The primary change that occurred is the engineering through specified breeding of the coffee plant from a natural sub-canopy crop with low mineral consumption and low bean production into a fertilizer dependant full sunshine coffee bean factory. This new variety of coffee is known as caturra and has only emerged since 1950 and onward. Coffee, despite its engineered properties is still a sensitive crop requiring specific elevations, temperature ranges, sunlight intensity and quality as well as specific rich tropical soil types. Consequently coffee and other monoculture crops have turned Latin American countries into countries with the highest deforestation rates in the world.
Ecological damage wreaked by coffee production is diverse and widespread.
Fertilizer use in modern coffee production poisons workers, the water and ultimately toxifies the soil while additional use of herbicides and pesticides pose a huge danger to consumers. Clear cutting and thinning cause dramatic erosion of soil which again threatens water quality and future viability of the soil. Ultimately, highest up on the ecological chain of being, coffee production threatens local and consequently global biodiversity. The future of coffee production looks grim, but like any other crop, if grown naturally and responsibly, coffee is sustainable and functions along with the ecosystem to promote life, not steal it.