Making Better Coffee: How Maya Farmers and Third Wave Tastemakers Create Value

The article "Making Better Coffee" explores the complex system of values that dictate the steep prices commanded by small-batch, high-end Third Wave coffees, highlighting the relationship between coffee farmers, roasters, and consumers. It shows how profits are made by artfully combining coffee's material and symbolic attributes, connecting the quest for quality among U.S. tastemakers to the lives and desires of Maya producers.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 306 pages
Publication date: 06 September 2022
Publisher: University of California Press

Making Better Coffee delves into the intricate relationship between taste, values, and the world of high-end coffee. It explores the question of why small-batch, high-end Third Wave coffees command steep prices, shedding light on the complex system of values that govern this industry. The film takes us on a journey to Guatemala, where highland coffee farmers navigate the trends that dictate the quality of their coffee. While traders emphasize the material conditions of terroir and botany, it is the social, moral, and political values that farmers, roasters, and consumers attach to the beans that truly define the value of coffee.

In the late nineteenth century, Maya farmers were forced to work on the large plantations that colonized their ancestral lands. The international coffee market shifted in the 1990s, creating demand for high-altitude varietals—plants suited to the mountains where the Maya had been displaced. Edward F. Fischer connects the quest for quality among U.S. tastemakers to the lives and desires of Maya producers, showing how profits are made by artfully combining coffee's material and symbolic attributes. The result is a complex story of terroir and taste, quality and craft, justice and necessity, worth and value.

Through the stories of these farmers and their relationships with the coffee industry, Making Better Coffee offers a nuanced understanding of the complex web of factors that shape the world of high-end coffee. It challenges us to think critically about the values that drive our consumption and to consider the impact that our choices have on the lives of those who produce our coffee. Whether you are a coffee enthusiast or simply interested in the social and cultural implications of our food choices, this film is a must-watch for anyone who wants to learn more about the world of high-end coffee.

Weight: 336g
Dimension: 150 x 228 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780520386969