The True Cost of Coffee
Videos
Grades6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12Biology, Economics
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Provided by Our Changing Climate
What it is
- This video from Our Changing Climate points out the many positives of traditional shade-grown coffee and details all of the ways that industrially produced coffee is damaging to the environment.
- Students will learn about the practices used in industrial coffee production (also used in many other industrially produced crops) that degrade the soil, damage wildlife and water quality, and make it harder for small farmers to make a living.
Teaching tips
Positives
- This video points out the benefits of consumer awareness to support products that are made in a more sustainable and responsible manner.
- The video also has a solutions focus, which can help students feel hopeful for the future.
Prerequisites
- The video content ends at 9 minutes, 2 seconds. The last segment discusses other videos and content.
- You may have to sit through an ad to view the entire video.
Differentiation & Implementation
- Social studies classes can use this video in lessons about the socioeconomic effects of the expansion of industrialized agriculture in developing countries.
- Science classes can incorporate this resource into lessons about ecosystem degradation, regenerative agriculture, or sustainability.
- After watching the video, students can practice being conscious consumers by searching for indicators of sustainably and ethically grown coffee and identifying companies producing coffee with these indicators.
From the scientist review
This resource explores how some commodities have hidden environmental costs and uses coffee production as an example. This resource is recommended for teaching.
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