Coffee is the most valuable legally traded commodity in the world after oil -- an industry that employs 100 million people worldwide. Beginning in E. Africa in the 15th cent. as a stimulant in religious devotion, coffee became an imperial commodity, produced by poor tropical countries & consumed by rich temperate ones. Revolutions were hatched in coffeehouses, commercial alliances were forged, secret soc. were formed, & politics & art were debated. Today, while coffee chains spread like wildfire, coffee-producing countries are in crisis: prices are at historic lows, there is unprecedented unemployment, abandoned farms, enforced migration, & massive social disruption. "Reveals the shocking exploitation that has always lurked at the heart of the industry.

" Ill.