About
the name...
It
comes from a local family with the last name of Mosgofian. Gale is the
current shop manager and Peter can be seen pulling shots from time to
time as well as turning knobs in the sound booth. They love it when
people stop in to say hi.
In
regards to shade grown coffee and in response to questions
from the greater community I sought more information from
our roster about what is in the coffee we offer at Mosgo's.
I want to thank Christopher West from Humboldt State University
for asking for more information about the coffee we offer.
Below are the responses to Christopher's questions. If you
would like to speak to Christopher about this issue email
me and I will pass your questions on to him. I cannot put
his contact information on our page without his permission.
I
am the roaster for Mosgos. After 12 years of sourcing coffee,
meeting a variety of farmers and familiarizing myself with
the socio-economic, environmental issues that effect specialty
coffee, I would certainly agree with your opinion and concerns
regarding shade grown coffee. As a matter of principle we
buy sustainablee shade grown coffee from growers who respect
and preserve their habitat.
The organic fair trade certified coffee at Mosgos is NOT sun-technified
coffee which accounts for approximately half of global coffee
production and relies heavily on chemical inputs. Mosgos is
paying a premium for third party verification of strict organic
compliance which is the antithesis of chemically dependent
sun farming and relies heavily on natural shade canopies.
You would be encouraged by the preponderance of specialty
growers that grow their coffee in bio-diverse natural shade
environments. In fact, specialty coffee varieties which grow
between 2000 to 7000 feet do not yield prolific crops and
rely on a strict ratio of sun-to-shade in equatorial temperate
zones. Specialty coffee plays an important role in off-setting
some of the damage done by rainforest destruction. Most specialty
coffee growers are small-scale family farmers who have an
economic incentive to protect their land.
Coffee shade environments vary around the equatorial belt
(between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn).
A Guatemala coffee growing region will look different then
one in Tanzania. The Guatermala region may have a traditional
rainforest environment with 5-11 types of indigenous trees,
while the Tanzania region might be a bit sparser with tall
native shrubs interspersed with a few trees, but will also
be shaded by natural cloud cover and the pitch of the mountain.
Brazil is currently an interesting case study: it is a big
culprit in sun-technified coffee farming yet the arrival of
Rainforest Alliance and demand for organic certification is
having an effect on farm practices; but, Brazil does not have
an abundance of shade canopy in their coffee growing regions
so there are efforts towards reforestration and the creative
organic method of employing mature coffee trees as shade cover
along with native trees.
Generally speaking, if you buy a cup of specialty coffee,
and I emphasize "specialty" (high-grown), anywhere
in this country, the odds are that the coffee was produced
by 2nd, 3rd or 4th genration small family farmers and grown
in a sustainable eco-friendly manner.
Sincerely,
Brooke McDonnell
Co-Founder
Equator Coffees & Teas
A
brief follow-up to your inquiry regarding biodiversity and
certification... We carry both certified (Smithsonian, Rainforest,
Organic, eco-cert, F.T. etc.) and non-certified coffees. We
do not ally ourselves exclusively with one camp and, instead,
practice a policy of inclusion and accommodation with growers
who farm sustainably and are good land and community stewards.
We examine our relationships on a case by case basis since
conditions vary from one region to another. The certification
symbols certainly make it easy for the consumer, which I understand,
but the coffee growing picture is much more nuanced, with
many passively organic growers, and others that practice integrated
pest management that would meet Rainforest Alliance criteria.
Some farmers plant on sparsely shaded sides of the hill due
to
cloud cover and fungus susceptibility. The attached photos
were taken on a recent trip to Panama and reflect the different
conditions on each side of the mountain range - The cloud
cover in Volcan is on the Caribbean side along with farm 1
which grows half its crop on a sparsely shaded section of
the farm; farm 2, on the Pacific side, grows amidst a more
densely shaded area on the mountain behind the plant nursery
we are walking through. In summary, there is a movement starting
in europe, headed by Utzkapeh (www.utzkapeh.org) to establish
an eco-ok certification for all growers that practice ecological
land management and conform to strict environmental standards.
Brooke
