Food For Thought- How One Cup of Coffee Impacts the World and a Person

This morning I ground some Colombian coffee beans and made some fresh coffee. It was absolutely delicious and I savored every drop.

For almost all of us living in the United States, we live in a land of incomprehensible abundance when it comes to food. We have the luxury of dreaming up gourmet meals and then buying them, whether to cook them ourselves or to have someone else do the heavy work and then serving it to us for a fee.

A simple cup of coffee is not so simple. Coffee is grown in many places except in the continental United States. It must be planted, harvested, graded, shipped, roasted, ground, and then perked, dripped or French pressed. Whether you perform the last few steps at home or delegate the task to the local deli or Starbucks, there is a lot going on in that cup. It took a lot of work.

Our wealth allows us to become, "Foodies", "Gourmets", "Oenophiles". We can cook four different cuisines, serve eight course meals, and discourse intelligently on chablis and chardonnays, cabernets and syrahs.

So as we start the new year, let us take a moment to contemplate our abundance of food and the wealth which makes this all possible. We have the luxury to decide what to eat or what not to eat. We do not have to wonder which dumpster will provide our next meal or which puddle will supply our next drink.

A moment or two of thanks or appreciation is not inappropriate.