Shade Grown Coffee is an inspiring and informative 75 minutes that we believe shows viewers why the coffee you choose really can change the world.
The film tells the story about how growing coffee in the shade of native trees in the tropics can have a truly positive impact on local communities, halt deforestation and protect critical habitat for wildlife – all while giving your daily dose of caffeine a better aftertaste.
How does Shade Grown Coffee differ from other related documentaries?
In the words of the director, Alexander Kunnunen, “While I think it’s wonderful to see how many socially conscious documentaries are being put out, many of them have a tendency to make me feel frustrated and powerless with governments, big corporations and other things outside my circle of influence.
My own consumer habits, on the other hand, sit inside that circle.
It’s so easy to blame the bad guys and for a while, we contemplated including more footage from conventional coffee farms showing the ramifications of producing coffee in that very intensive way.
Instead, I think that creating a positive experience enabling the consumer to make better choices is a healthier route to take.
It’s also relevant to note that no coffee farmer actively wants to destroy habitat and endanger their workers. They’re just a part of a system where it’s often a race to the bottom instead of the top. And while that trend is slowly reversing, it needs to happen faster.”
COVID-19 changed many plans including the premiere of Shade Grown Coffee originally planned for March in Denmark. We hope to organize a local screening of the film in the future but in the meantime it can be found for rental or purchase on Vimeo here.
Image: ©Shade Grown Coffee