The Specialty Coffee Association and many other coffee industry folks expect that by 2050, just a few short years from today, half of the land used to grow coffee trees, like the one behind me, won't exist, mostly due to climate change.

That is a scary thought for me, and for all of us who depend on coffee for all the reasons we do. I spent 20 years working in coffee, some roasting and selling, but mostly as a barista. About ten years ago, I decided to write about coffee instead of heading back to the business.

 One thing I noticed right away was that there was a lot of talk about climate change making it increasingly hard to grow coffee, but not a lot of agreement on what to do about it. So, when I was writing my second coffee novel, The Trier, I decided to embed a low-key message in the plot with the intent of revealing to the readers, coffee drinking or not, just how hard it is to get a cup of coffee from the seed where it begins its life and all the way into your morning mug.

 In the novel, I have some fun with the myth of Kaldi, who is in trouble with the forest spirits of Ethiopia because he did not leave his tribute for discovering coffee. I felt like I could not write a novel with a plot element such as that without doing my share, without leaving my tribute, as it were. The intent for this novel, and those planned to follow it, is to successfully bridge the gap between the coffee industry at large and the coffee drinking public. While the industry is well aware of the increasing pressure on coffee itself due to climate change and other factors, the general public is not yet.

As I prepare to release the second book in the series, The Trier Goes to London, the climate continues to change, even affecting my humble urban garden here in the Midwest. I know I owe the planet for all the coffee I’ve consumed over the years.

I’ve finished the third novel in the series, The Travels of the Trier, and as in real life the threat to the climate and even to coffee itself increases.

So, I’m asking if your business would be willing and able to promote the release of The Trier Goes to London while increasing your own visibility? Or, as a day-to-day consumer of coffee, just consider how hard it is to get a cup of coffee into your hands every day.

Thanks!

Jerry Vanschaik