Having been a coffee lover for most of my life, it didn’t surprise me to find out that caffeine is, by far, the world’s most common and widely used psychoactive drug. In fact, it is one of the most valuable legally traded commodities in the world. We can say that it is a worldwide phenomenon.
Just about every culture has its own traditional way of preparing coffee, and most countries now contain large coffee brands.
Coffee’s early beginnings are rich in lore. There is an Ethiopian legend that describes how coffee was discovered by a goat herder who noticed his goats were unable to sleep at night after eating a particular type of berry. The use of “coffee berries” spread quickly by merchants and travelers to throughout the Arabian peninsula. There, it became popular in social settings at coffee houses, where people gathered to listen to music, play chess and exchange news.
Coffee houses all over Europe were called “penny universities” because anyone could grab a cup of coffee for a penny and engage in stimulating conversation.
Over here in the New World, coffee didn’t fully catch on until the Boston Tea Party. Disillusioned colonists saw taking tea out of their daily diet and replacing it with coffee as their patriotic duty, part of an overall rejection rejection of all things British.
Later in American history, coffee was used to raise moral in the Civil War. It provided soldiers with an energy boost to battle and the strength to carry on afterwards.
Now this drink is widely used by the majority of Americans to wake up and go to their nine to five jobs.
Caffeine works by blocking the adenosine receptors, speeding up nerve activity, and keeping the drinker alert for a few hours. Extra adenosine begins to build up in the brain, serving as a signal to the adrenal glands to produce adrenaline, another stimulant. In additional to this, the brain’s natural stimulants like dopamine work more effectively when the adenosine receptors are blocked, boosting the feeling of alertness. This cocktail of chemicals in the brain effectively keeps a person awake and alert, sometimes to the point of anxiety.
With consistent use, caffeine can negatively affect our cardiovascular system, increase blood pressure and heart rate, as well as occasional arrhythmia.
The global love-affair with coffee has also led to extensive environmental consequences. From the beginning, certain types of bean growing have been destructive to the surrounding ecosystem. The large amounts of land and sunlight that coffee growing requires has resulted in the clearing out of forests, which has also contributed to the decrease of biodiversity and increase in erosion and soil degradation. Helpful plants, insects, and other animal species are driven out by coffee growing techniques and, consequently, the need for pesticides increases.
Once coffee has made it to the grocery store in into our homes, there are countless more consequences. Whether it be the coffee grounds or plastic cups and packaging, the waste associated with making coffee that ends up in landfills takes a long time to break down.
Every step of the way, the environmental consequences of a mere cup of Joe are immense.
No matter what type of coffee you enjoy — whether it be a cortadito or caramel macchiato and despite its simultaneously rich and bitter past, drinking a steaming cup of freshly brewed coffee is certainly a great way to connect with friends and start your day.
Salud!
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