Filter Stories - Coffee Documentaries Organic Coffee, Part 1: The magic of soil
Feb 26, 2024
38:48
The world’s farming soils are deteriorating quickly.
Conventional coffee farming where plants are grown using agrochemicals allowed farmers to reap huge harvests these last 70 years. But these agrochemicals have been at the expense of soil health.
I travel to Honduras to explore a potential solution: organic coffee farming.
Come with me as I show you the organic farming tricks of Don Rufino, one of the region’s leading organic farmers.
He nurtures the soil around his coffee trees using mountain microorganisms, a huge diversity of shade trees, attentive tree pruning, and very funky batches of homemade bug spray.
The results speak for themselves: when I pick up a handful of his soil, it is moist, dense and writhing with life.
Could these cultivation techniques be the answer to the coffee world’s declining soil health?
Please spread the word about The Science of Coffee!
Discover how I make these Filter Stories episodes by subscribing to my Substack newsletter!
Follow me on Instagram and tag me in an Instagram story
Write a review on Apple Podcasts
Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify
Dive deeper into organic coffee
Explore Sustainable Harvest’s range of certified organic and Fairtrade coffees
Are you a coffee farmer? Get in touch with Lalo Perez Varaona
Check out Don Rufino’s organic cooperative, RAOS
Connect with my very knowledgeable guests
Lalo Perez Varaona - LinkedIn
Tommie Hooft van Huysduynen - LinkedIn
Alison Streaker - LinkedIn
The Science of Coffee is made possible by these leading coffee organisations
BWT Water and More
Marco Beverage Systems
ROEST
Sustainable Harvest
Mahlkönig
The Science of Coffee is a spin-off series from James Harper's documentary podcast Filter Stories
Conventional coffee farming where plants are grown using agrochemicals allowed farmers to reap huge harvests these last 70 years. But these agrochemicals have been at the expense of soil health.
I travel to Honduras to explore a potential solution: organic coffee farming.
Come with me as I show you the organic farming tricks of Don Rufino, one of the region’s leading organic farmers.
He nurtures the soil around his coffee trees using mountain microorganisms, a huge diversity of shade trees, attentive tree pruning, and very funky batches of homemade bug spray.
The results speak for themselves: when I pick up a handful of his soil, it is moist, dense and writhing with life.
Could these cultivation techniques be the answer to the coffee world’s declining soil health?
Please spread the word about The Science of Coffee!
Discover how I make these Filter Stories episodes by subscribing to my Substack newsletter!
Follow me on Instagram and tag me in an Instagram story
Write a review on Apple Podcasts
Leave a 5 star rating on Spotify
Dive deeper into organic coffee
Explore Sustainable Harvest’s range of certified organic and Fairtrade coffees
Are you a coffee farmer? Get in touch with Lalo Perez Varaona
Check out Don Rufino’s organic cooperative, RAOS
Connect with my very knowledgeable guests
Lalo Perez Varaona - LinkedIn
Tommie Hooft van Huysduynen - LinkedIn
Alison Streaker - LinkedIn
The Science of Coffee is made possible by these leading coffee organisations
BWT Water and More
Marco Beverage Systems
ROEST
Sustainable Harvest
Mahlkönig
The Science of Coffee is a spin-off series from James Harper's documentary podcast Filter Stories