Serving up Sustainability: The importance of the barista in the seed-to-cup chain
By Sarah Allen, Barista Magazine

Coffee doesn’t grow in Folger’s crystals—enough said? Hardly.

Most mindful consumers already understand coffee’s agricultural attributes, as well as its vulnerabilities. However, the consumer’s mission when seeking out organic fruits and vegetables tends to be more about personal health than global wellbeing. But in terms of coffee, there are countless factors specific to the plant that contribute to the cup quality of the beverage. Therefore, it’s incorrect to assume that simply because the beans are grown using sustainable farming methods it will automatically taste better in the cup.
David Griswold, owner of the green coffee importing company, Sustainable Harvest Coffee Co. in Portland, Ore., and past president of the Specialty Coffee Association of America, developed a model for tracking coffee quality in terms of sustainability not simply from the farm, but from each person in the chain between coffee at seed and coffee in the cup. Calling upon each person and/or group involved in coffee production, the sustainable model holds each responsible for respect and proper treatment of coffee.

“ One might argue that the last link in the chain, the barista, is the most critical and yet most often overlooked link in the Relationship
Coffee chain,” says Griswold. “It is the barista who is entrusted with delivering the unique stories of each specialty coffee. Through the taste of their handcrafted drinks and the words used to communicate each of the artisan steps required to produce specialty coffee, the barista helps honor the work of every player before them in the coffee chain.”

No matter how much effort a grower devotes to sustainable farming practices, no matter the level of research and understanding a responsible importer devotes to his clients, and no matter how much experience and craftsmanship a roaster brings to the hand-sorted green beans, all the exertion would be for naught if the barista handling the coffee in the end did not approach the beans with the same level of commitment as those who came before.

Professionals in the specialty coffee industry speak often about sustainability and the seed-to-cup chain. Ours is an industry that is propelled by commitment to excellence through humanitarian efforts. But still, sufficient recognition for successful completion of the seed-to-cup chain by the barista has yet to surface.

Think of the model as a bicycle wheel: were any of the spokes to snap, the wheel would collapse. Were not the grower, importer, buyer, roaster, or barista equally accountable for the coffee passing through their hands, the objective of the sustainable coffee model would be monumentally threatened.