The Coffee Crisis Essay Example for Free

The Coffee Crisis Essay To begin, The Coffee Crisis is about an acute coffee crisis and how it threatens millions of small coffee farmers around the world and is putting economic growth, as well as social and political stability, at risk in scores of coffee producing countries in Central and South America, Africa and Asia. In 2004, the governments of coffee producing countries were considering how to respond to the dramatic decline in coffee prices caused in part by a large increase in coffee production in Brazil and Vietnam. Coffee was the main source of income for roughly 25 million farmers, mostly small land holders, in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Coffee prices had hit 40 year lows in 2001 and had remained low since, resulting in real hardship for many farmers. A variety of alternative solutions had been suggested. (Gomez-Ibanez Quinlan, 2004) The International Coffee Organization was advocating increasing demand through programs promoting coffee consumption; the Inter-American Development Bank supported promotion but also thought some high-cost countries should get out of coffee, while the non-governmental organization Oxfam was pushing fair trade pricing. The coffee crisis is worldwide. It is affecting farmers in Central America, South America, Africa, and Asia. While the Arabica farmers in Costa Rica may be getting 40 cents per pound for their coffee cherries, the Robusta coffee farmers in Viet Nam are only receiving 15 cents a pound for theirs. Even the low cost producers are not benefiting from the current situation. This condition is created because the market place does not view coffee as a true commodity. It places premiums and discounts on both coffee types and coffee grades. While both markets may move up and down in tandem, the arbitrage, or spread between one Arabica and Robusta, does not give one farmer an economic competitive advantage over another. This fact tends to get glossed over in most economic discussions on the coffee crisis. Many analysts believe that oversupply is at the root of the present crisis. After the system of coffee export quotas (the International Coffee Agreement, or ICA), administered by the International Coffee Organization, collapsed in 1989, the regulation of coffee production and quality was left to each individual producer country. Almost immediately following the dissolution of the agreement, excessive quantities of coffee entered international markets, prices became quite volatile and the overall quality of the coffee began to decline. Many of the coffee producing nations, including Mexico, were simultaneously in the process of deregulating, privatizing, and otherwise liberalizing agricultural production and national agricultural institutions. This had the effect of exacerbating the uncertainties faced by coffee farmers at the end of the 1980s. The coffee crisis is structural. It was not caused by the cyclical nature of coffee agriculture that has produced the â€Å"boom-bust† cycles of the past. The change in the market place has been brought about by the concentration of buying power in the hands of a few firms that present coffee to the consumer as a â€Å"blended and branded† product, void of any links to type and grade. This has led to intense price competition for market share that has rewarded increased market share to low cost products in the short run at the expense of stability in the supply chain in the long run. Since the crisis is a structural problem and not a cyclical one, remedies are to be found by taking intervening actions. These actions would include a strengthening of coffee institutions, a realignment of market forces, a creation of suitable financial tools, and a promotion of sustainable agricultural practices. It must be emphasized that any direct market intervention, such as quotas or subsidies, would only be short term in effect and would not correct the structural problems. It must also be emphasized that what is required is a series of steps in a number of different areas, as no single step will produce the desired structural changes that are needed. The crisis in the coffee sector continues. Its impact cannot be understated, since coffee constitutes the livelihood of an estimated 25 million families around the world. In world trade, coffee is the second leading commodity, after petroleum. The worldwide coffee market spans some 71 countries, of which 51 are significant producers and 20 are key consumers. Prices have not kept up with production costs to the extent needed to make participation in the coffee business profitable for most producers, even though the crop year 2003-2004 witnessed a worldwide decrease in production. (Central America The Coffee Crisis: Effects and Strategies for Moving Forward, 1992) In coffee producing countries, which account for over 26% of world consumption, the situation is more diverse. In some countries, prices of coffee have fallen in local currency and consumption may therefore be stimulated. In Brazil, the largest coffee market among producing countries, the devaluation of the real has maintained prices of green coffee at pre-crisis levels. As a whole, consumption in these markets is not expected to suffer any major negative impact. The root cause of the coffee crisis can be linked to three factors: over production; under consumption; and market oligopoly. In short, these are all problems associated with the economics of coffee farming. Without resolution, they will lead to both social and environmental breakdowns. (Central America The Coffee Crisis: Effects and Strategies for Moving Forward, 1992). The crisis has been caused by a large increase in coffee production over the past several years by two countries Vietnam and Brazil. In the case of Vietnam, within ten years this country grew from a relatively insignificant producer to the world second largest – ahead of Colombia but behind Brazil, now producing well over 10 million bags annually and accounting for approximately 12% of world exports. (Central America The Coffee Crisis: Effects and Strategies for Moving Forward, 1992) To conclude, without economic remedies to the crisis, it is difficult to promote sustainable agricultural practices in coffee farming. While niche markets within the specialty coffee industry can provide some relief, the size of these markets makes them too small to be an effective solution. References: Central America The Coffee Crisis: Effects and Strategies for Moving Forward. (1992, July 19). Retrieved February 4, 2012, from Latin American and Carribean: http://web. worldbank. org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/LACEXT/0,,contentMDK:20606092~pagePK:146736~piPK:146830~theSitePK:258554,00. html Gomez-Ibanez, J. , Quinlan, S. J. (2004). The Coffee Crisis.

Identity and Losed Love Essay -- Literary Analysis, Wharton, Lily Bart

â€Å"The dinginess, the crudity of this average section of womanhood made him feel how highly specialized she was† (Wharton 6). In the House of Mirth, the main character Lily Bart spends her entire life trying to escape this idea of dinginess. On her quest to maintain society’s approval, she denies her true identify along with any hope of ever finding true love and is eventually â€Å"blotted out† by this society (Ammons 348). In the beginning of the novel, Wharton reveals the thoughts of Seldon toward Lily Bart. â€Å"He was aware that the qualities distinguishing her from the herd of her sex were chiefly external: as though a fine glaze of beauty and fastidiousness had been applied to vulgar clay† (Wharton 7).Wharton builds this physical attraction between Seldon and Lily Bart by letting readers into the mind of Seldon and the delicate actions of Lily Bart. Seldon â€Å"enjoyed Lily Bart; and his course lay so far out of her orbit that it amused him to be drawn for a moment into the sudden intimacy which her proposal implied† ( Wharton 6). The delicate approach of Lily coupled with her suggestive words toward Seldon reveals Lily’s true feeling toward Seldon. â€Å"I’m dying for tea---but isn’t there a quieter place?† (Wharton 6). Lily manages to secure privacy with Seldon avoiding as much attention as possible. Even the insinuation of Seldon and Lily being i n a relationship would be especially detrimental to her social standing. When surprised with the appearance of Mr. Rosedale, she innately lied only later realizing the true effect of â€Å"yielding to a passing impulse† (Wharton 15). Her mistake would â€Å"cost her rather more than she could afford† (Wharton 15). Lily Bart lived in a society where even slightest blunder could result in severe social... ... true love for Seldon is felt but never verbally expressed. â€Å"In the silence, there passed between them the word which made all clear† (Wharton 256).She spends most of her life running away from the idea of loving Seldon although internally she cared about him deeply. In the closing, Seldon love drew him to Lily: It was this moment of love, this fleeting victory over themselves, which had kept them from atrophy and extinction; which, in her, had reached out to him in every struggle against the influence of her surroundings, and in her, had reached out to him in every struggle against the influence of her surroundings, and in him, had kept alive the faith that now drew him penitent and reconciled to her side (Wharton 255-56) Lily was plagued with fulfilling society requirement but in the process denied herself of true love and ultimately her own identity.

About Myself: Alone Together Essay

1)Specifically, which primary points do you both understand and agree or disagree with? In â€Å"Alone Together† Sherry Turkle explains the connection between people and technology. She talks about the excitement of talking to someone through a computer; you can become anyone you want, and it also gives you the courage to say anything you want. When you’re behind a computer, it’s easy to tell someone what you think. The same goes for texting. It’s so much easier when you are mad at someone about something to text it to them instead of calling them. You can still express your emotions, by using smiley face or other faces. You’re basically showing emotions through text messaging. It might be convenient to send a quick message to someone instead of having to call them. See more: Analysis of Starbucks coffee company employees essay I am one of the people that have given in so much to technology. I notice too that when my girlfriend and I will argue about something; we will just text each other back and forth and solve the problem that way. I think in that way texting is a good thing, because instead of shouting or saying things you do not mean, you are texting them so you have time to think about your words before you send the message. Most new phones allow someone to have their email and Facebook or other site, they use frequently linked to it. Every message would be sent to your computer now goes to your phone. So while that may be convenient in some ways, it can also be rude when you’re with someone. Children do not spend their free time playing a sport. They spend hours playing video games, surfing the Internet or using cell phones. She said, â€Å"kids are out, but they are on their phones†(Turkle 155). Facebook, Skype, and texts have all become our mainstream of communication, and that is this generation’s source of communication. She also explains how a lot of people now can’t imagine going without their devices, but few years ago, people were just fine. If technology advanced that much in the last couple of years, imagine how things will be in the future. I see some convenience in it all, but I also see constant technology use as a bad thing. So many people now interact through these devices instead of talking to someone. And as convenient as that might be to send a message, I don’t think it is a good thing. 2) Specifically, which major or minor points would you like to ask the author to clarify? I want to know more about how people would prefer a robot over a human relationship. Robots do not have feelings and how does having a robot change how people feel. Why people cannot resist using their phones? How does technology play a big part in our lives? What can talking to someone face to face that a text message cannot do? If technology is changing us, what are we becoming? Does Sherry Turkle spend countless hours on her cell-phone? 3) Generally, what potential essay topics or points of interest worthy of further discussion do you see in the reading? Potential essay topics I see in the readings are how technology plays a big part in our lives? Where would we be if technology did not exist? Without technology, how would education turn out to be? Why do people rely so much on technology?

Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow Essay - 3225 Words

Comparing Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow with Washington Irving’s â€Å"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow† In examining Washington Irving’s â€Å"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow† alongside Tim Burton’s film adaption of the story, titled â€Å"Sleepy Hollow,† a number of fascinating similarities and differences emerge. Though elements of the characters and settings of Burton’s film borrow heavily from Irving’s text, the overall structuring of the film is significantly different, and representations of various elements are crucially re-imagined. Tim Burton’s â€Å"Sleepy Hollow† was released on November 19, 1999, a few months before the new millennium. Set in 1799, Burton’s film modifies the 1790 date that Irving’s text is set in, showing an acute concern with†¦show more content†¦There is no narrator at all in Burton’s film, and the action that the characters experience is firsthand, not retrospective or omniscient. Such a move takes away from the â€Å"folk legend† element of the story, trans forming it into a supernatural spectacle for on the screen instead of a possibly-supernatural tale for around the fireplace. The ways in which Irving and Burton code the city and the country in their respective productions is similarly impacted by the periods in which each man was working. Irving’s â€Å"Sleepy Hollow† emphasizes local culture and the power of myth making within these cultures. In Irving’s town of Sleepy Hollow, the tale of the headless horseman reigns, but does not extend outside of the local realm, and does not necessarily physically manifest: when Ichabod leaves for the city at the end of the narrative, the horseman does not follow him. However, in Burton’s adaption, the tale of the headless horseman is not merely local folklore, but becomes elevated to the level of metropolitan ‘news’ through the literal act of murder instead of the mere legend of murder. Crime, then, elevates the cultural status of the horseman from loca l legend to state-wide murder suspect. Irving’s story, noted by scholars such as Daniel Hoffmann for its powerful interpretation of local myth and mythic tropes, is transported into the realm of the metropolitan through the re-characterization of New York asShow MoreRelatedThe History of Sleepy Hollow1224 Words   |  5 PagesTim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow recounts the unfortunate events of the rise of a ghoulish horseman from the grave reeking havoc on the small town of Sleepy Hollow. Icahbod Crane must find the so-called â€Å"ghost† in order to prove his investigational methods worry to the city of New York. Though this tale does not come from any certain historical truth but Burton’s rendition of the story comes from many years ago. 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