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You are probably scratching your head right now, wondering what this has to do with coffee, that is if you ever even look at our blog anymore, as we update it so infrequently...
So, what does loving potato chips have to do with the world of specialty coffee, with consumer habits, with coffee education? In short, everything.
Firstly, it has to do with denial and avoidance. Knowing the truth, and refusing to accept it, wanting to ignore it, because we hate the thought of living without potato chips. It has to do with being aware of future consequences (heart disease) and not caring enough about the future to change our current behaviour.
Perhaps it even has to do with ADDICTION... addiction to salt, addiction to carbs, addiction to fat, addiction to OIL, addiction to POWER, addiction to the BOTTOM LINE, addiction to EXCESS, addiction to WALMART, addiction to CHEAP. We in North America know addiction better than any society on the face of the planet, and more than that, probably better than any society ever before us in the history of humanity. Addiction to drugs, food, alcohol, fitness, celebrity, money, the trivial, the list could go on and on. We want, and want and want more, but always for less. That is the key, we want it cheaper, and leaner, and in the process we get led in our milk, and toxins in our vegetables (if anyone eats them anymore), and hormones in all of our meat. I know, I am beyond ranting, but as you have already figured out, I am trying to make a point.
All of this to say, that I think it is time for us in the specialty coffee industry, us who care more about our product, and quality than the bottom line, to start to lead. James Hoffman encouraged us in his last video to contribute to the coffee page in Wikipedia. Ironically, James (our Marketing director) and I were just talking today (before I watched the Hoffman video) about the unreliability of Wikipedia. But, James Hoffman is right, if the collective conscience of the specialty coffee world contributed 100 words, each, to the Coffee page of Wikipedia, it would be reliable, credible, and informative. If we cared less about reviews of certain coffees (and scores out of 100), and more about educating our customers in real ways, the market place would change.
People would start to understand quality, and want it. Want it more than paying $8 a pound for coffee, want it more than paying $15 a pound for COE coffee at Target. We in the industry would start to talk seriously, and act seriously about the impending crisis in the world of coffee, especially in Central America, as global warming rears its inevitable head, and messes with our beloved coffee, in ways that we can't comprehend. How do we prepare, advise, assist, participate? How does the SCAA, SCAE, SCAJ and other specialty coffee associations lead, lobby, and educate? If we put our collective wisdom, education, heart, mind and souls together, I know that we can change the world that we live in.
It would mean that I learn to love Potato Chips a little less, and acknowledge that they aren't good for me. It would mean that I start to think of the future, and not only think of the future but act in a way that changes the future. It means that I have to be invested, and involved in ways that stretch me, scare me, and make me uncomfortable. It means that I have to be someone who is not willing to let the world pass me by, but rather, be one who gets on, hangs on for dear life, and risks almost everything, to see it change.
OK, enough philosphy and soap box for this evening. If nothing else, please think, responsd, react, to the words in this post.
