From Sprout to Mug: The Hands That Make Your Morning Coffee Possible
Getting your hands on a long-awaited cup of coffee is arguably one of life’s most magnificent feelings. I have had my fair share of mornings in which I stumble sleepily into a coffee shop, take longer than necessary to make my order, and count down the minutes until the barista calls my name from behind the counter. Finally.
But just how long did it take those coffee beans to make it into your cup, and who interacted with them before they reached you this morning? How can you, as a consumer, ensure that all of the hands who contributed to your coffee were treated fairly, paid adequately, and worked in safe conditions?
I traced the life of the average coffee bean to find out.
Phase One: From Sprout to Cherry
Day One: Coffee seeds are planted. Your morning coffee is in the making!
After a month, the first leaves start appearing on the coffee plant. It is pruned, watered, and transplanted to a nursery where it can grow to maturity. These plants are cultivated by anywhere from a handful of laborers on private farms to several hundred laborers on larger plantations.
At nine months, the small plants are nurtured for up to 18 months before being transplanted to a plantation. Because the most flavorful coffees grow at high elevations, plantation laborers often work in challenging, mountainous terrains.
In three years, a coffee tree reaches maturity. It starts producing coffee cherries and, despite the time and labor necessary for cultivating a mature tree, will only produce an average of one pound of beans annually.
About five years after planting, coffee cherries are mature enough for harvest. Pickers harvest the cherries for 8-10 hours or more each day. While a skilled picker can pick 50-60 pounds in one day, many farms set quotas as high as 200 pounds per day. Pickers are generally paid based on the weight of cherries that they can harvest, resulting in sufficient wages allocated to the workers that most physically exert themselves. This also means that pickers are often the lowest paid employees in the coffee production process and the most vulnerable to exploitation.
Phase Two: From Cherry to Roaster
After a coffee cherry is harvested, its husk and fruit is removed, revealing two beans. This process is performed primarily in two ways. The first method is extremely labor-intensive, requiring the cherries to be spread out in the sun and raked repeatedly until dry. Alternatively, laborers collect the cherries into vats where the fruit is rinsed off of the bean. After either method, laborers polish the beans manually until they are smooth. After several days of husking, beans are sorted by size, collected into bags, and exported.
Phase Three: From Roaster to Mug
Beans are then shipped to importing countries where they are roasted, packaged, and transported to coffee shops and grocery stores. Within the several-week lifespan of roasted coffee, the beans are ground and poured into the mug that is now in your hand.
The entire production process takes about six years and requires hundreds of farmers, laborers, and employees.
If there are so many people involved, how can we know that the hands that produce our coffee are being treated fairly at all stages of production?
Do a bit of research on your own favorite coffee shop.
Investigate where the roaster sources its beans from. Does the coffee shop or roaster have a personal relationship with its farmers? Relationships between farmers and consumers encourage fair prices and help mitigate the presence of slavery on plantations.
Corporate coffee sellers are often unable to identify the specific farms that they purchase their beans from. This allows space for farmers to employ slave labor to harvest the beans or be unable to set bean prices high enough to adequately care for their laborers.
Purchase from companies that use ethical production methods.
Cup of Excellence is a non-profit organization that holds auctions for the best coffees. This allows farms that produce excellent products to ensure that they will receive the maximum amount a client is willing to pay. Investing in coffee sellers that are transparent about their practices will contribute to stable employment on equitable farms. This encourages a culture of ethical production in the coffee industry. You can also keep your eyes peeled for the Fair Trade or Rainforest Alliance label on coffee you purchase both in-store and at coffee shops.
Modify your choices.
Discovering that our consumption habits play a role in the labor trafficking industry demands modifications to our choices. If you discover that your favorite coffee shop or roaster is perhaps engaged in unethical production practices, take your business elsewhere. For a more proactive approach, contact the coffee shop or roaster and ask about their stance on ethical coffee farming. The first step towards advocacy is becoming educated about the labor conditions that your consumption habits support. Many coffee shop owners, roasters, and cuppers would be grateful to know that their clients are eager to support businesses that ensure fair wages, safe working conditions, and sustainable production.
About the Author
Holland Freeman is a Pacific Northwest native and pine tree enthusiast studying Religion and Conflict Management at Pepperdine University. She is keen on exploring this lovely earth by lacing up her running shoes, backpacking through the forest, and journaling on a European train heading who-knows-where. She plans to continue in her passion for advocacy and human rights through graduate studies in the field of Theology and Peace Studies.