Is Organic Coffee Worth It?
Today, we live in an era where companies do whatever it takes to meet the increasing demands of an increasing global population.
Unfortunately, most of the time this results in companies turning to means that are unhealthy both to the environment and to the user of the product they are so desperate to sell to us.
When it comes to coffee, the reality is that these questionable means are now the norm and consequently, companies that use the healthiest and safest means possible to produce their product are the outliers. As a result, we’re brought to question, is organic coffee worth it?
In this article, we take a look at the list of factors that show why it is worth selecting organic coffee above regular coffee.
Before we can dive into any of that though, we need to ask ourselves what organic coffee is.
What This Article Covers:
Benefits of Organic Coffee
Although organic coffee generally costs a bit more than regular coffee, there are a number of reasons paying for this extra price tag could be worth it. If you’re concerned with your health and the health of the environment, you’ve definitely at least heard of the organic farming movement.
Below, we‘ve compiled a list of what we believe are the five most important benefits of organic that are sure to illuminate the benefits of investing in organic coffee above conventionally-grown coffee.
So, let’s take a look at these five benefits of organic coffee.
1. Free from Synthetic Chemicals
Regular coffee beans are usually grown using a concoction of artificial fertilizers, pesticides, and fungicides. The goal of these is to increase the yield of the crop while minimizing damage to the plant or the need for extra labor.
As such, it’s no surprise that conventional coffee is one of the most chemically treated foods on the market.
Organic coffee, on the other hand, is grown without using these synthetic sprays. This means that no artificial substances are used in the growing and treating of these coffee beans. Bear in mind, though, that this doesn’t mean that organic coffee or any other organic produce is pesticide free.
Every farmer, no matter their growing method, is going to do whatever they can to preserve their crops and keep them safe from pests and diseases. Organic farmers are limited in which pesticides and herbicides they can use to still be USDA-certified organic.
2. Health Concerns
The chemicals used in the production of conventionally-grown coffee have been extensively studied to examine their risk of chronic or terminal conditions. While there have been several highly public court cases about it, there’s been no conclusive evidence to suggest that conventionally-grown food increases the risk of cancer or other diseases.
While chemical pesticides like glyphosate (Roundup) are potentially hazardous in large quantities (specifically to farmers and farm workers who are in contact with the substances), any residue that remains on the produce after picking, packaging, and shipping is so low that there is no demonstrable risk.
With this in mind, let’s take a deeper look at some of the additional health benefits of organic coffee due to its absence of toxic chemicals.
Low Acid
Artificial toxins have the effect of making coffee more acidic. This means that, not only will your coffee taste less gentle in your mouth, but it may actually cause you to suffer from heartburn by causing acid reflux in your digestive system.
Organic coffee is generally regarded to be the best low-acid coffee and so, you’ll be saved not only from the unpleasant sensation of heartburn but also from what may sometimes taste like a mouthful of battery acid.
Pure Caffeine Content
Another downside that is associated with regular non-organic coffee is that it may cause you to feel anxious and jittery. This is due to the fact that the caffeine content in non-organic coffee beans has been altered through the use of artificial toxins in the growing of these beans.
As a result you’ll essentially be drinking coffee that still has the same normal caffeine content but the caffeine itself is not pure. It is these impurities that cause these sensations of increased anxiety and jitteriness.
Organic coffee only contains pure caffeine as a result of its all natural method of growth, and so you’ll be able to enjoy that extra kick the caffeine gives you in the morning with a significantly decreased risk of any undesired anxiety or jitteriness making their way into your day unnecessarily.
3. Tastier
As you may have suspected, the use of any artificial chemicals has a significant impact on the actual taste of the coffee itself. We saw this earlier when we discussed how they cause normal coffee to be more acidic and so more unpleasant to drink.
The taste of coffee is directly related to the health and natural condition of the soil the crops planted to bear coffee cherries are planted in. The more chemicals, such as artificial fertilizers, are used to treat the soil, the more unnatural the coffee you produce will taste.
Organic coffee is usually grown in mountainous regions in the shade of large trees. As a result, the soil this coffee is grown in is extremely rich in naturally occurring nutrients and so you sip your cup of organic coffee knowing you're enjoying nothing but pure 100% natural coffee.
4. Better for the Environment
Any large–scale agricultural operation requires large tracts of land along with lots of fertilizer, sprays, and laborers, often working in poor conditions. What’s more, many of the areas where coffee is grown today are not areas where the plant is endemic, meaning that farmers have to change the ecosystem to varying degrees to make it habitable for the imported plants.
Consequently, these ecosystems can be thrown completely out of balance because animals that consume small insects have no trees or shrubbery to live in. As a result, these smaller, often undesired creatures, completely take over. This in turn leads to the increased use of artificial pesticides.
Organic coffee, on the other hand, completely avoids this vicious cycle because it is grown 100% naturally. Lifeboost Organic Coffee is shade-grown in mountainous areas and so it requires no demolition of ecosystems.
5. Better for the Farmer
As we mentioned earlier, the production of organic coffee is generally more expensive and labor-intensive than non-organic coffee. However, if their coffee is certified as organic, farmers will be able to charge more for their coffee and in turn compensate their employees more generously.
This means that as a whole, the majority of organic coffee consumers comply with fair trade standards, meaning that they abide by certain values. These values include maintaining the upkeep of community welfare, employee income stability, and environmental awareness.
Furthermore, by completely leaving the use of any toxic chemicals like artificial fertilizers and pesticides out of the equation, both the farmers’ employees and the farmers themselves are not exposed to the risk of inhaling any such toxic chemicals and suffering from their accompanying health risks.
Things to Take Note of
Cost
As we have mentioned a couple of times, organic coffee is known to be more expensive than regular non-organic coffee. This is due to the fact that, with the existence of all these unnatural growing methods, it is more expensive and less profit savvy to use the natural traditional methods of growing coffee.
That being said, as we’ve already explained above, this is actually beneficial to the farmer in the sense that the crop that they are growing is actually a commodity and as such, they can charge more for the purchase and growing thereof.
In addition to this, if you consider all the negative health implications associated with non-organic coffee, forking out a couple extra bucks to buy the best organic dark roast coffee above regular coffee is actually a small price to pay. It ensures your health and safety from any of the artificial chemicals mentioned above.
Authentication
It is fairly common that companies advertise their coffee as being organic when it is actually not. This is harmful to the organic coffee movement as a whole because it actually serves to discredit all organic coffee regardless of if they are authentic or not.
For this reason, it is always important to ensure that the organic coffee you buy is USDA-approved. This is because USDA approval means that the coffee in question is certified to be 100% based on all the considerations we mentioned above.
The best organic espresso beans and coffee beans will always be USDA-approved. Here at Lifeboost, we take pride in the fact that all of our products are USDA-approved.
Conclusion
Overall, the list of benefits that we have provided you with above will steer you in the right direction when you embark on deciding whether organic coffee is worth it.
One thing is for certain though - be it a steaming cup of organic espresso or a cool cup of organic iced coffee. Either way, you can enjoy your organic coffee knowing that you are drinking 100% natural and 100% pure coffee.