Organic coffee is a growing trend in the world of fine coffee today. Why? In an era when more and more people are questioning the damage humankind might have already done or is continuing to do to our planet, the organic agriculture and farming movement continues to grow in consumer awareness and gain support across an ever wider spectrum of people. And with good reason.

While government and industry regulations and definitions vary, the term “organic” may be loosely defined as describing anything propagated, grown, nurtured, or processed without the use of synthetic herbicides, pesticides, or chemical fertilizers so commonly used in food production today. As a result, the organic approach is kinder to the environment. Champions of organic products also believe they are kinder to human health, since they lack traces of potentially harmful synthetic chemicals found in some conventionally grown foods.

The Price and Value of Organic Coffee
Granted, the enhanced safety and health organic coffee may offer comes at a price. For example, Starbucks organic coffee beans, from Mexico, may be priced as much as one dollar more per pound than the next-most-expensive coffee beans Starbucks offers. Bear in mind, however, that the care that goes into growing and processing organic coffee beans also generally translates into higher quality coffee beans overall, so you are likely to get a great-tasting cup of coffee for your money.

Skeptics may question whether any coffee health benefits really come from buying and drinking organic coffee. They argue that by the time conventionally grown coffee cherries have been harvested and processed, the beans roasted and ground, the coffee brewed, and the resulting liquid extract sipped while the solid grounds are thrown away, virtually no trace of any chemicals used in the original growing of that coffee could possibly remain. Even if that were so, the benefits for the environment that result from organic coffee growing cannot be denied, giving any concerned, coffee-loving consumer more than enough good reason to buy and enjoy organic coffee beans.