Murphys, CA . . . On Wednesday, May 21st, Gold Country Roasters and Outer Aisle Foods will jointly present a free public educational program about the shade grown coffee movement and the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center’s (SMBC) Bird Friendly® coffee certification program. The Bird Friendly® designation is the highest ecological sustainability certification that coffee can be awarded. Coffees that are certified Bird Friendly® are organically grown in strict accordance with rigorous standards developed and overseen by the SMBC. The program seeks to reward growers for their coffee management practices that provide viable quality habitat for native and migratory birds and other wildlife.
The event will take place from 6:30pm to 9pm at Outer Aisle Restaurant and Market, at 164 Highway 4, Murphys CA.
The
program will be presented by two eminent experts who helped pioneer the
sustainable “bird friendly” coffee movement: Smithsonian Institute
Geographer Robert A. Rice, Manager of the Bird Friendly®
Certification Program at the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, at the
National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C.; and former SMBC research
biologist and current Placerville-based consulting biologist and
ornithologist, John Sterling.
Rice will discuss the SMBC’s Bird Friendly
® certification program and standards. He has been with the SMBC since
1995, where he conducts research on land use issues related to
migratory bird habitat. He was instrumental in developing science-based
criteria for establishing and maintaining viable bird habitat on shade
grown coffee farms, which led to the establishment of the SMBC Bird Friendly® certification program.
Ornithologist
John Sterling will be presenting some of his Smithsonian research
supporting the shade-grown coffee movement. He will discuss why some
coffee farms are better than others for birds, and why good coffee farms
are critical for conservation, and will illustrate his talk with photos
of birds from coffee farms in Latin America, the Philippines and
Sumatra. Sterling has traveled internationally as a guide and
ornithologist for many institutions including projects as a Smithsonian
ornithologist to Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Sumatra, the Philippines, Canada
and Russia. John currently has his own company Sterling Birds,
specializing in tours, birding classes, research and environmental
consulting.
Gold Country Roasters’ new Bird Friendly
® Certified Peruvian coffee will available for sampling, along with
light snacks provided by Outer Aisle Foods. For more information about
this special program, call Gold Country Roasters at (209) 728-8634 or email info@goldcountryroasters.com.
