A friend of coffee, and someone native to its land, reviewed some posts here, and commented that I had not yet mentioned the primal importance of our commodity — the enjoyment and the daily satisfaction that we find in it. She advised me to, “evoke the emotive aspects,” and to underline the “dire” state that we will find ourselves in, if we were to lose coffee’s ready availability.
Humans are not good at accepting the consequences of our collective actions, as our present climatic predicament reminds us. Those consequences can be palpable and clear, but we still do not fully grasp what’s afoot. In our case, we could lose coffee, or most of it, but does that sink in?
For me, coffee began in my life as that stuff that gave me the power, positivity and the courage to face my paper route every morning at 5:30 a.m. Later, feeling fortified under the steam of another pot, it made showing up for the social challenges of Junior High less horrific. That special substance always smelled so good when I’d first crack open a vacuum–sealed can — and that aromatic boost helped me through the day. It has been a magic potion that I have since been sipping every day of my life.
We are not at immediate risk of losing our common staple and the object of our mutual adoration, but we are close enough — from precious but plentiful and always within reach, to rare and potentially scarce. I can type it out, or recite it aloud, but do I get it?
Right now, in front of me, a deep bracing Brazil, full of caramel and bitter chocolate, a Peterbuilt® cup of coffee, big and rumbling with glints of tropical fruit and a little bit of must and asphalt — there’s a hint of sweet buried in it and it’s thick enough to patch the roof — yum! How is it this stuff is so good, so full of complexity and nearly free, even in a record market… nearly free? How is this thing so deep and substantial and yet in so much danger?
So, Happy New Year, Coffee Lovers…we will carry on and be careful not to get too discouraged (we shouldn’t, and we can’t afford to). But, at the same time, we can reflect on what’s at stake, and that not nearly enough got done in 2024. 2025 will likely be a bigger challenge.
Still, though, coffee, as important as it is to all of us, is the least of it… it’s just the canary, remember? It’s not really in danger, yet, it’s just here to warn us — in case things get serious, some day.
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