How Coffee Can Be Better
The unfiltered truth about the world’s most popular drink
As readers of this page know, I occasionally ask writers from various backgrounds to contribute their thoughts. This week’s essay comes from Edward (Edie) Mukiibi president of the global Slow Food movement. Edie lives and works in Uganda where he and his family run an agroecological farm. An agronomist, food and agriculture educator and social entrepreneur, Mukiibi also continues to serve as president of Slow Food Uganda.
What brings people together more than a good cup of coffee? When a steaming morning brew infuses its way into our daily routine, we become part of a collective ritual involving billions of other people. Whether in the form of an Italian espresso, a filter coffee, a Turkish coffee or an Ethiopian ceremonial brew, coffee is second only to water as the world’s most consumed drink (and few enjoy the former unless they brew it with the latter).
My family has been intercropping coffee for generations, and many of my childhood memories concern its cultivation and consumption.
The varieties of coffee that my grandfather cultivated are dying out and being replaced by new industrial varieties whose higher yields come at the cost of…
