Subida Coffee Co. is proud to announce that the farm and agricultural center producing Subida, The Moses Project, has achieved Rainforest Alliance certification. By only using coffee production methods that comply with sustainability in three aspects of production, neutral auditors have determined that the farm is operating well according to these considerations. In regard to economic, social and environmental concerns, which make up the three pillars of sustainability, Subida is a stellar agricultural enterprise.
The Rainforest Alliance designation is determined under a data-informed certification program. Also, it comes with a frog emblem to adorn the bag. It will appear on Subida coffee bags starting in January of 2023.
Subida is especially proud that the Moses Project agricultural center and farm has been certified, considering it is a non-profit. Certification will distinguish Subida’s single-origin coffees from run-of-the-mill coffee blends. It also sets Subida’s beans and grounds above other companies who may exaggerate about the sustainable farming and sourcing of their coffee and other agricultural products. Other Central American and Honduran coffee brands struggle to achieve sustainability in multiple areas, let alone three or four.
Sustainability and Ethical Risks
To understand the harm caused when coffee companies take farming and labor shortcuts, let’s look at the implications. The Rainforest Alliance is an important designation because in the past (and present), exploitative farming and sourcing tactics have taken advantage of the land, natural resources and people of Central America and other less-developed areas. By viewing a coffee farm in Latin America in its context in terms of environment, trade and certainty of origin, the impact of Subida’s Rainforest Alliance certification becomes clearer.
Sustainability
Healthy, expansive forests are crucial to turning the tide of carbon emissions. Farms that neighbor forests must commit to protecting the greater ecosystem. They also must treat the soil, plants and passing wildlife well. Rainforest Alliance Certification verifies an organization’s protection of the ecosystem.
Ethics
Since coffee doesn’t grow far north of the equator, the coffee belt runs through countries near the equator that ship it far north and south. In order for coffee to be ethically grown, shipped and sold to countries like the US, ensuring the people involved in these processes are treated well is vital. They should be compensated fairly. In the past, the exploitation of people harvesting tropical crops has been a problem.
Superior Taste—and Peace of Mind
In light of growth and production tactics from the past under which low wages, child labor and ecosystem destruction were allowed to persist, knowing where your coffee came from is crucial. In Subida’s case, frog-ordained (Rainforest Alliance-condoned) peace of mind comes with delectable, gourmet flavors. A subscription model allows North Americans to be consistent patrons of a coffee-production model that is sustainable on several fronts. Meanwhile, companies using sketchier tactics can be selected out. Shortcuts always cause harm.
Rainforest Alliance Standards
The criteria that make a product earn a Red-Eyed Tree Frog stamp are comprehensive. (These frogs were chosen as the Alliance’s image of approval because they are bioindicators of a healthy tropical ecosystem.) It’s not easy to comply with all that the Rainforest Alliance Standards require. Achieving certification takes proactivity and foresight. Subida’s employment of local agricultural engineers has always been a wise move toward proper integration with the ecosystem of the Honduran highlands. Below are the standards that lead to frog-stamp approval.
Ecological
Subida Coffee Co. and the Moses Project have proven their commitment to sustainability. They’re conscientious about the parts of their agriculture and aquaculture operations that touch the greater ecosystem. A farm is deeply connected to the flora and fauna nearby. The major protection they’ve committed to is safeguarding neighboring forests. By also seeking to preserve the integrity of soils and waterways, Subida guarantees the health of the area for years to come. While providing jobs, enriching youth and producing stellar coffee, that’s a big accomplishment!
Climate
Climactic sustainability isn’t just a hot-button topic in countries with high emissions and the ability to set standards and examples like the U.S. Countries closer to the equator often feel a profound impact from climate change. To grow and source Honduras’ Arabica coffee while treating the land responsibly is a big deal.
Subida executes and encourages responsible land management. It frowns on deforestation and increases carbon storage. By proactively bolstering the land to deal with flooding and erosion, both the large and small pictures of farming and raising animals look brighter. Resilience is key. Subida also helps prepare for droughts.
Human Rights
The Moses Project has put into practice strategies for work that protects vulnerable people and workers. Not only does it follow these principles, it models how to set up and run such a system. The model is accessible to receive international support from customers abroad. That’s because the farming takes place in Honduras, but the coffee is sold in North America. The model can also be dispersed, as in replicated in other areas. Honduran coffee can spread favorable labor practices.
Since coffee mainly grows along the equator in the world’s coffee belt, yet is drank worldwide in increasing quantities, achieving validation in the area of human rights is key. It’s often a small price increase for a resident of a wealthier country that leads to compensating a laborer fairly. This fairness can be replicated across the globe. Farms, companies and non-profits can have operations diametrically opposed to the maximum-extraction methods used by Honduras' coffee plantations and banana operations decades ago. Since coffee is a widely grown and enjoyed crop that can bring a decent price, it can serve as a model for the sustainable growth of other agricultural products, in terms of human rights.
Livelihoods
With more people committed to sustainability worldwide, we can maintain the health of our ecosystems. We can also protect the planet. By employing local Hondurans in sustainable jobs, Subida helps exemplify and spread sustainable farming, while managing to produce gourmet coffee. By expanding opportunities in the Copán region of Honduras, this model of a sustainable venture can help the local ecosystem and the community.
Sustainable, Gourmet Single-Origin Coffee
Subida Coffee Co. and its farm the Moses Project are thrilled to receive Rainforest Alliance Certification. The investment in infrastructure and the commitment to do things correctly have been recognized. Best of all, gourmet single-origin coffee shipped internationally is the result of all this effort. By empowering youth with education and reinvesting 100% of profits back into the community, we offer more than just a sustainability-based peace of mind. Subida coffee goes beyond to bring a commitment to greatness and upwardly expanding horizons. When the frog label appears on a bag of Subida, it’s just the icing on a cake with many layers of sustainability and goodness.
