Sustainability Profile: Cinnamon
Good news folks: the production of your favorite holiday spice is p dang sustainable. In this post, I'll tell you all about cinnamon and the recent sustainability efforts associated with this spicey spice.
What is Cinnamon?
The powdered cinnamon we know and love (more accurately known as cassia cinnamon) is made from the dried inner bark of Cinnamomum cassia trees.
Some people argue that this cassia cinnamon is not “real” cinnamon at all, but rather a different spice entirely that should be called "cassia." These folks argue that real cinnamon is Ceylon cinnamon, which is made from the bark of Cinnamomum zeylanicum trees.
Ceylon cinnamon is from the Ceylon region of Sri Lanka and is known for its smoother and more complex flavor. Since this cinnamon is more uncommon globally and harder to harvest, it is usually pricier than cassia cinnamon. These differences in availability and price are why most people bake with cassia cinnamon and refer to it as simply "cinnamon."
Of course, there are other regional varieties of cinnamon that might have slightly different flavors and can be found at specialty spice stores. Other popular commercial cinnamon locations include Indonesia, China and Vietnam. No matter the variety or the place of origin, all cinnamon (and cassia) are harvested through a similar process and have similar levels of sustainability.
How is Cinnamon Harvested?
Cinnamon can be harvested from a cinnamon tree beginning around the tree’s eighth birthday. To harvest cinnamon sticks, harvesters cut down the cinnamon trees and peel off their outer bark in order to reach that good good layer of inner bark.
This inner bark is then peeled off and dried, which causes it to curl up into cinnamon sticks. Although harvesting cinnamon requires trees to be cut down, these trees grow back super quickly after cut down so deforestation isn't a huge issue.
Cinnamon tree forests also thrive in tropical forests without much human intervention, so there is no need to clear land, apply pesticides or destroy ecosystems for these crops. Making the sitch even better, harvesters usually let the trees grow for 10-15 years or more before harvesting. This 10-15 year cycle can be healthy for ecosystem regrowth and flourishing.
Some harvesters choose to leave their cinnamon trees for longer than 15 years as a "savings account" that they can dip into when they need extra money. The longer they leave the trees, the more cinnamon the trees will yield and the deeper its flavor will be.
Rainforest Alliance Cinnamon
Recently, Rainforest Alliance has stepped into the cinnamon game to find even more efficient methods for growing and harvesting cinnamon in Indonesia. This helps the harvesters get more cash by cutting out some middlemen and also helps produce higher quality cinnamon.
Some of the changes to cinnamon harvesting simply involve storing the cinnamon differently so it stays cleaner or working with different companies to get more fair prices.
I've tried to find locations to buy Rainforest Alliance certified cinnamon, but I haven’t been able to find it anywhere. Let me know in the comments if you have any more luck!
Fair Trade Cinnamon
Fair trade simply means that the harvesters are getting a fair price for their crops and their labor and are being treated well. Fair trade cinnamon is super easy to find. Although I haven't heard of any egregious human rights violations associated with cinnamon, knowing that your cinnamon is fair trade could give you a peace of mind.