Coffee companies urge safe farming

CNN -- The coffee industry is taking serious steps to encourage protection of the environment in coffee-producing regions and to benefit coffee farmers.

Some speciality coffee buyers, including Starbucks Coffee Company, are working in partnership with Washington-based Conservation International to provide technical assistance and financial incentives to coffee farmers who actively protect the environment with sustainable practices.

Mary Williams of Starbucks Coffee Company said: "We take a holistic approach to sustainability and that includes environmental concerns, social conditions and providing economic viability for all of the farmers that grow coffee that we are buying around the world."

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Starbucks has adopted new coffee purchasing guidelines, paying special premium prices for quality coffee produced without damaging surrounding forests and wildlife, without contaminating water supplies with waste materials and without using excess amounts of chemical fertilizers or pesticides.

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Premiums are also based on improving wages, health, safety and living conditions of coffee workers.

The companies paying these premium prices represent a very small share of the world's coffee market, but they are setting a new standard for doing business in the industry.

Struggling coffee farmers face worldwide oversupply and plummeting market prices, but now there is a special market with higher prices for those who grow the best coffee – and grow it responsibly.