In April 2002, the World Bank reported:

"When grown properly, coffee is one of the rare human industries that can actually restore the Earth’s health."

In fact, one of the Rogers Family farms is living proof that this theory is correct.  During our annual tour of dozens of coffee farms some years ago, we found 94 acres of abandoned cattle land in Panama. The land was trampled, trees were scarce, and the hard soil was devoid of nutrients.  Perfect, we thought - for our goal of creating a truly bio-diverse, organic, coffee farm.

So we released 12 million earthworms to help recondition the soil, dug irrigation channels, and waged a constant battle with the cattle grass that sprouted because we refused to use chemicals herbicides. We planted some 82,000 coffee trees - combining five coffee tree varieties, six lower shade varieties, and 12 native species.  These trees supply food to the birds and animals and shade to the coffee trees below.

Today, on this once wasted land, a truly shade-grown, organic coffee farm has emerged.  A rainforest now flourishes amidst the high-quality coffee trees, harboring 42 species of birds and 14 species of mammals.   Each year, seven million acres of rainforest - aka "the lungs of the earth" - vanishes.  In addition to preserving a small piece of a priceless natural resource, our farm will hopefully serve as an example that we can all make a difference on the planet- no matter how small.