GREEN COFFEE TO HELP CHIMPS

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters has taken on another social mission,partnering with the Jane Goodall Institute to help preserve a chimpanzee habitat in Africa.

The Waterbury coffee company last week unveiled its latest blend, "Gombe Reserve — in cooperation with the Jane Goodall Institute."

The coffee is grown in Tanzania by the Kalinzi Cooperative, a group of 2,700 small-scale farmers who live near Gombe National Park. The park is the site of Goodall's groundbreaking research into chimpanzee behavior.

But on the fringes of the park social and economic pressures have resulted in deforestation, threatening the very existence of the chimpanzee population.

Farmers trying to make a living have cut large swaths of forest, selling the razed timber for lumber and firewood.

According to the Jane Goodall Institute, since the turn of the last century the world's chimpanzee population has declined 80 percent to no more than 200,000 today.

"Our effort to involve local citizens in restoring the forests and practicing sustainable agriculture is the most important work we can do to ensure a future for the Gombe chimpanzees and the people of Africa," Jane Goodall said in a statement.

Because coffee beans require the shade of a forest canopy, coffee growing can help provide a solution to the deforestation, said Sandy Yusen, a spokeswoman for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters.

"We're hoping by offering the farmers in this area a market for their coffee, and by paying them a higher price for their coffee than they would get through the conventional auction method, we are providing them with a better economic livelihood that is more sustainable long term for the farmers but also helps limit that deforestation that is endangering the chimp habitat," Yusen said.

The introduction of Gombe Reserve is the latest specialty coffee that has a social mission in mind.

"It's really inline with our efforts to offer coffer lovers great high quality coffee but also find a way to benefit the communities where we source our coffee from and specifically the farmers in those communities," Yusen said.

Gombe Reserve is available for a limited time at www.GreenMountainCoffee.com/Gombe. The 12-oz. bag sells for $17.95. It's also available at www.janegoodall.org.

Founded in 1977, the Jane Goodall Institute continues Goodall's research on chimpanzee behavior. Today, the institute is a global leader in the effort to protect chimpanzees and their habitats.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. is a specialty coffee maker. The company sells more than 100 high-quality coffees, including Fair Trade Certified and organic coffees under the Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and Newman's Own Organics brands. The company also owns Keurig Inc., a manufacturer of gourmet single-cup brewing systems.

By Bruce Edwards Herald Staff