Words About Things

Life isn’t easy for coffee farmers. Coffee beans are finickity and require just the right conditions to thrive. They are mostly grown at high altitudes in hard to reach areas and too much or not enough rain can have a disastrous effect on production. Most smaller farms make little money and the majority of each years profits and used to maintain the next years crops. After a year of abnormal weather there will be less beans on the world market which leads to higher prices for the consumer but not necessarily better profits for the growers. Even farmers who are lucky enough to be part of a fair-trade scheme aren’t insured against changes in the weather.

As the problem of climate change deepens those who’s industry is reliant on certain weather conditions are likely to suffer. The weather will become increasingly unpredictable as this will have a knock on effect on the finances of those at the bottom of the coffee producing chain. Most beans are grown at between 1800-6300 feet and as far as i can tell (please comment if you know otherwise) coffee plants cannot be grown under artificial conditions.

The effect to those of us who enjoy drinking coffee is likely to be an overall increase in price. During years when weather conditions are particularly bad in Colombia, El Salvador or India prices are likely to increase dramatically. Huge companies like Starbucks and Nescafé may be able to absorb these price increases but smaller local companies will suffer.

Peter Baker of CAD International believes that

More adaptive, participatory research is needed to find out how best to help farmers, and there should be a greater emphasis on long-term research to develop crop varieties more resistant to climate extremes, pests and diseases. Neither NGOs nor private companies can hope to manage many such activities. And there is an unresolved paradox: sustainability is about imposing order and stability, whereas climate change is about adapting and transforming.

Yet another reason to combat global warming and climate change.

A recent study has shown that coffee can actually prevent bad breath rather than cause it as was previously thought. Professor Mel Rosenberg of Tel Aviv University set out to prove that drinking coffee on a regular basis can lead to an acid oral environment which can in turn lead to the growth of odorous bacteria. He expected to thus confirm previous studies linking a coffee habit with a stinky gob.

What Dr Rosenberg actually discovered was that some compounds found in the three different coffees tested (Elite coffee, Landwer Turkish coffee, and Taster’s Choice) seemed to combat bad breath. The exact compound has not been singled out but it appears to prevent the creation of odor rather than just covering it up as breath mints would. There has been some speculation that this will lead to new advancements in the fight against halitosis (the best comic book villain that never was).

Apparently sucking on a coffee bean is a centuries old cure for bad onion breath. I’d never heard of this but I don’t exactly need too much encouragement and any new excuse to have a cup of coffee is good thing as far as I’m concerned.

Starbucks have been forced to recall one of their range of coffee products due to safety fears. Their Starbucks Barista Blade Grinder and Seattle’s Best Coffee Blade Grinder seem to have a tendency to turn on unexpectedly as well as occasionally not turning off. The coffee company have received three reports of customers sustaining lacerations after the grinder turned itself on whilst it was being cleaned. 176 reports of problems with the grinders were received in total.

The company have voluntarily recalled 530,000 grinders that were sold between March 2002 and March 2009. Those who think they may own one of the zombiefied grinders should stop using it immediately and call Starbucks on 866-276-2950 for a free replacement grinder. A list of effected models and other information can be found on the Starbucks site here.

Personally I wouldn’t put my hand inside a grinder that was still plugged in, particularly a blade grinder. That’s about a sensible as cleaning a lawn mower that is plugged in. Having said that questions will be raised about how well Starbucks tested the grinders before putting them on sale. The best way to kill a zombie grinder is a sharp blow to the head (or to unplug it).