The Coffee Hypocrisy

The one true roadblock to me ever becoming a full-on, 100% "locavore" would be, of course, my coffee. I love coffee. I can't live without it. I'll never give it up - I can't. I won't.

This, of course, poses a challenge to all coffee addicts like myself, who don't want to give up the beans but still want to eat all local. Reflecting back on my readings, Joel Salatin doesn't consume coffee (much to Michael Pollan's dismay, if I remember correctly), I wouldn't be surprised if Alyssa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon of "Plenty" don't drink the stuff, either (New Age yuppies..), and of course, most recently, in "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle," the Kingsolver family allowed each member one item - and only one, in limited quantities - that they could continue to have, even after their own local foods challenged commenced. Kingsolver's husband and co-author, Steven, chose coffee as his own item (good choice, Steven).

How do we amend this? I've never heard of a local coffee bean grower. I highly doubt we have the correct climate anywhere remotely near here... unless global warming transforms us into a tropic. Well, there's the upshot, I guess. But anyway - there's no such thing as local coffee beans here.

There are local coffee bean roasters, though, for sure. Rock City Coffee of Rockland, Maine (a personal favorite); Carrabassett Coffee, adjacent to Sugarloaf; and there's even a woman who roasts and sells beans at one of our own farmers markets (my lovely Hanne, of Cornerstone Farm). So, roasting locally is a start... but the beans are still coming in from Mexico and beyond. How much of a difference does roasting locally make? Is it any different than comparing an imported whole tomato to an imported can of tomato paste? Does where the processing takes place overwhelm the fact that you're still starting with an imported item?

(This is not to condemn or belittle any of the aforementioned coffee roasters. If any of them stopped doing what they do, I would probably die.)

On my darling disposable cup of gas station coffee this morning, I took a moment to examine what was printed on the cup. A very eco-friendly design, I must say... rolling hills, happy clouds, and of course, endless green forests - you know which coffee company I'm talking about. The cup told me that it was, in fact, an "ecotainer." What does that mean? It doesn't actually explain itself anywhere on the cup itself. Is it made from recycled paper? Is the slick coating on the inside of the cup not made from harmful chemicals? Are they equating ecological health with cultural health, and are trying to tell me the coffee is fair-trade? I don't know!

On my handy-dandy heat-resistant sleeve was a big green heading, commanding "drink globally - act locally." Underneath, the words are elaborated upon: "a portion of the profits from the coffees we source around the world helps support social and environmental programs in our local communities." Okay... what? Where are they saying is local? I'm damn sure my local isn't the same as their local. And wait a second - they're taking money from other countries to boost our local economy? That's not acting locally. That's exacerbating import issues.

So what the hell are we to do about our coffee? Some coffee companies claim to be making the world a better place, but just how is still unclear to me.