In anticipation of Valentine's Day, I wrote about the increasing popularity of organic flowers.

Because all roads in Seattle lead to coffee, I ended up quoting Sam Stabler, assistant manager of Neptune Coffee in Greenwood, about how good pesticide-free flowers smell. He's the one on the right with Neptune's college intern, Yuki Mim, and a fake-flower bouquet from Terra Bella Flowers.

A lot of people who buy eco-friendly flowers don't even realize it, including Neptune owner Dan Baumfeld, who loves Terra Bella's designs and traded coffee for floral gift certificates to give his employees last Christmas. It's not that Baumfeld doesn't value organic. He just doesn't buy flowers very often.

Coffee, he buys, and Neptune's decaf blend is certified organic and Fair Trade. (He roasts with Victrola Coffee on Capitol Hill.) Its other eco-friendly creds include composting and recycling. "We have the expensive corn, compostable cups," he said.

How important is organic coffee to you?

Afternoon update: Check out this study abstract that says organic coffee farming isn't sustainable and doesn't serve producers and consumers as much as advocates say. (Thank you, as always, Jimmy.)

And if you hunger for more organic news, the USDA just put out its long-awaited, much-bickered-over pasture rules for dairy cows and other ruminants.

Here's Neptune's location, in the heart of Greenwood:

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