A Better Way to Brew

A few years ago, I switched to a new coffee for my daily brew. To be honest, I didn’t spend much time researching this—I just shopped on Amazon until I found something that was marked for its “sustainability features” and that seemed to be sold at a fair price.

But recently, I got curious: What about this coffee makes it “sustainable”? 

This has been our favorite coffee for about a year now—for more reasons than one!

The Rainforest Alliance

If you click the icon on Amazon, you’ll learn this product is a member of the “Rainforest Alliance.” And after taking a little dive into their organization, here’s what I’ve discovered.

Begun in 1987, the Rainforest Alliance is a coalition “of farmers, forest communities, companies and consumers committed to creating a world where people and nature thrive in harmony.”

The alliance is built on what they call “the three pillars of sustainability”: social, economic, and environmental. And from reading their materials a little more closely, this means they’re paying attention not only to how land is being treated and managed, but also to who is working the land, how they are being treated, and whether or not companies overseeing that land and those people are investing in practices and making improvements toward an even more sustainable future.

If that sounds rigorous, it’s because it is.

To get the Rainforest Alliance seal on your product, which looks like a little frog, takes minimum four years. I was shocked to learn this! Farms undergo a scrupulous audit that critiques their treatment of the “three pillars” before finally being awarded this certification.

But encouragingly, farms and companies are not backing down. According to their website, their “agriculture standard is used in more than 70 countries around the globe,” and if you navigate to the world map on their site, you can see for yourself where and how the Rainforest Alliance is having an impact.

The frog seal on the back of our coffee.

So what can I, the consumer, do? Knowing the rigorous approach taken to certify these farms and companies, for me it’s a no-brainer to intentionally purchase their products. I mean, I too want to “restore . . . not displace” or “degrade” and “to work in harmony with people and nature—not against them” (see “Our Approach” on the Rainforest Alliance website).

With that in mind, I’m going to try to “find the frog” when shopping for these items:

• Cocoa

• Coffee

• Tea

• Coconut oil

• Nuts

• Bananas

This is not an exhaustive list! Find a full list of their certified crops by clicking here.

For more information on the Rainforest Alliance, I encourage you to visit their website. And since you can’t go to Amazon and type “Rainforest Alliance” to find their certified products, here’s a gold-mine link: a searchable menu of companies who have partnered with the alliance.

Oh, and let me share one last thing: this new coffee we’re drinking, it’s sooo good. Every time I make it, my husband comments on it like it’s the best he’s ever had. So it’s a win-win to me—we’re not skimping on flavor, and we’re taking steps toward sustainability. 💛