Journalist Mark Pendergast talks with Steve Paulson about the cultural history of coffee. His book is "Uncommon Grounds: the History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World."
Q: How Bragil is [what is] the major coffee producers in the world?
A: Yeah, by the late 1800, Brasil was growing 80% of all the worlds coffee. And Bragil is a still the world's largest producer of coffee although certainly not that percentage. Again, let me point out this was not altogether the good thing it produced some very very wealthy plantation owners [ let] huge spreads [dealt] on a back of the impoverished for slaves and then other lavoers who want to pay very much a [Colonos].
Also because Brasil really relied on what [ ma ] mono-culture. They stopped growing even subsistance crops. And so the price of coffee went down which it did in the beginning of the 20c. They were faced with a devastating consquences. There was almost revolution. ANd what they ended up doing was keeping back part of their harvest, trying to raise the price.
What happens in the U.S. was that we acted as if our birthright was to have very cheap coffee. And throughout the American history whenever the price of coffee is spiked up quickly, there have been the government investigation I can't think of another product besides parhaps oil [without] might be the case. Si ciffee us essebce becomes the tool of policy.