Half of the people in the US have a cup of coffee every day but few understand the environmental impact of coffee. Even fewer prioritize origin and know how coffee farming affects people, farms, forests, and birds all over the world.

Bill Wilson is the co-founder and Managing Partner of Birds & Beans coffee. With the help of three other families and support from Scott Weidensaul, Bridget Stutchbury and Kenn Kaufman, they launched their company in 2008 to save the Smithsonian ‘Bird Friendly®’ shade grown coffee certification. Bill shares the story of Birds & Beans, which is not only Bird Friendly®, but also USDA Organic, and Fair Trade, and show how this approach helps to save birds, tropical forests, family farmers and their workers, local rural economies and the Earth we all share.

Note: We had some issues with an open mic and cross-talk early in the presentation but got them fixed about 10 minutes into the talk.