Episode description

“It's often said that a bad day with coffee is better than a good day without.” A fair statement, no? If you asked any of the drinkers of the 2.25 billion cups of coffee drunk daily, they’d probably all give you a similar answer. Some research suggests that coffee may even have some positive health benefits. But this uniquity of caffeine consumption raises some serious questions about the damaging effects our coffee habits are having on the planet.

By 2050, up to 50% of the land currently used for growing coffee will be lost to climate change. As we see a global increase in wild weather along with fluctuating temperatures and rainfall, the types of fungal infections affecting coffee plants will change leading to an increase in mycotoxin production, which is capable of causing a range of diseases.  This week, find out all about the fungal coffee threat and what you can do about it.

REFERENCES:

Adhikari M, Isaac EL, Paterson RRM, Maslin MA. A Review of Potential Impacts of Climate Change on Coffee Cultivation and Mycotoxigenic Fungi. Microorganisms. 2020;8(10):1625. Published 2020 Oct 21. doi:10.3390/microorganisms8101625

Rosario Ortolá, Adrián Carballo-Casla, Esther García-Esquinas, Esther Lopez-Garcia, José R Banegas, Fernando Rodríguez-Artalejo, Health Decline Is Associated with Reports of No Coffee Consumption Years After Reporting Coffee Consumption Among Older Adults in Spain, The Journal of Nutrition, Volume 150, Issue 7, July 2020, Pages 1916–1923, https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/nxaa126