Which is healthier: coffee or tea? Plus, Starbucks buys more coffee farms, the EU delays its deforestation legislation, and how you can help coffee businesses affected by Hurricane Helene.
‘Help Support These Coffee Businesses Impacted by Hurricane Helene’ – via Fresh Cup Magazine
The southeast is still recovering from the deadly and widespread impact of Hurricane Helene, with more than 200 deaths reported so far and some rural communities cut off completely. Many coffee shops and roasteries were directly affected by flooding, wind damage, or power outages, and many of their workers have been left without jobs or an income.
We compiled a list of some of the impacted businesses, which you can find on the Fresh Cup website. The team at Getchusomegear also created a spreadsheet they’ll be updating regularly that includes a running list of coffee companies who are fundraising in support.
‘Starbucks Expands Research-Focused Coffee Farm Operations’ – via Daily Coffee News
Starbucks has acquired two new coffee farms in Costa Rica and Guatemala as part of what it calls its “collaborative coffee innovation network, further connecting farmers from around the world with resources to protect the future of coffee.”
The company, which owns Hacienda Alsacia in Costa Rica, also announced plans to purchase farms in Africa and Asia. One of the new farms is located next to Hacienda Alsacia and will be used to test technologies such as drones and mechanization “to help support labor availability challenges that farmers in Latin America are facing,” according to a press release. The other farm, in Guatemala’s Antigua region, “will replicate a smallholder farming design with conditions that mirror challenges that many farms face today.”
Starbucks plans to use the farms to “find solutions to increase productivity on farms, support increased profitability for farmers and build climate resilience.” Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges facing the coffee industry, as worsening storms and shifting weather patterns threaten the long-term future of millions of farmers.
The brand claims it purchases 3% of the world’s total coffee and works with more than 450,000 farms. However, The farms Starbucks purchased will be used for research, not sourcing. “Like many of its multinational peers in the coffee roasting industry, the company’s model does not heavily rely on coffee farm ownership,” Daily Coffee News notes. “This may be attributed to the disproportionate burden of risk and lack of consistent profitability associated with coffee farming and green coffee production.”
‘European Committee Proposes 12-Month Postponement Of Deforestation Law’ – via Sprudge
After significant pushback from many stakeholders, the European Commission has proposed postponing deforestation legislation known as the EUDR.
The law, which aims to combat deforestation by requiring that products imported into the EU can prove they have not contributed to the loss of forests, was due to come into force for large companies at the end of December. While broadly popular with environmental activists and NGOs, the legislation received criticism from companies, industry bodies and farmers over worries about the complexity and costs of compliance.
The commission says it might be worth delaying implementation of the law at least a year, recognizing in a statement “that three months ahead of the intended implementation date, several global partners have repeatedly expressed concerns about their state of preparedness.” The statement also noted that “the state of preparations amongst stakeholders in Europe is also uneven.” The European Parliament and member states must vote to push back the date.
A report in Bloomberg by John Ainger, Alberto Nardelli and Ewa Krukowska noted that the EU “recently lost its greenest parliament ever [green party candidates lost 18 seats in the recent 2024 European Parliament elections], and governments across the continent have faced pressure to soften their environmental ambitions on cost concerns.” While popular with environmentalists, many coffee multinationals and industry leaders have spoken out against the legislation, and they’re not alone—countries like Brazil, the United States, and Indonesia, as well as powerful agriculture industry bodies also oppose the law.
Some welcomed the potential postponement: “A delay would bring a huge relief to the EU value chains affected, from cocoa to palm oil — and not least to European consumers already affected by a cost-of-living crisis,” Carlos Mera, an analyst at Rabobank, told Bloomberg.
Environmental activists, however, were less enthused. “It’s clear that the EU is giving a green light for deforestation for at least one more year,” João Gonçalves from the NGO Mighty Earth told Mongabay.
Some worry that the delay could lead to an eventual rollback of the legislation. But, Antonie Fountain of Voice of Organisations in Coffee Alliance hopes the extra time will allow coffee stakeholders to build systems to ensure compliance with the EUDR. “We urge the coffee sector to use these extra months wisely, and put all their energy in getting ready, not in pushing back at the regulation,” Fountain said in a statement shared with Daily Coffee News. “The time for mandatory compliance was yesterday, not next year.”
More News
‘CQI Launches Industry-Wide Skills Survey’ – via Global Coffee Report
‘Halloween Horror Fiction On Sprudge! Send Us Your Scariest Coffee Story For 2024’ – via Sprudge
‘JDE Peet’s and TechnoServe Launch $15.3 Million Avanza Café Project’ – via Daily Coffee News
‘Fairtrade Study Finds Small-Scale Coffee Farms More Sustainable’ – via Global Coffee Report
‘Lavazza’s New Ad Campaign Makes Me Deeply Uncomfortable’ – via Sprudge
‘VOCAL Alliance Launches, Urges EU Regulatory Compliance Over Pushback’ – via Daily Coffee News
Is Coffee Good For You?
The health battle between coffee and tea has been going on for years: the BBC has looked into whether coffee or tea is better for you (more than once), and so have reporters for the Washington Post, Forbes, and even Martha Stewart. The consensus is that they’re both pretty healthy, so it comes down to preference.
Studies about the beverages aren’t usually done together, but new research from the University of Galway in Ireland put coffee and tea head-to-head—and there was a clear winner.
Researchers found that drinking more than four cups of coffee every day could raise your risk of stroke by 37% while drinking tea lowers the risk.
The study, published in the International Journal of Stroke, was part of an analysis of the INTERSTROKE research project, “one of the largest international studies of risk factors for stroke, involving almost 27,000 people, in 27 countries, including almost 13,500 people who experienced their first stroke,” according to Neuroscience News.
The study found that drinking 3-4 cups per day of black tea was linked with a 29% lower chance of stroke, while those who consumed the same amount of green tea had a 27% lower risk. Adding milk negated any benefits, possibly due to “reduc[ing] or block[ing] the beneficial effects of antioxidants that can be found in tea,” according to a press release.
While people who drank four or more cups of coffee were observed to have a higher risk of stroke, the study found that anything below four “had no association with stroke.”
In a separate study, the authors found that fizzy drinks and fruit juices were also linked to an increased risk of stroke, especially for those who consumed two or more drinks per day.
“A key goal of the INTERSTROKE study is to provide usable information on how to reduce one’s risk of stroke,” said Professor Martin O’Donnell from the University of Galway. “While hypertension is the most important risk factor, our stroke risk can also be lowered through healthy lifestyle choices in diet and physical activity. The current study adds further information on what constitutes healthy choices on daily intake of beverages.”
Beyond the Headlines
‘National Coffee Day Could Be So Much Better’ by Zac Cadwalader
‘Coffee: High Risks and Changing Climate’ by Emilio Bonnet
‘It’s Impossible to Visit Every Starbucks On Earth—But One Man Is Trying Anyway’ by Fionn Pooler
