Destructive Consumption - The Story of Coffee
There’s not much better for me than starting the day with a slow morning filled with a glistening sunrise, a good book, and of course a cup of coffee. My roommates call me an epicurean, and for good reason. When it comes to coffee, I am amongst the greatest snobs, only making pour-overs on my v60 at home and living with a deep-seeded remorse for Starbucks, Dunkin, and the all too popular McDonalds coffee. In lieu of all these options, I opt for local coffee shops, or at least smaller roasteries.
The Case Against Coffee
Coffee, the magical elixir which brings 64% of Americans to life each day, exists as a delicious yet gilded daily ritual. Like any other natural resource, coffee is limited. Good coffee, made from arabica beans, takes time to grow and can only be done so in specific regions, elevations, and climates. The greater the demand, the greater the toll the coffee trade has on land and people. It also has led to some ethical and quality conundrums. For example, Starbucks claims to use Arabica Beans. This is a half-truth. While they use SOME arabica beans (the highest quality of the two varietals) they use a great quantity of robusta in their blends. Robusta beans are of lower quality, can be grown in a more widespread manner, and often are grown in regions where labor and environmental regulations are nonexistent. This leads to unfortunate phenomena such as human trafficking and environmental destruction becoming prevalent in the growth and harvesting of coffee. Thus comes the trinitarian sin of the coffee industry: Deception, Immoral Working Conditions, and Unsustainable Agricultural Practices.
From Farm to Tongue
The pairing of my love for coffee and photography has led to partnerships with several coffee shops and roasters over the past few years. The most notable of these relationships has been my opportunity to shoot for Hold Fast Coffee and their cafe space, Peak Place. Peak Place is a shop I would frequent to a near unhealthy level. I loved the people, the coffee, the story, the craftsmanship, and the process. While the coffee industry as a whole is riddled with problems in the aforementioned spaces, small coffee shops and roasteries like Hold Fast have proven to be a light in the midst of a dark industry.
Hold Fast, for example, does something that many other smaller roasters do.
Origin
An origin trip is where a coffee roaster goes to visit where it is that the beans they are choosing to roast are being grown. It is one thing to study up on the processes that a farm uses, and take for their word that they treat their workers with a certain level of dignity, that they honor their claims of quality. Many shops wish to see with their own eyes the reality of these statements by going to visit the farms and building genuine relationships with the experts growing coffee cherries. Why is this so impactful? It ensures that the entire chain of the bean from planting to roasting is done in an ethical manner and ensures the greatest possible quality for the consumer. It is conscious consumerism at its pinnacle.
Hold Fast takes a yearly trip out to visit a farm, build relationships with the farmers, and ensure that they are contributing to a sustainable system. This also gives their baristas a great opportunity to better convey to customers the quality, story, and process which goes into the beans they buy or drinks they order.
The Choice is Yours
Coffee is a daily consumption habit of 64% of Americans. This means that over 200 million have the opportunity to make a choice. Do you indulge in the destructive machine that is the chain coffee industry, filled with its human rights, environmental, and moral implications? Or, do you support the shop down the street from your house? The one owned by someone in your community, staffed by people who have met the farmers that grow the coffee, operated by craftsmen and women filled with passion to see the beverage we all love enjoyed in clear conscience.
