Friday, April 05, 2002


will the germans ever learn to pronounce caffe latte?

they'd better. starbucks has hit berlin, and the germans, used to only black coffee or coffee with milk, seem a little overwhelmed by the changes sweeping their centuries-old cafe culture.

on a more serious note, the world bank, the iadb, and usaid are having a regional meeting to see how to combat the social and economic catastrophe in central america wrought in by the recent low in coffee prices. they are trying to strengthen quality standards, to keep the glut of poor-quality coffee from depressing the world market any longer.

about time, i say! but will this alphabet soup of global development agencies actually do more than just palaver in their poly-modern plexiglass office cocoons? will they try creating and enforcing a workable plan to make the lives of those who depend on coffee revenue better?

and on an upbeat health note: the prestigious journal nature reports that coffee may stop tooth decay. if you don't put so much sugar in it!


posted by fortune | 7:19 PM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 0 comments