The Brewing
A rerun about the ways we stay young, and how that may be at risk
Hey Friends,
Christmas has come and gone, and I still don't know what day it is. It's part of a regiment I use to slow the aging process. Unplug from work, get some sleep, and spend time with family and friends.
Some would add drinking coffee to the anti-aging program, and I gladly accept. I consider it the anti-aging cream of beverages. Maybe anti-aging cream and sugar if you have a sweet tooth. It's the presence of antioxidants that reduces the aging process, and I know I couldn't do without it.
That's what I covered in this week's rerun, written back in 2022. I explain why coffee is essential to preventing aging, but alarmingly, climate change has reduced the production of this lifesaving elixir. Meanwhile, demand for the product is up while the supply is decreasing.
The world's coffee supply largely comes from countries that look to lose 60% of the land space suitable for growing coffee by 2050, which could be catastrophic. Not so much for the earth, but for my crow's feet. I can handle the warmer temperatures, but not at the cost of my youth!
If you think I'm jittery about this topic, it's not the caffeine. While my coffee consumption has not been impacted yet, I am at an increased risk compared to some. As things worsen for the coffee industry, the typical Starbucks drinker who adds their sweet creams and syrups will likely not notice much change as the product quality decreases. But I drink mine brewed pure, and the impact on coffee due to climate change disproportionately affects black and brown coffee drinkers. We better act quickly.
Here's a preview of the article. You can click through to read the whole thing here.
Coffee To The End of The Earth
How we're destroying the world and our morning routines.
According to Bobby Vee, livin' ain't easy. It seems like he's right, too, but if you ask me lovin's twice as tough. He didn't ask me, though, and I understand because it was 1967, and a twinkle in my father's eye might have cramped his style, which was plentiful at the time.
I can only speculate if he knew how hard we'd be trying today to do just that. Life is hard enough as we worry about things like whether Liz Truss will be able to make up her mind about economic policy or if Alex Jones will pay up on his billion dollars of damages.
It could be worse, though. All of Pakistan could be flooded right now. Instead, it's only a third. Or the bottom half of Florida could be wiped off the map, getting all their electoral votes wet before they can bring them to Washington to dispute in front of Congress.
Despite these hardships, we're getting by. We're stayin' alive, as they say. Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother, you're stayin' alive.
When it comes to staying alive, there are a few things that are vital for all of humanity. Food for energy and nutrition, shelter to protect us from the elements, and a social safety net so we can thrive through cooperation. And for everything else, you're going to need coffee – if for nothing else, for the antioxidants, which I'm told are essential to removing damaging oxidizing agents in people like us. In short, they prevent things like cancer and heart disease.
I'm no Juan Valdez, but I know what's good for me, and that's why I drink coffee every day without exception. To not get cancer. But also because I am completely unwilling to see what happens if I don't drink coffee. Regardless, it's a bucket list item for me to not get cancer, and the simplest way to prevent it happens to taste good and help wake me up in the morning.
Daniel Herndon
That's it for this week.
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Have a great weekend!