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Nestea Tea and Bev

Organic Tea and Coffee

Organic tea and coffee is one of the many varieties of "ethical" products that are now on the market, and probably the best known. The idea of organic is not new, and is applied to nearly every crop on the market today. But what exactly does it mean, and where can you buy organic tea and coffee?

To be labeled organic, coffee and tea (or any product for that matter) must be grown without chemical fertilizers, fungicides or pesticides. This can be of particular importance because most coffee and tea crops are grown in tropical areas where the environment is more vulnerable to chemical contamination. Natural products (insecticides and fertilizers) can be used and still maintain the "organic" status.

In order to earn the official USA certification for organic products, coffee must be grown on land where there have been no chemical pesticides or other substances for 3 years. Crops also need to be rotated to keep the soil from becoming exhausted. The bean also cannot come in contact with non-organic beans (or any non-organic produce). All plantations that offer certified organic tea or coffee are also subject to regular inspections to make sure they are kept to the high standards of the label. Specific details may vary, depending on the country of origin. In other words, labeling in the United States may have different standards to organic labaling in the European Union or in Australia.

Green Mountain is famous for their whole line of organic and ethical coffees, but more and more coffee bean and tea sellers are offering these chemical-free alternatives. Even mainstream companies like Timothy's, Coffee People, Bigelow Tea and Emeril's have organic products. That includes tea and coffee available in single-serve pods, T-discs and K-cups.

Other Ethical Coffee and Teas

As mentioned, there are other kinds of ethical products that are similar to "organic", but they each have a different meaning. Fair Trade (or Fairly Traded) coffee or tea means the beans/leaves have been grown on a farm with fair equitable wages and safe working conditions.

Shade-grown coffee means that the natural rainforest canopy hasn't been razed to the ground to make room for coffee fields, leaving much of the natural ecosystem in place while the plantaions continue to flourish. This is more commonly seen with coffee rather than tea, though the benefits are the same and shade-grown tea does exist.

Bird-friendly is a bit of a secondary label, that really just means that the beans are both shade-grown and organic. Large swathes of land with no trees can disrupt bird migrations, and the pesticides eliminate bird's food sources.

One great thing about both organic tea and coffee is that it's becoming less of a fringe product. As more and more companies (and coffee farmers) get on the organic bandwagon, the prices start to come down. And even in the cases where it does cost more than "standard" coffee or tea, organic offers a higher reward to the buyer because it is better for the environment.

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