As the coffee industry continues to flourish, it is increasingly essential for consumers to understand where their money is going. From searching out new trendy brews to trying to reduce environmental footprint, many questions about how coffee is produced arise; among them is one about whether organically-grown coffee makes any real difference or not.

Though individual preferences vary greatly when answering this question, organically grown coffee tends to be better for both the environment and those involved in its cultivation. By forgoing synthetic pesticides and fertilizers as well as herbicides and GMOs for fertilization purposes, organic farmers protect soil quality and water conservation while simultaneously decreasing health problems associated with chemical exposure and toxic materials.

Due to the absence of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, wildlife flourishes more freely while helping prevent deforestation and habitat loss. Furthermore, organic farming eliminates petroleum-based chemicals for coffee processing resulting in cleaner, flavorful cups of joe.

Organic coffee offers more benefits than just to the environment; by choosing organic you are also supporting fair trade practices. Fair trade refers to how companies treat their workers, an integral component of organic. Unfortunately, however, unethical companies often exploit this practice and pay less than necessary while failing to provide safe working environments.

Fair-trade certified or organic coffee can be an excellent way to support ethical business practices and ensure your cup of java does more good than harm. But all the certifications out there can be confusing; in particular, look out for USDA-Certified Organic labels, which ensure at least 95% of ingredients come from an organic source; there may also be “Fair Trade” seals from Rainforest Alliance and Bird-Friendly Habitat seals which don’t guarantee all beans in a given bag are organically-grown.

As much as possible, it is also wise to purchase from local roasters. They often work directly with farms and brokers and can give more details on exactly where and how their coffee was grown and harvested – as well as provide useful insight into sustainability and social responsibility initiatives.

Higher Ground Roasters’ team is certified organic and fair trade, and committed to sustainable and ethical business practices that help support local groups and nonprofits. Furthermore, their eco-friendly roaster saves up to 80 percent in natural gas use compared to conventional machines; additionally they offset daily carbon use through wind power credits in order to subsidize renewable energy sources.