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

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 end-users comprises of planting the coffee beans, harvesting the cherries and processing the cherries. Subsequently, there is drying the beans and milling the beans. Afterwards, the coffee beans are exported to the United States. The following phases include tasting the coffee, roasting the coffee and finally grinding the coffee. There are major companies that are involved in the production and distribution of the commodity. The producer with the highest market share is Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. with 22 percent and secondly there is the J.M Smucker Company with 21 percent. Followed closely in third position is Nestle SA with 16.2 percent and thereafter Starbucks Corporation with 15.6 percent and finally Kraft Foods Inc. with 10.9 percent.

There are key contradictions underlying the consumption of coffee as a commodity. For a long time, coffee drinking has been associated with negative effects on the body such as anxiety, high blood pressure and depression. High amounts of coffee, and therefore caffeine, can give rise to anxiety, sleep deprivation and also an increased heart rate. Caffeine-based drinks like coffee are regarded to be prevalent elicitors of health palpitations, anxiety and also heighten depression levels (World of Food and Drink, 2018). Van Dijk et al. (2018) conducted a study examining the impacts of caffeine on human health. The outcomes of the study demonstrated that routine coffee consumption gives rise to depression, liver fibrosis, poor hearing, in addition to poor cognitive capabilities.
However, based on recent research studies, it has been established that coffee consumption can have a number of health benefits. To begin with, coffee diminishes the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. Research has indicated that the consumption of about four or five cups of coffee on a daily basis decreases the risk of developing the illness by almost 50 percent. In addition, further research has demonstrated that drinking coffee reduces the effects being experienced by individuals with Parkinson’s disease. Secondly, coffee drinking has the health benefit of protecting individuals from type 2 diabetes. A study conducted by Bhupathiraju et al. (2014) examined changes in the amount of caffeine intake and established that the individuals who reduced their coffee intake by more than one cup on a daily basis, has an increase in their risk of developing type 2 diabetes. As for individuals that consume more than three cups of coffee on a daily basis, they have a 50 percent reduced change of developing the disease.
Lucas et al. (2011) carried out a study involving over 50,000 women in the United States and established that those who consumed over three cups of coffee everyday has a 20 percent lesser risk of developing depression in the forthcoming years. The findings also indicated that other caffeinated drinks have a greater likelihood of increasing depression.
What is more, there is the health benefit of having antioxidants in the body. These antioxidants are beneficial to the human body in fighting against cell damage. Whereas it has been ascertained that fruits and vegetables provide antioxidants, research has indicated that human bodies might easily take in antioxidants from coffee. Research studies have also demonstrated that coffee drinking is beneficial in lowering the risk of liver damage and protection against heart disease. Undoubtedly, excessive alcohol ruins the liver and at the end of the day results in liver cirrhosis, and worse, liver failure. Cadden, Partovi, and Yoshida (2007) showed that the beneficial effect of coffee on liver is a 20 percent lesser likelihood of developing liver disease.
Section 3
In the United States alone, everyday consumers drink millions of cups of coffee. As a result, this creates an exceedingly competitive and over flooded market for both coffee products and also for the firms that produce the coffee. This has resulted in an intensification of advertising for the commodity in order to create greater sales and consumer base. There are different kinds of ads that I see for coffee as a commodity. These range from television ads, billboards and posters, and also in recent times, social media advertisements on various platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
The ads for coffee mostly capture the contexts and production and distribution of the commodity. Usually, coffee is generally classified and advertised as either specialty or commercial grade. More often than not, commercial coffee goes through roasting and packaging in major factories, under nationally advertised brand names. On the other hand, specialty coffee undergoes roasting in small plants and is usually retailed where it has been roasted. For instance, coffee is advertised and sold by the place where the coffee beans originated, for instance, Kenya, Brazil or Colombia. It is also advertised and retailed in terms of where the roasting has taken place, for instance Italian roast coffee and French roast coffee (Thurston, Morris, and Steiman, 2013).
Coffee is advertised and marketed in the United States as a beverage that is necessitated in the morning to jump start the day and during the day or evening to get the right kick in undertaking activities (Rudeen, 2018). This prompts people to want to consume the product even more. This is linked to the aspect that the advertisements demonstrating the key coffee attributes influence consumer purchasing decisions including the sustainability of the commodity and intrinsic quality attributes, for instance, country of origin, the degree of coffee roast and variety of coffee. The different advertisements portraying extrinsic attributes, for instance, Starbucks packaging and brands, in addition to the type of coffee, such as macchiato, black espresso, decaffeinated coffee, cappuccino and iced coffee are some of the ways in which the advertising campaigns prompt the consumers to purchase the commodity (Samoggia and Riedel, 2019). Coffee offers deep and significant meaning for consumers and the campaigns seek to have citizens come together. This is in the 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 facilitates connections between people, cultures and relationships. A cup of coffee facilitates increased associations all over the world.
References
Bhupathiraju, S. N., Pan, A., Manson, J. E., Willett, W. C., van Dam, R. M., & Hu, F. B. (2014). Changes in coffee intake and subsequent risk of type 2 diabetes: three large cohorts of US men and women. Diabetologia, 57(7), 1346-1354.
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Lucas, M., Mirzaei, F., Pan, A., Okereke, O. I., Willett, W. C., O’Reilly, É. J., ... & Ascherio, A. (2011). Coffee, caffeine, and risk of depression among women. Archives of internal medicine, 171(17), 1571-1578.
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Van Dijk, R., Ties, D., Kuijpers, D., Van der Harst, P., & Oudkerk, M. (2018). Effects of caffeine on myocardial blood flow: a systematic review. Nutrients, 10(8), 1083.
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