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.