Most people who think of crops think of corn, beans and wheat, but coffee is also one to consider.

For many of us, it’s the fuel that gets us out of bed and through the day. But as a new exhibit at a Florida museum shows, coffee has fueled history.

From straight black to cream and sugar, there are plenty of ways to have your coffee, and people have been doing brewing it for centuries. “There’s a whole history of it being a very influential aspect of the world,” said Matthew Woodside, chief curator of the South Florida Museum.

As Woodside tells it, the story of coffee is a long one and has a far reaching in scope. “It gave rise to the exploration and the colonization of all parts of the world, and even today, it’s second only to oil in its impact on the global economy,” he said.

Coffee has a rich history still celebrated with the coffee-making process in Ethiopia. “Its very ceremonial, very spiritual. It’s a little different than the way we go about it of putting some grounds in Mr. Coffee,” said Woodside.

Bruce Blowers visited the exhibit to see reminders of the 37 years he spent in Papua New Guinea, where java beans drive the highlands economy. “They saw that it was a viable crop, and so it just spread all around the islands,” said Blowers.

No matter how you drink it, the next you pour a cup of coffee, remember the whole world is in your cup.

Even though this exhibit is in Florida, Washington State actually has the most Starbucks stores per capita.

Watch this report on the Rural Evening News Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET

http://www.rfdtv.com/story/25820866/coffee-a-crop-with-a-lot-of-global-history#.VFcnofmUcb0

source: http://www.rfdtv.com / RFD TV, Rural America’s Most Important Network / by RFD-TV News Staff / Brandenton, Fla / June 19th, 2014