Coffee - the luxury of black gold

Coffee is an important part of the day!
For some people coffee forms the entire income, for some people coffee is a luxury, drunk from time to time and for some privileged people it is a necessity to continue the day. Here is some information about coffee that I think we need to keep in mind.

I sometimes like to look for information in scientific articles (it’s important to use source criticism) and an article from 2002 states that coffee was the second most valuable product when it comes to global trades. Only oil was more valuable, and even though this source of information is from almost 20 years ago, the same relation has continued. This means that farmers often will choose the coffee bean before crops grown for meals, simply because they will receive a higher income.  Nearly 25 million farmers worldwide depend on coffee crops for their economic livelihood. Coffee is a seasonal harvest made by hand which in this case means that workers are hired temporarily. What happens when we need more area farming crops for meals? Will we continue to demand coffee or can we accept days without it? 

Every year we drink about 500 billion cups of coffee in the world. Scandinavia drinks the most with the highest per-capita coffee consumption in the world. Finland is worst with the average of more than four cups of coffee a day. Only around 6 % of the globally produced coffee have been branded as ecological. While farming, coffee is the one crop that is sprayed with most pesticides. The pesticides reach the water near by and makes it poisoned which leads to sick human sickness and dying plants/animals. Ecological coffee makes a huge difference.  

REMEMBER: Choose coffee with care and ask yourself, “do I really need this cup of coffee”. If you say no to every second cup you will lower your impact with 50%, it's as simple as that.

"Coffee is a luxury and we need to treat it that way"