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This is a multipart message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0032_01D067D6.D141D840 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Thank you Jeff for addressing this issue to NatureNS and thanks to Jim for contacting you. I've copied below the full conversation in this forum on certified, bird-friendly coffee. As the co-founder of Just Us!, you would understand that the consumer cannot be certain that a product is truly fair trade or truly forest-grown, bird-friendly unless it is certified "fair trade" or certified "bird-friendly". Just Us! played a key leadership role, not only in bringing certified fair trade, organic coffee to the Canadian consumer but also in ensuring that the standards governing certified fair trade coffee remained robust and transparent. It is my hope that you can play the same role in bringing triple certified, fair trade, organic, and bird-friendly coffee to Nova Scotians with the same robust and transparent standards. The dire situation of many of our neo-tropical birds makes this an urgent matter. All the best, John From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca [mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] On Behalf Of Keith Lowe Sent: March-23-15 18:04 To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca Subject: RE: [NatureNS] more on Birds and Coffee "My question is, if the coffee is certified organic, can we assume that there is a reasonable bird habitat on the plantation" I wonder that myself. Since Smithsonian's Bird-Friendly certification only requires organic certification plus 40% shade-grown, theoretically organic coffee with more canopy could be more bird-friendly than a certified bird-friendly. I wish there was a way to know what percentage of canopy their producers have. Though choosing bird-friendly would at least guarantee 40%. From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca [mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] On Behalf Of Dave&Jane Schlosberg Sent: Monday, March 23, 2015 2:24 PM To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca Subject: Re: [NatureNS] more on Birds and Coffee I've seen Kicking Horse here in Dartmouth. I can't remember if it was Sobeys or Superstore though. My question is, if the coffee is certified organic, can we assume that there is a reasonable bird habitat on the plantation? I've read that "almost all" organic coffee is shade-grown, and I presume the growers could not have mono-culture fields (Although some shade-growers do practice mono-culture.). I'm wondering why the area's roasters (Just Us, Laughing Whale, Anchored) are not telling us about the beans they're sourcing. Both Just Us and Laughing Whale are certified organic. Jane From: John Kearney <mailto:john.kearney@ns.sympatico.ca> Sent: Monday, March 23, 2015 7:01 AM To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca Subject: RE: [NatureNS] more on Birds and Coffee Hi All, Thank you James, Kate and Nancy for your informative and proactive posts on the topic of birds and coffee. There is an excellent website by Julie Craves that is a comprehensive source of information on this issue: http://www.coffeehabitat.com/ I wish to emphasize again the importance of independent certification of forest-grown, bird-friendly coffee. As pointed out on Julie's website, there is at the current time only one certification that has the strong standards required for bird conservation. This is the certification by Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center. More about this certification can be found at her website by clicking on the "Certifications" tab at the top of the page. So far, this listserv has identified two Canadian suppliers offering at least one blend of Smithsonian certified bird-friendly coffee: Birds and Beans, and the Atwood Blend of Balzac Roasters. Both are in Ontario but ship to Nova Scotia. We have yet to identify a Nova Scotia-based supplier. John From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca [mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] On Behalf Of N Robinson Sent: March-22-15 19:57 To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca Subject: Re: [NatureNS] more on Birds and Coffee On the coffee front, I see that Kicking Horse sells only shade-grown coffee as well. It can be ordered online. http://www.kickinghorsecoffee.com/en/story/ideas/organic Nancy On Sat, Mar 21, 2015 at 9:25 PM, N Robinson <nrobbyn@gmail.com> wrote: 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. O