[NatureNS] more on Birds and Coffee

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Date: Sat, 21 Mar 2015 21:25:26 -0400
From: N Robinson <nrobbyn@gmail.com>
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Check this out - Balzac's sells fair trade coffee that is not necessarily
bird friendly, but now they have the "Atwood Blend" (as in Margaret Atwood)
that is bird-friendly, in support of Point Pelee!

http://www.balzacs.com/about/atwood-blend/


Nancy

On Sat, Mar 21, 2015 at 7:36 PM, Kate Steele <katefsteele@gmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks, John and James for starting this discussion!
>
> I agree with you, John - I wish they had have put in a 'plug' for the
> bird-friendly certification. I have also attempted to speak with the folks
> at Just Us about getting the certification, but they never responded to my
> phone calls or emails. I would certainly be willing to pay more for a
> certified bird-friendly product to help cover the cost of acquiring the
> certification.
>
> James: Great ideas! I'm very proud to say that the Nova Scotia Bird
> Society serves Just Us coffee at our meetings. To my knowledge, there is
> nowhere in Nova Scotia where certified bird-friendly coffee can be
> purchased, but I do drink Birds and Beans that was purchased online. I
> thought I heard once that the NSBS did have a program at one point where
> bird-friendly coffee was purchased en masse and distributed to our members
> - someone correct me if I have that wrong. I think the best goal to focus
> on would be to have bird-friendly coffee available to purchase more widely
> - either by bringing Birds and Beans to Nova Scotia, or by having Just Us
> certified bird-friendly. Chris and I watched Songbird SOS on Thursday
> evening (as I hope many others did) with Chris' mom, who has since decided
> that she would like to start drinking Bird and Beans to help save the birds
> (she currently drinks Just Us). If a non-birder thinks it worthwhile, I
> think there's hope!
>
> In 2014 I made it my New Year's resolution to drink only bird-friendly
> coffee or the next-best thing - I was successful and have maintained it in
> 2015 as well, but I never thought to write a blog!
>
> Kate
>
> On Sat, Mar 21, 2015 at 3:53 PM, James Churchill <
> jameslchurchill@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi folks,
>> I have not yet seen the doc.
>> I agree the topic of bird friendly coffee  is an extremely important
>> one. I know the NS Bird Society has discussed it on occasion. BNS has not
>> yet. There needs to be more discussion/awareness of differences in
>> certifications and brands in terms of their benefit to birds, and where and
>> how we can introduce more bird friendly coffee into our days and events of
>> our organizations.
>>
>> As a member of the BNS program committee, in addition to currently trying
>> to line up a screening of 'The Messenger' documentary in the area (followed
>> up by discussion), I'd like to help get some more discussion going around
>> bird friendly and 'Bird Friendly' coffee too. This could include, among
>> other things, an invited speaker for one of our monthly meetings.
>>
>> Our groups/organizations could be promoting bird friendly coffee by:
>> - serving it at our events
>> - encouraging local fair trade coffee companies to seek 'bird friendly'
>> certification
>> - writing up a promotional one-pager we can distribute to highlight the
>> benefits
>> - making web maps of locations in NS where bird friendly coffee can be
>> bought when out birding and need a caffeine fix - start with our birding
>> hotspots
>> - donating bird friendly coffee to events held by other groups (e.g.,
>> town meetings, school groups)
>> - subsidizing shipment of bird friendly coffee to the area from Birds and
>> Beans or other certified companies (e.g., 'order bird friendly coffee
>> through BNS or the NSBS or Bird Studies Canada and receive a 15%
>> discount'); for organizations we could consider this as a
>> donation/ investment for bird conservation
>> - starting a listserv or Facebook group devoted to constructive
>> discussions around this
>> - putting a blurb on our webpages
>>
>>  - it could also be a great topic for a blog or yearly challenge: a big
>> bird-friendly coffee year (writing about daily challenges finding it,
>> discussions with people etc), or "a year without Tim's".
>>
>> If you have other ideas on speakers or opportunities BNS could be
>> involved in, please pass them along here, to Jameslchurchill@gmail.com, or
>> the BNS Facebook group.
>>
>> Thanks to John for initiating this conversation.
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>>
>>
>> On Saturday, March 21, 2015, John Kearney <john.kearney@ns.sympatico.ca>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi All,
>>>
>>> I watched the Songbird SOS program that was first aired Thursday night
>>> on the Nature of Things. It was good to see the number of Canadian
>>> scientists that were featured. A longer program could have featured many
>>> more I'm sure. With my interest in acoustic monitoring, I was pleased to
>>> see how they used this technology to demonstrate the extent of nocturnal
>>> migration and what it sounds like.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The piece on forest-grown coffee was well done but didn't go into what
>>> the individual consumer can do to encourage the expansion of forest-grown
>>> coffee. There is a Canadian supplier of certified bird friendly, forest
>>> grown coffee, Birds and Beans. They have a video on their website
>>> explaining what this certification means, and you can order certified
>>> coffee from them online. The website is birdsandbeans.ca. The scientist
>>> featured at the beginning and end of Songbird SOS, Bridget Stutchbury, has
>>> sponsored some of their blends.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I have tried to initiate a dialogue on several occasions with Just Us in
>>> Grand Pre about bird certified blends but have had no success so far. They
>>> claim much of their coffee is shade-grown so why not go through the bird
>>> certification process, a process that they insist is indispensable when it
>>> comes to fair trade. Given the alarming declines in bird populations as
>>> emphasized in this TV program, it is time for us to demand that coffee
>>> companies provide proof that their products have been certified by an
>>> independent agency as promoting the conservation of birds.
>>>
>>> John
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> James Churchill
>> Kentville, Nova Scotia
>> jameslchurchill@gmail.com
>> (902) 681-2374
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>

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