Coffee’s vicious cycle

A worker hand-picking during the harvesting process of Arabica coffee in Alfenas, Minas Gerais, Brazil. In an ecological and agricultural irony, the more forests are destroyed to grow coffee, the more the crop’s long-term prospects are jeopardised by changing rains, according to a new report by Coffee Watch, a non-profit industry watchdog. — Dado Galdieri/The New York Times

By Ephrat Livni

EVERY day, more than two billion cups of coffee are consumed worldwide by some estimates – and demand keeps rising.