The coffee industry’s production process is not a sustainable model. Within the production process, there are four major parts: cultivation, processing, roasting, and consumption. These four parts negatively affect people, the planet, governance and profits which make the process unsustainable (Dowding & Murphy, n.d.).
Cultivating and processing is part of the process that is taken on in the producing country. The producing countries such as Latin America, Africa, and Asia do not provide suitable working conditions, living conditions and are often subject to discrimination against women workers and child labour (Dowding & Murphy, n.d.). These conditions are unsustainable because if working conditions are poor the overall health of the worker declines and leaves the producer with fewer workers. If this trend continues the producers could eventually have no workers.
The planet suffers from the cultivation through deforestation, habitat destruction, and pesticide pollution. Also, processing the coffee relies on using large amounts of water and can contribute to water pollution (Dowding & Murphy, n.d.). Once these resources have been used up, they cannot be replaced. The coffee industry cannot continue to produce through such processes because they are not infinite.
The producing countries’ profits are not as high as they once were due overproduction which has caused the prices of coffee to drop (Dowding & Murphy, n.d.). As well, the low profits are also due to the free market system being in effect, where the consumer controls the prices (Dowding & Murphy, n.d.). If overproduction and this governance continue, the coffee producers will not be profitable, in which they will be unable to justify the negative effects of their production.
Roasting and consuming are completed by consuming countries. Roasting leads to air pollution which leads to negative health effects for the public and the planet (Dowding & Murphy, n.d.). It is difficult to monitor these emissions because the Environmental Protection Agency standards vary and are not easily accessible (Dowding & Murphy, n.d.). Therefore, producers are unable to monitor and reduce emissions and will continue to produce negative effects associated with emissions such as climate change.
In the consumption process, there are millions of one time use disposable paper cups that are not recyclable. As well, coffee grounds are not recyclable (Dowding & Murphy, n.d.). With these products not being recyclable, the planet endures more waste which contributes to pollution and further decreases the sustainability of life. Also, there are strict FDA regulations for considering which materials are recyclable (Dowding & Murphy, n.d.). These strict guidelines are difficult to sustain and implement, as the regulations are concerned with the mixing of the food and drink with paper (Dowding & Murphy, n.d.).
Consuming countries have the freedom of “take it or leave it” pricing due to the overproduction of coffee (Dowding & Murphy, n.d.). This selling method leads to profits, however, negatively affects sustainability because once overproduction is gone, consumers may not be inclined to purchase at higher prices.
Interesting video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99UuWy4mXbo
References
Dowding, T., Murphy, M. (n.d.). The Coffee Bean: A Value Chain and Sustainability Initiative Analysis [PDF File]. Retrieved from https://global.business.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/1931/2017/01/The-Coffee-Bean.pdf
Giraldi-Diaz, M.R., De Medina-Salas, L., Castillo- Gonzalez, E., Leon-Lira, R. (2018). Environmental Impact Associated with the Supply Chain and Production of Grounding and Roasting Coffee through Life Cycle Analysis. Sustainability, 10(12), 4589. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10124598
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