Global Transformations and the Human Condition Global Lives of Things We Buy Research Paper

Section 1

The commodity selected for this research paper is coffee. This commodity was chosen owing to the reason that it is one of the most common and most consumed beverages across the globe. In fact, the practice of consuming coffee goes to as far back as the 15th century (Einstein, 2019). As indicated by Ponte (2002), more than 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed on an everyday basis. 54 percent if adults in America consume coffee with an average intake of at least three cups of coffee every day. In totality, it is approximated that the United States spends just about $40 billion on coffee annually. One of the key issues surrounding the consumption of coffee is the health benefits or risks that the commodity poses. The effects of coffee on the health of human beings are controversial. For the most part, there is a lot that has been said about coffee. On the one hand, coffee is exceedingly high in antioxidants and is associated to a diminished risk of numerous illnesses. Nonetheless, on the other hand, coffee contains caffeine, which is a stimulant that can result in problems in people and cause sleep deprivation. Coffee is deemed to have both positive and negative effects on the health of human beings. The prevailing recommendations give the suggestion that a consumer should not drink more than 400 milligrams of caffeine on a daily basis. This is approximated to be about three to five cups of coffee, reliant on the consumer’s brew of choice.

Section 2

Coffee is the most far and wide consumed beverage in the world. On estimate, almost 35,000 cups of coffee are consumed every second across the globe on any particular day. Within the United States, the largest market in the world in regard to both size and value, nearly 75 percent of the population takes coffee (World Intellectual Property Organization, 2017). Notably, the production of this commodity largely takes place in the Global South whereas the consumption of the commodity largely takes place in the Global North. Statistics indicate that about 70 percent of the demand levels for coffee emanate from high-income nations. These nations have a tendency of being situated in the northern hemisphere whereas the nations producing coffee have a tendency to be situated in the southern hemisphere and are usually categorized as low to middle income nations (World Intellectual Property Organization, 2017).

Worldwide exports by country added up to an appraised US$ 31.1 billion in the 2018 fiscal year. In 2018, the country that exported the highest value worth of coffee globally was Brazil with a total amount of US4.4 billion, signifying 14.1 percent of the total coffee exports. Brazilian coffee exports as projected by Agricultural Trade Office in Sao Paulo for 2019/20 is 36.82 million bags, with every bad being equivalent to 60 kilograms. Second was Vietnam with a value of $3.3 billion, which represented 10.5 percent of the total global coffee exports. The other three top countries included Germany, Switzerland, and Colombia with values of $2.4 billion, $2.3 billion, and $1.7 billion respectively (Workman, 2019).

Worldwide purchases of imported coffee were a total estimated amount of US$ 31 billion in the 2018 fiscal year. In regard to the different continents, nations within the European region consumed the greatest value of imported coffee with almost 59 percent of the global total. They were followed by North American nations with 22.6 percent and third, Asia with 13.6 percent of the global total imports (Workman, 2019). The United States tops the countries that imported the highest value of coffee in the world with US$5.7 billion, which signifies 18.5 percent of the total global coffee imports. Second is Germany with import value worth $3.5 billion, signifying 11.2 percent of the total coffee imports. The following three nations are France, Italy and Netherlands with $2.8 billion, $1.7 billion, and $1.3 billion respectively (Workman, 2019).

The process of coffee growing up until it gets to the…

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…sense that coffee offers citizens as a means of looking at their relationship to the greater world and has conversations.

There are different ways in which advertisements convey coffee as a commodity to consumers. One of the ways is whether a consumer is a morning person. Usually, in the morning, consumers are categorized into the caffeinated and the un-caffeinated, with the latter defined as the persons planning to consume coffee but have yet to. Another way in which the advertisements have been conveyed is that drinking coffee is a personal thing. That is, consumers are identified by the brand that they drink, by the coffee companies and houses that the consumers frequent and the process through which the coffee beans are grown and harvested. That has resulted in consumers having a preference for macchiato, espresso and also de-caffe, all of which are highly advertised by major coffee houses such as Starbucks (D’Costa, 2011).s

Conclusion

Coffee is one of the most extensively consumed beverages across the world. Coffee consumption goes back to the fifteenth century. Coffee is one of the highly traded economies amongst different markets. The major exporters of coffee comprise of Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Germany, as well as Switzerland. On the other hand, the major importers of the commodity comprise of the United States, France, Germany, Italy, and also Belgium. There continues to be a major incongruity concerning coffee consumption. Typically, coffee is associated with negative effects such as anxiety, depression, sleep deprivation, and elicitors of health palpitations. Nonetheless, recent studies have demonstrated that there are major advantages of drinking coffee. These comprise of decreased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, type 2 diabetes, fighting cell damage, in addition to increasing antioxidants in the body. This project has provided me with great insight into global transformations and the human condition into the global lives of the things we purchase. Coffee, for the most part, is grown in the Global South and thereafter consumed in the Global North. Coffee is a commodity that…