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How Does Coffee Affect Society

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Over the course of time, there has been numerous amounts of goods introduced to the global market have acted as a lens in which societal changes can be observed through. By reviewing a society’s most demanded commodities and goods at a given time, one can acquire further insight into certain cultural aspects and values those societies may have held. Coffee is one such good that can provide such an insight into the social status and values of a time period. Further understanding of how coffee has played a role in social aspects of consumer countries, as well as portraying the social environment of such countries, can be gained when looking deeper into the history surrounding coffee and its development into society. “Culture infuses coffee with social and symbolic meanings” (Tucker 6), and in specific cases this connection between coffee and a consumer countries’ social atmosphere can indeed represent the culture. Since coffees initial introduction into the global market and up until present day, coffee has represented a variety of cultural elements in societies. Such elements include the social …show more content…

During this time period, the world’s global connectedness was only just being established, and many foreign goods were limited to European societies, thus being reserved primarily to the wealthy, who were able to afford the costly imports. Another good which exemplifies such a representation of the division among classes is that of the color purple, which was so limited that only royalty were capable of affording the commodity. As is often seen in society, the wealthy retain the ability to afford goods, such as coffee, which are not necessities, while the middle class and poor face the need to delegate their earning to basic life necessities needed to

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