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--089e01227746a042a00511d66c12 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Check this out - Balzac's sells fair trade coffee that is not necessarily bird friendly, but now they have the "Atwood Blend" (as in Margaret Atwood) that is bird-friendly, in support of Point Pelee! http://www.balzacs.com/about/atwood-blend/ Nancy On Sat, Mar 21, 2015 at 7:36 PM, Kate Steele <katefsteele@gmail.com> wrote: > Thanks, John and James for starting this discussion! > > I agree with you, John - I wish they had have put in a 'plug' for the > bird-friendly certification. I have also attempted to speak with the folks > at Just Us about getting the certification, but they never responded to my > phone calls or emails. I would certainly be willing to pay more for a > certified bird-friendly product to help cover the cost of acquiring the > certification. > > James: Great ideas! I'm very proud to say that the Nova Scotia Bird > Society serves Just Us coffee at our meetings. To my knowledge, there is > nowhere in Nova Scotia where certified bird-friendly coffee can be > purchased, but I do drink Birds and Beans that was purchased online. I > thought I heard once that the NSBS did have a program at one point where > bird-friendly coffee was purchased en masse and distributed to our members > - someone correct me if I have that wrong. I think the best goal to focus > on would be to have bird-friendly coffee available to purchase more widely > - either by bringing Birds and Beans to Nova Scotia, or by having Just Us > certified bird-friendly. Chris and I watched Songbird SOS on Thursday > evening (as I hope many others did) with Chris' mom, who has since decided > that she would like to start drinking Bird and Beans to help save the birds > (she currently drinks Just Us). If a non-birder thinks it worthwhile, I > think there's hope! > > In 2014 I made it my New Year's resolution to drink only bird-friendly > coffee or the next-best thing - I was successful and have maintained it in > 2015 as well, but I never thought to write a blog! > > Kate > > On Sat, Mar 21, 2015 at 3:53 PM, James Churchill < > jameslchurchill@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Hi folks, >> I have not yet seen the doc. >> I agree the topic of bird friendly coffee is an extremely important >> one. I know the NS Bird Society has discussed it on occasion. BNS has not >> yet. There needs to be more discussion/awareness of differences in >> certifications and brands in terms of their benefit to birds, and where and >> how we can introduce more bird friendly coffee into our days and events of >> our organizations. >> >> As a member of the BNS program committee, in addition to currently trying >> to line up a screening of 'The Messenger' documentary in the area (followed >> up by discussion), I'd like to help get some more discussion going around >> bird friendly and 'Bird Friendly' coffee too. This could include, among >> other things, an invited speaker for one of our monthly meetings. >> >> Our groups/organizations could be promoting bird friendly coffee by: >> - serving it at our events >> - encouraging local fair trade coffee companies to seek 'bird friendly' >> certification >> - writing up a promotional one-pager we can distribute to highlight the >> benefits >> - making web maps of locations in NS where bird friendly coffee can be >> bought when out birding and need a caffeine fix - start with our birding >> hotspots >> - donating bird friendly coffee to events held by other groups (e.g., >> town meetings, school groups) >> - subsidizing shipment of bird friendly coffee to the area from Birds and >> Beans or other certified companies (e.g., 'order bird friendly coffee >> through BNS or the NSBS or Bird Studies Canada and receive a 15% >> discount'); for organizations we could consider this as a >> donation/ investment for bird conservation >> - starting a listserv or Facebook group devoted to constructive >> discussions around this >> - putting a blurb on our webpages >> >> - it could also be a great topic for a blog or yearly challenge: a big >> bird-friendly coffee year (writing about daily challenges finding it, >> discussions with people etc), or "a year without Tim's". >> >> If you have other ideas on speakers or opportunities BNS could be >> involved in, please pass them along here, to Jameslchurchill@gmail.com, or >> the BNS Facebook group. >> >> Thanks to John for initiating this conversation. >> >> Cheers, >> >> >> >> On Saturday, March 21, 2015, John Kearney <john.kearney@ns.sympatico.ca> >> wrote: >> >>> Hi All, >>> >>> I watched the Songbird SOS program that was first aired Thursday night >>> on the Nature of Things. It was good to see the number of Canadian >>> scientists that were featured. A longer program could have featured many >>> more I'm sure. With my interest in acoustic monitoring, I was pleased to >>> see how they used this technology to demonstrate the extent of nocturnal >>> migration and what it sounds like. >>> >>> >>> >>> The piece on forest-grown coffee was well done but didn't go into what >>> the individual consumer can do to encourage the expansion of forest-grown >>> coffee. There is a Canadian supplier of certified bird friendly, forest >>> grown coffee, Birds and Beans. They have a video on their website >>> explaining what this certification means, and you can order certified >>> coffee from them online. The website is birdsandbeans.ca. The scientist >>> featured at the beginning and end of Songbird SOS, Bridget Stutchbury, has >>> sponsored some of their blends. >>> >>> >>> >>> I have tried to initiate a dialogue on several occasions with Just Us in >>> Grand Pre about bird certified blends but have had no success so far. They >>> claim much of their coffee is shade-grown so why not go through the bird >>> certification process, a process that they insist is indispensable when it >>> comes to fair trade. Given the alarming declines in bird populations as >>> emphasized in this TV program, it is time for us to demand that coffee >>> companies provide proof that their products have been certified by an >>> independent agency as promoting the conservation of birds. >>> >>> John >>> >> >> >> -- >> James Churchill >> Kentville, Nova Scotia >> jameslchurchill@gmail.com >> (902) 681-2374 >> >> >> >> >> > --089e01227746a042a00511d66c12 Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encodi