(Seeds of Trade )

Today coffee is produced all over the world, from Central to Northern Africa to the Philippines and the Americas. The plant native to the Ethiopian Plateau grows in exclusively tropical environments with in 20 degrees north and south of the equator and prefers elevation of 1,600-3,600 feet. In environments within 10 degrees of the equator coffee prefers elevation ranges of 3,600-6,300 feet, these environments are prized for producing especially tasty cups of coffee. This is because the growth cycles are slowed resulting in cherries with more mucilage around the beans; producing a more acidic, sweet and flavorful cup of coffee. A healthy plant enjoys 60-80 inches of water a year with intermittent dry seasons. The plants also like a constant temperature of about 70 degrees Fahrenheit in partial to full sun. In full sun coffee plants may be susceptible nitrogen deficiency because a shade plant in full sun require more nutrients to juggle of balancing all the nutrients it needs for the sun it receives, full sun also means the forest floor is more exposed and more likely to be eroded. Soils ideal for coffee would be slightly acidic (arabica can grow in 4-7 on pH scale) and high in nitrogen. A good site also needs decent drainage because the plants are susceptible to root rot, but the ground must also be able to hold water deep enough to provide water to the plant in the dry seasons.

The coffee in peoples cups today are  mostly likely of two varieties; Arabica and Robusta. The difference in the two trees and beans while morphologically minuscule mean a world of difference in the industry. Over all the Arabica plant is preferred because its believed to produce a better cup of coffee than Robusta, and so it makes up more than 70% of the world coffee production. The differences in the two varieties become crucial when talking about geography because Arabica is just more fragile than Robusta. Robusta’s name seems to fit it perfectly, at least in terms of its preferred conditions as it tolerates higher temperature, less precipitation and is more disease/pest resistant than its relative.

(Batdorf & Bronson “What is Specialty Coffee”)

The ethics of coffee have been debated over time and time again. However, the main discussion should be about how environmentally  unfriendly growing coffee really is. People in the coffee market are now starting to realize how climate change is going to affect their coffee, as well as looking at how coffee farming can be disruptive. Brie Mazurek from Civil Eats talks about the solutions to sustainable coffee. One solution that they are looking towards is called shade grown. This suggests that the coffee was grown using agroforestry techniques that doesn’t disrupt the biodiversity of the environment around them.Shade grown uses the cash crops and subsistence farming and puts the two together. Grounds for Change which is an organization dedicated to fair trade coffee, and sustainable practices writes about how this type of permaculture can help end the hunger months that so many farmers have to deal with after they harvest the coffee because they simply don’t get enough money to be able to live.  Mazurek quotes Colby Barr who is the own of the Verve Coffee Roasters, and he believes that coffee that is economically fair will also be sustainable. He states; “To have longevity, you need to have a relationship, and to have a relationship, you have to pay farmers well,” How could we possibly value the land to the point where we are growing sustainable if we can’t even respect the people who grow it with a living wage? I agree with Barr here because if we help end this systematic oppression that comes with cash crops then we can also work with creating a healthier type of coffee.

It’s no surprise that coffee will be affected by climate change. Everything will be, however the effects of climate change will not only be affecting the coffee plant itself but also the countries that rely heavily on this crop. Sam Jones from the Guardian says that Arabica coffee is going to be affected mostly by climate change. The rising climates will cause the plants to be more susceptible to pests. He also says that places are mountainous will have a much harder time than places on plateaus because as you go up on the terrain the area becomes less and less each time. These farmers will face huge losses in next couple of decades because of climate change and coffee. Many small farmers who grow these crops rely heavily on this system that has been put in place. If they can’t grow enough crop then they won’t get any money for it and the starvation months will only increase. Not only will it affect the farmers but it will affect the countries that drink coffee. The prices will go up on the coffee that is available and society will lose it’s mind. One of the main solutions is to create a stain of coffee that not only tastes good, but is very strong against pests, and climate change. The goal is to essentially create a robusta coffee but with an arabica flavor in the up coming decades to protect the farmers who grow this crop, and the capitalistic markets that need the coffee.

Coffee is getting more and more popular every year. However, before the rates of drinking coffee was in decline. Krystal D’Costa from the Scientific American quoted William Roseberry: “From 1962, one can chart a consistent decline. In that year, 74.7 percent of the adult population was calculated to be coffee drinkers; by 1988 only 50 percent drank coffee. Even those who drank coffee were drinking less. In 1962, average coffee consumption was 3.12 cups per day; by 1980 it had dipped to 2.02 cups and by 1991 had dropped to 1.75 (Roseberry 1996: 765).” After this decline in coffee drinking, marketers decided that they needed to change in the way they advertised to the public. It’s well known that my generation is known as the “me” generation, and marketers realized that they need to market their coffee that way. They have to show our generation that coffee is personalized to us. They also realized that they needed to create a better terroir of coffee. Before the specialty coffee wasn’t very flavorful and it was very bland, however now there are so many different terroirs of coffee that pull people to the market. Since Starbucks opened in 1972 it really didn’t hit the mainstream market until the 90’s. Rick B from IPoll blog states that Starbucks brought gourmet coffee to the mainstream public, and made more diverse flavors available to a world used to bland robusta coffees. Marketers new to change the way of advertisement to fit our “conceited” society, and Starbucks knew that we were ready for more diverse flavors. However Starbucks is now a corporation that many small coffee shops hate they do have to realize that the coffee revolution did start with them.

Despite the rejection of mind altering substances in the mainstream culture it is apparent that every culture in the world has foods and products that walk the line of drug/stimulant/depressant, and if not walking the line then down right trampling over it. In the U.S. the arbitrary laws that rule dictate what substances citizens may ingest without breaking the law and suffering at the hands of our (un)justice system. Alcohol, tobacco and coffee are three products that immediately come to mind but coffee is the one that stands out as different. It was popularized in association with the enlightening of a culture  and has been used to stimulate and caffeinate many generations of blue collar and elite professionals. Out of the three substances I mentioned coffee is the most food like substance and also the most medicinal and promising for humans.

The formation of coffee culture dates Back to 14th century in Turkey but has spread across the world at a great pace and has become the second most traded item in the world (behind petroleum). Coffee houses have been a common spaces for artists, intellectuals, socialites for centuries and present day coffee houses vend hot cups of motivation and tradition that many people don’t consider beyond a pick-me-up or daily ritual. The caffeine in coffee may present risk for addiction but there is mounting evidence that shows it and (and possibly other properties) significantly reduced risks of Alzheimer and dementia in old age. With the incredible amount of social and economic attention on coffee it is important to consider the irony in the sickness of our two largest industries. The truth is the processes essential for the coffee industry have been consistently unfair to the tropical and subtropical natives who farm the plants and the processes themselves threaten the industry. The energy it takes to process one pound of coffee requires over 8,000 calories
of fossil-fuel energy while delivering very few calories. This huge caloric input output disparity is troubling but the coffee industry by nature of being global prevalent antagonists itself in the creation and transportation and consumption of the product.