It is grown in regions where there are very few restrictions, regulations or protections regarding pesticide use. The environmental impact is tremendous. Coffee doesn't grow in Kansas, it grows in and around the rain forest. In fact, rain forest has been destroyed to plant coffee farms. The fact is that coffee is a terribly inefficient and incredibly labor-intensive crop.
Coffee is the seed of a cherry from a tree.
Coffee cherries ripen at different times, so they have to be picked by hand. It takes approximately 2,000 Arabica cherries to produce just one pound of roasted coffee. Since each cherry contains two beans, your one pound of coffee is derived from 4,000 coffee beans. The average coffee tree only produces one to two pounds of mastered coffee per year and takes four to five years to produce its first crop. Do the math.