Organic coffee

Organic coffee is coffee produced without the aid of artificial chemical substances, such as certain additives or some pesticides and herbicides.

Many factors are taken into consideration when coffee is considered for organic certification. For example, the coffee farm's fertilizer must be 100% organic. Some organic fertilizer options include chicken manure, coffee pulp, bocachi and general compost. If inorganic fertilizers such as synthetic nitrogen, phosphate, and potash are used, then the crop grown cannot be certified organic.

In the US, organic coffee crops are overseen by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Although these standards discourage the use of chemicals on cropland within three years preceding the harvest in question, exemptions can be made. This means that not all USDA certified organic products are necessarily free of chemical residues.

Meanwhile, the Organic Food Production Act of 1990 (OFPA) focuses on the production of coffee after the harvest. OFPA regulates the use of chemicals on the product and how the coffee beans are handled throughout the production process. Regulations are not necessarily stringent; the former vice-chair of the U.S. National Organic Standards Board has stated that "Organic labels are not statements regarding the healthiness, nutritional value, or overall safety of consuming such products" (Liu 333).

According to the center for Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education in Costa Rica (CATIE), 75% of the world's organic coffee comes from Latin America. In addition, a number of Asian and African countries produce organic coffee, including Indonesia and Ethiopia. As of 2010, Peru was the leading exporter of organic coffee, with over 423,000 bags exported that year. Honduras and Mexico each produce over 100,000 bags annually. Other large producers include Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, and Guatemala.

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