Coffee is one of the widely traded commodities in the world and in order to meet demands, well over 12 billion pounds of coffee are produced each year. To grow the beans quickly, they’re usually genetically modified, sprayed with pesticides to ward off insects and they’re grown in chemically induced conditions. It’s a lot harder to take care of large acres of crops and to make sure they’re not damaged by insects, they’re sprayed with chemicals.
Unfortunately, this exposes farmers to harmful chemicals which can be a health hazard. People living around these areas may also be affected by chemicals in the air and in the water.
Some forests are also cleared of trees, wildlife and other plants to make way for more farms as the demand for regular coffee beans grows. This occurrence may increase over the years which could damage the ecosystem as indigenous birds, lizards and small wildlife begin to dissipate. Insects that feed off coffee plants will populate which results in more chemical emissions as farmers try to protect their crops from insect infestations.
Because regular coffee beans are massed produced you can find them in any store. These brands are probably inexpensive. Why? Because they’re produced in the most cost-effective way. But this isn’t a good thing considering the above-mentioned methods of regular coffee harvesting.