From its origins in the hills of Ethiopia, coffee has spread around the world to become a major foreign exchange earner for many tropical and semi-tropical countries. Brazil and Colombia are perhaps the two countries most often identified as the coffee producers of the world, but Kenya, Indonesia, Jamaica, and most of the countries in Central America have significant production (and marketing) programs. The newcomers on the scene are farmers in Viet Nam. Many observers blame the newcomers for the current glut of coffee on the world market, and the resulting plunge in the wholesale price of coffee.
Coffee can be grown in huge monocultures, but the very best coffee, many would argue, can only be grown in the partial shade of larger trees. The particular combinations of moisture, temperature, sunshine, and drainage that coffee plants seem to prefer are commonly found not in flat valleys or very high mountains, but rather the best coffee-producing lands are the intermediate foothills of many countries in a broad band encircling the Earth at the equator.
Responsible Coffee typically refers to coffee that has been:
Responsible Coffee at Planeta.com
Rainforest Alliance has been active in helping identify and promote coffee from certified farms. The current list of certified farms is on-line at www.rainforestalliance.org/programs/cap/certified-farms.html.
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