recommend spending time looking at each to understand their approach to shade grown, we also thought that we should contribute to the conversation.

We don't believe that men and women from New York City should be traveling down to the rainforest to set criteria for what is shade grown and what isn't.  We recommend these individuals turn their focus to their own backyard and jumpstart an aggressive re-forestation program in NYC focusing on urban gardening so that they are not regulated to 'gorilla' status.    Furthermore, we don't believe in asking or even suggesting that the farmers we work with pay for certification.   We would rather they use the money on their community.  Instead we get to know them, understand whether they know about the importance of shade grown coffee and we offer technical assitance for converting their farm from a technified farm to a shade grown farm.

Any sort of catagorical analysis of shade grown is a fragmentation in thinking.   If we start to classify shade as: Rustic, Traditional Polyculture, Commerical Polyculture, Reduced or Specialized Shade, Full-Sun, Unshaded Monoculture, etc. we start to lose focus on the whole.  Bottom line is that 'shade grown' was and is an effort to take an ecosystemological approach to coffee.  It is an effort to prevent soil erosion, lose of bird habitats, and access to clean drinking waters, it is an effort to promote farm diversification, economic independence from market fluctuation, and the founding principle of sustainability: connection.