Italia is one of the most coffee-loving country. You can find coffee shops in every corner of the street. I even have an impression that 3 out of 10 shops in whole the country are coffee shops. Being so common, the price of coffee is quite low. The italian coffee in Germany at 1.80 Euro felt extremely expensive. When I was in Japan, I scarsely took a coffee, but now that I live in Italy for 1 year, a day does not pass without at least a cup of coffee.

As coffee being so common, I have never really though seriously about where it comes from. In the supermarket, you can find various coffee powders, from cheap one to expensive one, but I used to choose one of the cheepest. However, yesterday the logo of TIERRA jumped into my eyes. TIERRA is a project  from LAVAZZA to develop 100% sustainable coffee productions.

In fact, we are able to enjoy coffee everyday thanks to large scale production from coffee plantations in developing countries. While coffee has become more affordable, more forests have been cut down in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. And while I amaze how coffee costs little in the supermarket, millions of coffee workers and growers around the world are struggling to survive.The lower the price of coffee gets, the more they must produce in order to live. The result is deforestation.

The large production is desastrous not only for now like ever precious forests, but also for wild animals that live there. In Indonesia, experts say overproduction of cheap robusta coffee beans - commonly used in instant coffee - may be contributing to the loss of tigers, elephants, orang-utans and rhinos in Sumatra.

"Between 1962 and 1989 coffee production was regulated by the International Coffee Organisation (ICO) with strong support from the United States.But in 1989, the US left the ICO and the international agreements expired. Throughout the 1990s, coffee production accelerated - especially in Indonesia and Vietnam - while prices plummeted, creating a coffee crisis.Meanwhile, Western consumption and demand for coffee continued. Coffee was the second leading export product from developing countries after oil, and the US the biggest importer." (BBC)

 The more I think about it, the more I became concerned about environmental problems and exploitation by international companies.  Even though the coffee from "fair trade" costs more, if I think of the effort of the farmers, I would prefer to buy coffee that brings money to their hands, not to some greedy coffee companies. Above all, I drink coffee for my taste, and I would like to enjoy it feeling no guilt of any kind.

Now that coffee is a part of my life, I will choose "fair" one from now on:-)