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Randomness

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Submitted By mrinalkapoor
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Coffee
Perhaps the most popular beverage in the world, coffee is brewed and prepared from the roasted seeds of several species of an evergreen shrub of the genus Coffea. It is cultivated in over 70 countries around the world, primarily in equatorial Latin America, South East Asia, and Africa. The beginning of our love affair with coffee can be traced back to the 15th century and most of the world’s population is well aware of its stimulating effect, thanks to its high caffeine content. Today, coffee is much more than just a drink – it’s the world’s second most tradable commodity after oil, and is a fast growing, already multi-billion dollar industry.
Traditionally, coffee has always been grown amongst forest trees, in the shade. However, the yield from such a method of cultivation is low, and as a result, increased demand pressurized coffee producers to opt for alternate methods like sun-grown coffee (explained in detail below), which have ended up harming the environment to a great extent, a fact not many coffee lovers around the world are aware of.
The burgeoning coffee culture that has sprung up over the last few decades has led to an overwhelming increase in demand for this liquid gold which has had a knock-on effect on the environment, with monoculture and sun grown coffee being the norm now. And given that most coffee growing regions are also home to some of the most delicate ecosystems on earth, the potential for serious damage is great.

Sun-Grown Coffee
Originating in the 1970’s, sun cultivated (or sun grown) coffee is produced on plantations, where forestry is cleared so that coffee is grown in rows as a monoculture with no canopy.
Sun-Grown Coffee, in concert with the necessary addition of fertilizer, creates the highest yield of coffee, but eliminates the diversity of plants which support an array of insects and animals, posing detrimental impacts

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