Coffee is heavily based on Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everyday Things by John C. Ryan and Alan Thein Durning (1997). Their website has a bunch of neat and informative resources on product lifecycles and sustainability.
Fascinating overview of the history of coffee
Fair trade coffee is coffee that is traded by bypassing the coffee trader and therefore giving the producer (and buyer) higher profits. Fair Trade does not necessarily mean that the extra money trickles down to the people who harvest the coffee.
Selections from Mamdou Habib’s affadavit on his torture in Egypt and Guantanamo:
Phillip Ruddock, the Australian Attorney General on Habib’s physical condition after release from
Testimonials from Gemima Mukashyaka on
War on Drugs info
In vitro and ex vivo antihydroxyl radical activity of green and roasted coffee. Daglia M, Racchi M, Papetti A, et al. J Agric Food Chem. 2004 Mar 24;52(6):1700-4.
Effect of roasting on the antioxidant activity of coffee brews. del Castillo MD,
Comparison of the antioxidant activity of commonly consumed polyphenolic beverages (coffee, cocoa, and tea) prepared per cup serving. Richelle M, Tavazzi I, Offord E. J Agric Food Chem. 2001 Jul;49(7):3438-42.
Does caffeine intake protect from Alzheimer's disease? Maia L, de Mendonca A. Eur J Neurol. 2002 Jul;9(4):377-82.
Coffee consumption and risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus. Salazar-Martinez E, Willett WC, Ascherio A, Manson JE, Leitzmann MF, Stampfer MJ, Hu FB. Ann Intern Med. 2004 Jan 6;140(1):I17.
And, finally, yes, you really can get your own civet coffee. We totally missed another bizarre coffe variation, "Weasel Coffee":
"Wild Weasels roam the coffee plantations and eat the ripe coffee beans, but rather than digest them the weasel regurgitates them and vomits them up! Due to the fact the cherries have been in the weasels gastric juices, it seems to dramatically alter the taste of the coffee once brewed."
