By Lena Turcios
Climate change has progressively worsened in recent years, considering that the weather has been ranging from high 90s to low 80s in the month of October—which is unusual since fall June 2023 set a record for the warmest June in 174 year record. Recent events like the fires in Hawaii and Canada have shown that global warming is worsening, as well as the climbing temperatures in the southwest United States. Climate change may not be a topic that many people are familiar with, so how about we tie it back to Starbucks? How do we do this? There is a huge threat for coffee. So, let’s discuss how rising temperatures are reducing the areas for growing coffee, and what this means for Starbucks.
Some people can be unaware of the severity of climate change and how everyday it’s getting worse. Two thirds of extreme weather events in the past twenty years have been caused because of human influence. In the past forty years, extreme temperatures, droughts and wildfires rates have more than doubled. To add onto these hard truths, sea levels are rising faster than ever in this current age. Globally, sea levels have risen by 21 to 24 centimeters. This rise is caused by melting glaciers and warming oceans. Temperatures in the Arctic are rising faster than anywhere else in the world, meaning the glaciers are melting at a quicker rate. World hunger is also increasingly worse because of climate change. Extreme weather conditions affect crop yields and their nutritional value. Under the stress of heat from droughts, animals will become more liable to diseases, which leads to uneatable meat—cutting food availability. These heat temperatures are the main culprit against coffee.
According to the Inter-American Development Bank, a Latin America and Caribbean financial institution, “To grow properly, coffee crops require specific temperature, light and humidity levels.” Things have to change in order for coffee to continue to thrive in the current market. For more than ten years workers for Starbucks have been breeding different types of coffee trees, trying to find the most efficient and suitable trees. They try to find ones that will yield a large amount of fruit in a short amount of time, along with ones that don’t yield leaf rust.
After pairing hundreds of varieties together, Starbucks has chosen six coffees that meet its standards. Starbucks has 36,000 locations across the globe, meaning they rely on various farmers to keep their stores successful. Starbucks buys its coffee from around 400,000 farmers across thirty countries. However, many farmers around the globe are struggling to adapt to climate change. Suzanne Shriner, president of Lions Gate Farms, which is located in Hawaii, says that farmers are working with World Coffee Research (a non profit organization that partners with Starbucks). To come up with a solution to stop coffee leaf rust, which has become a large problem in the region.
Heavy rains, droughts and freezes damage crop production, directly affecting coffee, and it is hard for farmers to adapt to weather changes because weather is unpredictable. Arabic coffee is the most at risk for damage because of extreme weather, and it’s the only variety Starbucks uses. “With Arabic Coffee there is an urgent need to develop more climate resistant varieties,” said Miguel Gomez, a food marketing professor at Cornell’s Dyson School of Applled Economics and Management. A coffee rust resistant tree seems like the best option for farmers, but this won´t just magically ´fix´ climate change and the problems that come along with it.
Monika Firi believes that in order for coffee to be sustainable, there needs to be a shift away from the industrialized coffee farm model. She says, “We need to bring coffee back to its forest roots. In 2021 Starbucks made a commitment to invest in forest protection and restoration, as well as setting other climate related goals.”
Coffee makers tend to use Arabic coffee a lot more than other varieties because of how consumers love the taste and smell. However, because it’s susceptible to weather damage, the coffee may become extremely expensive for Starbucks to buy, which the CEO said could have, “An adverse impact on our business and financial results.” Bad weather, decreased water availability and crop diseases contribute to the raise in prices. Annually, Starbucks has given away three million climate resistant seeds over the past five years. Starbucks has also distributed seventy million coffee rust resistant trees to farmers in an attempt to reach its goal of giving away one hundred million trees by 2025. This is a great example of how powerful or popular companies—like Starbucks—have been doing something good for the environment.
Overall, there are many simple things you can do to help the environment and combat climate change, helping to not lose your favorite morning wake up call from Starbucks. Taking a moment to complete any of the tips listed above can help our earth, and your coffee intake.
Here are some things that you can do to help the environment from global warming.
- Becoming vegan or vegetarian and trying to cut out meat/dairy products more often, is one of the biggest ways that you can help decrease your carbon footprint. Any sort of meat has a major environmental impact because of how much water and resources are used to feed the animals and to even produce the products. Studies have shown that eating primarily plant protein is much healthier. The National Food Strategy says that we need to reduce our meat intake by 30% by 2032 to meet health, climate and nature commitments.
- Spread information and awareness about climate change so others become knowledgeable about what’s currently plaguing our Earth.
- Trying to reduce your usage of energy by turning off lights/appliances when not needed and replacing light bulbs with other low energy lights also can improve climate change
- Limit your water usage when showering, making food, etc.
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