ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 19, 1997 TAG: 9702190062
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: SEATTLE
SOURCE: TOM PAULSON SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
There's little proof that coffee is bad for your health, scientists say, but there's growing evidence that our popular addiction to the brown bean of caffeine is bad for the environment.
Jeffrey Parrish, a diplomacy fellow with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Sunday urged coffee drinkers to convince retailers like Starbuck's to purchase from farmers who grow beans according to the traditional methods rather than by adopting the ``modern'' and ecologically destructive ways of industrial agriculture.
``Coffee has global importance for the state of our planet,'' Parrish said. He wasn't just saying this because he was in Seattle, the agitated mecca of gourmet espresso drinks and grunge.
Parrish, noting that coffee as an item of international trade is right up there with oil, tobacco and cotton, warned that careless consumption of coffee is threatening our planet. He spoke Sunday as part of the 1997 AAAS annual meeting in Seattle, making a serious point during a light-hearted session.
``The U.S. consumes a third of the world's coffee,'' said Parrish, who joked: ``This, I think, explains our heightened productivity as a nation.''
What many consumers of coffee may not know, he said, is that the increased demand for coffee is likely contributing directly to global environmental problems such as the depletion of migratory songbirds - a population that has dropped by nearly half in recent years.
Central and South American farmers are abandoning the old method of growing ``shade'' beans in the understory of the tropical rainforest. Rather, Parrish said, they are now clearing forest to make way for ``sun'' beans that can be grown for higher production rates plantation style.
This, he noted, also requires more chemical fertilizers and pesticides while contributing to the loss of species and biodiversity - not to mention global warming.
``We all share in this responsibility,'' Parrish said.
Consumers can do something about this, Parrish said, and some retailers like Starbucks are already involved in a dialogue with environmental organizations and farmers to work toward solving the problem.
``It's good to buy organic coffee, if you can,'' he said, because it's likely going to be ``shade'' grown. Consumers should also begin asking retailers to buy through farm cooperatives and to offer beans that have been ``certified'' as having been grown using sustainable methods, Parrish said.
If Seattle can help a giant like Starbucks figure out how to do this economically, he said, such apparently modest changes in buying habits could have profoundly positive effects on the coffee trade worldwide.
Given that coffee drinkers can now feel guilty about contributing to global environmental degradation, it was nice to learn from another scientist that coffee does not appear to be killing or sickening us as individuals.
``Coffee is teratogenic (causes birth defects) in rats ... but not in humans,'' said Dr. John Potter. ``So don't feed your rats too much coffee.''
Potter, an epidemiologist at Seattle's Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, spoke on ``Coffee and Health: Divine Nectar or Devilish Brew?''
Potter reviewed the history of coffee - which began around 550 A.D. after a shepherd noticed his sheep going wacky after eating berries from the plant - and the many times it has been condemned by the church or philosophers for the effect it has on a person's behavior.
In 1670, he noted, Charles II banned coffee houses for promoting the seeds of revolution. ``The ban lasted about 11 days.''
Potter then reviewed more current studies into the health effects of coffee. It's a central nervous system stimulant, science has found, and can cause anxiety or panic attacks when used in high doses.
There is also some evidence to suggest it may have a negative effect on bone density, he said. And there is little to connect coffee use to coronary artery disease, except a very weak link to people who drink lots.
Filtered coffee, Potter said, appears to remove the chemicals that can increase cholesterol levels.
Except for some weak links to pancreatic and bladder cancer (again, the links are only seen when there's high coffee consumption), he said there's little evidence to suggest coffee causes cancer. Unless you smoke, he added.
Mixing coffee and tobacco does seem to increase the risk of cancer, Potter said, and it also can make it harder to quit smoking because coffee exacerbates nicotine withdrawal.
LENGTH: Medium: 81 linesby CNB