The story of coffee: legend and truth.

When we think about coffee, exotic tropical countries such as Colombia, Brazil, and Ethiopia first come to mind. However, the crucial contribution of Portugal and its scientists to each cup of coffee we drink remains either poorly known or overlooked.

Paisaje, esclavitud y medio ambiente en la economía cafetalera brasileña: Vale do Paraiba, siglo XIX / Landscape, slavery and environment in the brazilian coffee economy: Vale do Paraiba, XIXth. century

El artículo analiza las estrategias de administración del paisaje y del trabajo adoptadas en las plantaciones esclavistas del Valle de Paraíba a lo largo del siglo XIX. Sostiene que la presencia masiva de la población africana esclavizada, en un contexto local y global muy turbulento, marcado por la competencia entre los diferentes productores mundiales para el control de este artículo y por la intensificación de la resistencia esclava, condujo a la adopción, por los propietarios esclavistas, de las formas de administración del paisaje en sus haciendas que buscaron restringir la autonomía de los esclavos en el proceso de trabajo y, al mismo tiempo, explotar al máximo su capacidad de trabajo. El resultado de estas formas de administración del paisaje y del trabajo fue un proceso de devastación ambiental sin precedentes. En el momento de la crisis de la esclavitud en la década de 1880, estos patrones históricos se volvieron contra los propios esclavistas, que sin embargo lograron mantener el dominio sobre la tierra por medio de una reconfiguración específica de las formas de explotación agraria (AU)

The article analyses the landscape and labor management devices adopted in the nineteenth-century Paraiba Valley slave coffee plantations. It argues that the presence of an enormous mass of enslaved Africans in a turbulent local and global conjuncture framed by world competition between different coffee producers and increasing slave resistance led planters to adopt measures of landscape management that closely restricted slave autonomy in the labor process as they tried to extract the maxim amount of labor from the slaves. The outcome of these forms of landscape and labor management was a process of unprecedented environmental devastation. At the time of slavery crisis in the 1880s, these historical patterns turned against slaveholders, who however managed to maintain dominion over the land by means of a specific reconfiguration of the forms of agronomic exploitation (AU)

O pós-abolição e suas dinâmicas de sociabilidade: lógicas familiares e relações interpessoais no oeste paulista cafeeiro / The post-abolition period in Brazil and its dynamics of sociability: family logic and interpersonal relationships in western São Paulo State coffee-producing regions / La post abolición y sus dinámicas de sociabilidad: lógicas familiares y relaciones interpersonales en el oeste cafetalero de São Paulo

Tomando como foco o município de São Carlos, um dos principais centros da economia cafeeira do oeste paulista durante a virada do século XIX para o XX, o artigo analisa as tensões presentes nas relações interpessoais tecidas entre negros, de um lado, e fazendeiros e pequenos proprietários rurais, de outro. Por meio da leitura de dois inquéritos policiais da época, percebeu-se que essas relações eram mediadas por determinados códigos morais, os quais, por sua vez, delimitavam certas normas de sociabilidade. Quando alguns destes códigos eram quebrados, as situações de conflito se potencializavam. Pode-se afirmar que, se a proximidade com pessoas de posse ainda era, para a população negra do pós-abolição, uma das principais fontes para obtenção de recursos materiais e simbólicos, as relações de poder inscritas nesses vínculos não deixavam de produzir contestações quanto às identificações e hierarquias encerradas no âmbito familiar. De modo geral, acredita-se que as disputas de poder presentes nessas interações podem estar relacionadas à renegociação, trazida pelo fim do escravismo, de determinadas formas de distinção social.

Taking as its focus the municipality of São Carlos, one of the main centers of the coffee economy in the West of the State of São Paulo in the late 18th and earlier 19th centuries, this paper examines tensions present in interpersonal relationships between black individuals, on the one side, and plantation owners and small landowners, on the other. By analyzing the documents of two police investigations of the time, it was seen that these relationships were mediated by moral codes which, in turn, determined certain rules of sociability. When these codes were violated, situations of conflict arose. It can be argued that, although, after abolition, proximity to wealthy persons was a major source of material and symbolic resources for the black population, the power relations underlying these relationships nonetheless produced identifications and hierarchies enclosed within family circles. In general, it is believed that the power struggles in those interactions may be related to the renegotiation of certain forms of social differences in the wake of the end of slavery.

Con foco en el municipio de São Carlos, uno de los principales centros de la economía cafetalera del oeste paulista desde fines del siglo XIX hasta el XX, el artículo analiza las tensiones presentes en las relaciones interpersonales tejidas entre los negros, por un lado, y los hacendados y pequeños propietarios rurales por otro. Por medio de la lectura de dos investigaciones policiales de la época, se puso de manifiesto que esas relaciones eran mediadas por determinados códigos morales que, a su vez, delimitaban determinadas normas de sociabilidad. Cuando se rompían algunos de estos códigos, las situaciones de conflicto se potenciaban. Se puede afirmar que, si la proximidad con personas pudientes todavía era, para la población negra del periodo post abolición, una de las principales fuentes para obtener recursos materiales y simbólicos, las relaciones de poder presentes en estos vínculos no dejaban de producir polémicas en lo que se refiere a las identificaciones y jerarquías del ámbito familiar. En general, se cree que las disputas de poder presentes en dichas interacciones pueden estar relacionadas a la renegociación, ocasionada por el fin de la esclavitud, de determinadas formas de distinción social.

Bites, nibbles, sips and puffs: new exotic goods in Norway in the 18th and the first half of the 19th century.

The slow but significant changes in the material culture of European households that took place in the pre-industrial period are visible in several ways, such as in the changing patterns of housing, furnishing and clothing which have been illustrated in several studies. However, most of these studies focus on the pre-industrial economic leaders, often ignoring the changes taking place on the margins of the economic growth centres. This article seeks to rectify this by looking at changes in the material culture in one such 'marginal' country, namely Norway. The goods focused upon in this case are sugar, tobacco and coffee, which are often termed as exotic goods. These were new commodities in the 18th century and precisely because of their novelty and foreign origin, it is in many cases possible to trace how they spread in rural society, as well as how they impacted it. The emphasis has been put on rural areas for the simple reason that this was where the overall majority of Norwegians lived at the time.

Back to the forest: exploring forest transitions in Candelaria Loxicha, Mexico.

Declining profitability of agriculture and/or higher prices of forest products and services typically drive an increase in forest cover. This article examines changes in forest cover in Candelaria Loxicha, Mexico. Forest cover increased in the area as a result of coffee cultivation in coffee forest-garden systems. Dependence on forest products and services, and not prices of forest products, drive the process in our study site. Low international coffee prices and high labor demand outside the community might pull farmers out of agriculture, but they do not completely abandon the lands. A diversification in income sources prevents land abandonment and contributes to maintaining rural populations and coffee forest gardens.

Notes on the history of caffeine use.

As behooves something so deeply entrenched in culture, the historical origins of the use of methylxanthines are unknown and dressed in myth. This is true for coffee as well as tea, and for both it is interesting to note that their common use is really very recent. For coffee we know that its use became more widespread in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and in Europe this occurred in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The use of tea became more common during the Ming Dynasty in China and during the eighteenth century in Britain. Coffee was mostly an upper-class drink in Arabia, and remained a relative luxury in Europe until quite recently. The use of other methylxanthine-containing beverages, such as maté, is even less well known. It is interesting to note that before these drinks were commonly used on a daily basis they were used for medicinal purposes, indicating that their pharmacological actions had long been noted.

Aquella tacita mágica que disfrutamos / That magic cup we enjoy

Varias leyendas han tratado de explicar durante muchossiglos, el origen del arbusto de cafeto. Extendido en laactualidad por el mundo entero, la bebida fabricada conlos frutos, es consumida casi por todos sus habitantes. Suuso en medicina se inicio en la Edad Media por los escritosy consejos de los médicos árabes, dentro y fuera del mundomusulmán. Sin embargo, recién después de conocer sucomposición química en el Siglo XIX, se explicaron sus efectosestimulantes beneficiosos.Al igual que los vinos, el café difiere según su paísde origen, zona de producción y suelo, además de lascondiciones atmosféricas y de cultivo, como las característicasde la recolección, sea automática o selección a mano, asícomo finalmente la mezcla que se realice. Todo esto ha dadoa través del tiempo, una bebida que ha ganado en aroma ypaladar.En este trabajo nos propusimos recordar la historia queacompaña esa “tacita de café” que disfrutamos diariamente,acompañados con nuestros amigos.

Landlords and tenants in the wake of abolition and ecological devastation in Brazil's Middle Paraíba Valley.

This article uses Barra do Piraí as a case study of rural land tenure, production, consumption, and labor in Brazil's Middle Paraíba Valley during the half century following abolition of slavery in 1888. Dairy farming and railroad development distinguished Barra do Piraí from other coffee-producing areas that suffered from ecological devastation. By 1900 the land's loss of fertility precluded further plantation agriculture in Barra do Piraí, leading to the transition from lucrative coffee cultivation to dairy farming based on meager capital inputs. Compared to the earlier coffee culture, dairy farms produced only modest wealth for landlords and required fewer laborers, compelling impoverished tenants to migrate in search of employment. Since Barra do Piraí was an important railroad junction, many rural laborers ended up in the locale after using the railroad as a migratory path. At the same time, the railroad and proto-industries that it stimulated provided alternative employment for rural laborers, thereby partially mitigating the leverage landlords had over the abundant labor force. The availability of industrial and proto-industrial employment created occupational diversity among rural tenants and introduced them to work routines that would become commonplace when the region more fully industrialized after 1940.

[Coffee, its legend, history, and influence on human health]. / Káva, její legenda, historie a vliv na lidské zdraví.

In the introductory part of this article the history/legend of coffee as well as its spread to different parts of the world including Europe is discussed. Data sofar available in literature do not give any convincing evidence regarding clear relationship between coffee and the etiopathogenesis of several diseases including diabetes mellitus type 2, cardiovascular diseases, gout, osteoporosis, neurologic disorders and colorectal cancer. Favorable (protective) effects of coffee consumption against hepatocellular cancer have been repeatedly described. The autors discuss on todate findings about relationship between blood cholesterol and uric acid in literature and remind their own experience with different population groups in Harar, Ethiopia, where consumption of coffee is habitual in daily life of the inhabitants.

A campanha contra a broca-do-café em São Paulo (1924-1927) / The campaign against the coffee borer in São Paulo (1924-1927)

Quando o café constituía a principal riqueza brasileira e São Paulo detinha a liderança absoluta na sua produção e comércio, uma praga veio colocar sob ameaça toda aquela pujança econômica. Conhecida como broca-do-café, era causada por um minúsculo inseto aparecido em fazendas de Campinas. De lá partiu a notificação ao governo paulista, em maio de 1924. A gravidade da situação levou o governo estadual a compor uma comissão científica chefiada por Arthur Neiva, responsável por levar a cabo o plano de combate. A campanha contra a broca combinou a implementação de um vigoroso aparato de pesquisa e fiscalização com amplo trabalho de divulgação científica, que lançou mão de estratégias vanguardistas de difusão, como o cinema. Em fins de 1927, a Comissão foi formalmente extinta após a criação de uma instituição permanente de pesquisa agrícola: o Instituto Biológico de Defesa Agrícola e Animal.

When coffee was Brazil's chief source of wealth and São Paulo was the absolute leader in its production and trade, a plague suddenly came to threaten this mighty economic asset. The cause was a tiny insect called the coffee borer, which began showing up on plantations in the Campinas area. The São Paulo state government learned of the pest in May 1924 via news from Campinas. The situation was so serious that the state government formed a scientific commission, headed by Arthur Neiva, who was to lead the battle against the borer. The ensuing campaign put in place a sound system of research and surveillance, complemented by broad-reaching scientific education that relied on such vanguard tools as cinema. In late 1927, the Commission was officially dissolved, following creation of a permanent agricultural research center: the Instituto Biológico de Defesa Agrícola e Animal (Biological Institute for Agricultural and Animal Defense).

Aproximación histórica al café / Historic approach to coffee

Se revisan algunos aspectos históricos de esta bebida tan popular, no siempre bien aceptada por la medicina y actualmente muy reivindicada, por su poder antioxidante y posiblemente anticancerígeno y antiinfeccioso (AU)