Misplaced Priorities in the Climate Crisis

When the Cost of Olive Oil Trumps the Reality of Climate Devastation for Millions

A particular newspaper known for its ties to fossil fuel companies and shrugging off climate change as an “opinion” has finally reported on some of the less severe realities of the climate crisis… incentivised by a lacklustre salad.

The article in question describes the climate crisis as “apocalyptic,” not because of the millions of farmers whose livelihoods are threatened, but because olive oil is now unaffordable for salad dressing.

The article tells you everything you need to know about the organisation, which holds actual influence but is more concerned about the flavour profile of their Italian dishes than the suffering of millions of people.

As temperatures rise, prices ensue. Soaring temperatures are roasting olive groves in the Mediterranean, triggering the price of olive oil to have doubled over the last two years. Now, some marketers are referring to olive oil as liquid gold.

Not only is olive oil threatened, but coffee, wine and chocolate are all at risk due to extreme weather caused by climate change.

125 million people depend on coffee farming to live, with most of these people belonging to the world’s poorest communities. This number multiplies when we consider workers in the coffee supply chain.

As temperatures rise, the area of land suitable for coffee farming is shrinking. By 2050, experts predict the area of suitable land will be half.

Quality coffee yields are becoming increasingly more difficult to achieve. Major coffee-producing countries are facing unpredictable weather and an increase in average temperatures. While local adaptation and agricultural advancements mitigate some of the effects of climate change on farming, climate change is intensifying at a rate never seen before by farming communities. Many communities have already been devastated. Coupled with the growing global demand for coffee, we should expect the suffering of more communities, unpredictable yields and costlier coffee.

This is not the whimsy “wonky weather” styled in the article; this is devastating for our planet and its inhabitants. The temperature is pushing coffee farming areas, also known as the ‘bean belt,’ to higher elevations in the mountains and forested reserves. This shift displaces indigenous communities and biodiverse wildlife living at these altitudes.

Millions of people will lose their sole source of income and both local and national economies will be negatively affected.

How do we walk the walk? Typically, coffee ground waste ends up dumped in landfills, where it emits methane – a greenhouse gas 20 times more damaging to our atmosphere than CO2. We partner with 918 Coffee Co,the highest-scoring B Corp coffee roastery in the world, to drive positive change. We collect and return used coffee grounds to 918 Coffee Co with each new delivery. Since they are local, we minimise transportation impact. The returned grounds are then used to generate the thermal energy needed to roast fresh coffee beans, eliminating the need for fossil fuels in the roasting process. Their eco-roast technology not only diverts used coffee grounds from ending up in landfills but also significantly reduces our carbon footprint. Now, that’s walking the walk.

Will the possibility of losing ‘the finer things’ finally get people to wake up and smell the… never mind? Is this finally incentive enough to act? Why do people only react when the ‘finer things’ are at risk?

And to the certain newspaper that brushes off climate change as an “opinion,” science does not care about your opinion… and neither do we.