STARBUCKS AND WORMS

FINCA LOS ANDES: FEBRUARY 15
The tea picked on Los Andes is certified organic. Coffee is sold to Starbucks. Starbucks insist on eco-production. In my uncle's day, water flowed through the coffee factory, washed the beans and flowed back to the stream. Now water is used again and again before being held in tanks where the sediment settles. The sediment is spread in long shaded trays and covered in black plastic. Worms are introduced into the sediment. Juice from the trays is a natural fungicide; the sediment becomes a powerful natural fertilizer.
Infected by Jim's enthusiasm, I dig my fingers into the sediment to sample density of worm population.