I have chosen the topic of coffee for my annotated bibliography.

There are so many directions I could go with that, so here are some that I’m considering:

• The history of coffee, when did people start drinking coffee? What has the evolution been (or bean – if you like puns (sorry))?
• The process of producing and distributing coffee.
• Slavery within the coffee industry, child labor and forced labor. What the effects of slavery are and why it is so prevalent.
• I might focus on one specific region where coffee is produced, but I’m not sure whether I’ll do that or generalize it.
• What Fair Trade is, what it means, what it does, a list of Fair Trade coffee companies

I’m interested to learn more about the process and cost of enjoying our cup(s) of coffee on the morning. I have seen some articles (but haven’t done a lot of research yet) on some of the drawbacks of Fair Trade, so I think that would be important to look into. Hopefully through this assignment I’ll be able to delve into different aspects of the coffee industry, but weave them together in a way that is informative and inspires change. Right now I think there will be complications with figuring out how narrow to go. Do I want to research a specific country? Do I want to focus on child labor? How much of the history do I want to go into/what all is relevant?

So that is the beginning of my coffee journey, more to come.

Some potential texts for my bibliography:

http://www.foodispower.org/coffee/ – briefly summarizes the slavery that goes on within the coffee industry and gives recommendations of Fair Trade coffee brands.

http://docplayer.net/24668517-Corporate-social-responsibility-review-risks-of-child-labor-on-select-coffee-farms-in-nicaragua.html – “Risks of Child Labor on Select Coffee Farms in Nicaragua