Coffee History
Coffee is native to the East African tropics but is now cultivated in tropical areas worldwide. Coffee was discovered around 1000 AD when a flock of goats were observed jumping in excited fashion when they grazed on coffee berries (each of which contains two coffee seeds or beans). The goatherd, an Arab referred to by some as Khalid and others as Kaldi, decided to eat some of the fruit himself and he immediately felt more alert. As for how it came to be commonly roasted, according to one account some beans were accidentally burned but found to be better tasting that way. However it is also known that the beans were roasted to prevent germination as coffee was a trade secret, so that may have been the real reason they are now commonly sold in roasted form. For so far, that’s the history of coffee.
Coffee ranks among oil as one of the top export crops in the world. As with oil however, some areas that produce it do not distribute wealth appropriately, and in many cases producers are exploited. Middlemen tend to steal the bulk of the profit and pay barely enough for coffee farmers to survive. Consumers who choose fair trade coffee ensure that the farmers who actually produce their coffee can make a living. And they do.
Coffee can be grown at home in southern areas and while it takes 2-3 years to fruit, that is the same as asparagus. Coffee seeds are expensive, but can be purchased online.
