'Not all brands... are equal'While the Philippine Coffee Board (PCB), a private-sector group which counts Mt. Apo Civet Coffee as a member, has stopped short of stating its support for Dizon, PCB president Nicky Matti admitted in an interview that he understands the situation the businessman is in.
“It’s not that we’re supporting [the caging of civet cats], but Mr. Dizon has already come up with his own explanation for doing it. As for PETA, they can say whatever they want to say, but we cannot really do anything about it since we’re not a policing body,†he said.
Instead of calling for an outright ban on the consumption of civet coffee, Reyes said PETA can help stamp out cruelty against civets by pushing for a means to certify the source of civet coffee.
PETA earlier said the problem of civet cruelty is made worse by some companies that label beans as "wild-sourced" even if the beans actually came from animals in cages.
“As PETA aggressively pushes for the 'ban caged civet coffee campaign', one solution [that] came to mind just now is for [the group] to push for and actively take part in the [campaign to certify] civet coffee. A total ban will just put to waste a worthwhile objective which was primarily initiated for forest conservation and wildlife protection.
It will be unfair for people in the forests to lose a lucrative living which is not destructive and actually is a livelihood that blends with the natural environment and habitat of the civets and the coffee trees in the forests,†Reyes said in a separate e-mail interview.
In the absence of a certification method for civet coffee, Reyes said it is up to coffee drinkers to choose whether or not they should patronize brands that make use of caged civet cats for coffee.
She urged customers of civet coffee to know more about the coffee they drink so they would know its source.
“Not all brands of civet coffee are equal. If you don’t trust the source of the coffee, it’s better if you don’t buy it,†she said. – VS, GMA News
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