NRM Log - Coffee Farm

The process through which a coffee farm has to go through in order to become organic is something I knew very little about. After visiting the coffee farm, I see what a difficult path this is to take, and perhaps why more coffee farms aren’t certified organic already.
The farm we visited uses as little water as possible to process their coffee, which makes the work harder but in the end it does not have to discharge huge amounts of polluted water. They also mix the peeled bean shells in with their fertilizer so they don’t go to waste.
Without using any chemical pesticides or fertilizers, the coffee farm is losing 45% of their production. This could be seen as a huge loss, however they are getting 20% back in higher prices, since the organic coffee can be sold for more. Even with the higher prices, the farm is still losing money. The most important thing I learned from the farm was that they do not see this as an actual loss. Because the long-term benefits are so great, they do not think that the initial monetary loss is too great for organic farming to be feasible. The health and wellbeing of their workers and of the environment is seen as a huge benefit, which makes up for the monetary loss. This frame of mind is of utmost importance in transitioning to a more sustainable lifestyle.