On this day, January 16, in 1786

The first coffee house on the North American continent opened up in Mexico. In it's more recent years, Coffee, which is native to Ethiopia, has grown into a multinational industry worth over 80 billion dollars. Unfortunately, in accordance with our global capitalist marketplace, this money is seen only by the corporations who sell the product, while the coffee farmers who produce it are paid so little that they are often forced into an dangerous and endless cycle of debt. Huge companies, such as Starbucks, could definitely afford to pay a fair price for these profitable little beans, so why won't they?