|
|
Article: Coffee beans grown in the Ivory Coast may also be picked by slaves.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- June 21, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Chocolate isn't the only American staple tainted by slavery. In addition to being the king of cocoa, Ivory Coast is the world's fourth-largest Robusta coffee grower, after Vietnam, Indonesia and Uganda. The two crops often are grown together, so the taller cacao trees can shade the coffee bushes, and on some farms, young slaves harvest coffee beans as well as the cacao pods that yield cocoa beans.
Robusta beans are blended with milder Arabica beans to make ground coffees and also are used to make espresso and instant coffees. About 5 percent of Robusta beans come from Ivory Coast. During the first three months of this year, nearly 1,844 short tons of coffee beans ...