Should the United States Government Regulate Coffee?
“About 83 percent of adults drink coffee in the U.S., the world’s biggest consumer of the beverage, up from 78 percent a year earlier, according to the National Coffee Association’s 2013 survey.” (Perez, 2013) Each year the number of coffee drinkers in the United States rises, meaning the demand of coffee also increases. This demand for coffee has created a huge industry, making the United States the biggest consumer of coffee with other nations like Brazil and Germany following. Due to the large demand for coffee in the U.S. “Coffee is the US's largest food import and second most valuable commodity only after oil.” According to the International Coffee Organization. As a result of this the United States government places regulations on coffee, from the importing process, all the way to labeling the coffee consumers in the U.S. drink.
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Top suppliers include Brazil (25 percent), Vietnam (18 percent) and Colombia (13 percent). Ending stocks are forecast unchanged at 5.7 million bags. (USDA, 2014)” The United States has a tremendous effect on the global commodity index of its top suppliers. As a result of the United States’ dependence on coffee, it has helped Vietnam’s economy tremendously. So much so that “The industry now employs about 2.6 million people, with beans grown on half a million smallholdings of two to three acres each. (Summers, 2014)” As a result of the United States being more developed than its top suppliers, the amount of coffee imported into the county greatly impacts the economies of its top suppliers. Due to the sheer volume of coffee imported into the country the United States government has implemented regulations all