The Latest Buzz: The Birth of Coffee at the Craft and Folk Art Museum

Photo: Daniel Lorenzetti from The Birth of Coffee. All rights reserved.

Woman from San Juan Atitlan

With support from Gaviña Gourmet Coffee and the Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles, The Birth of Coffee exhibit at the Craft and Folk Art Museum takes us from the coffee industry in Ethiopia, Yemen, Indonesia and Brazil to Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Kenya, chronicling the journey of "brown gold" from bean to cup.

While it may come as no surprise that Americans drink more than 400 million cups of coffee daily, few are aware that the coffee industry relies on over 25 million workers worldwide to bring us that rich, potent, energizing cup o' joe each day.

The Birth of Coffee offers a peek into coffee's complex journey, inspired by a Random House publication from husband-and-wife team Linda Rice Lorenzetti and Daniel Lorenzetti, also called The Birth of Coffee.

A correspondent for The Tea and Coffee Trade Journal, Linda supplied the text, while journalist and photographer Daniel provided the striking images.

Like the book, CAFAM's exhibit documents coffee's impact on worldwide culture, politics, and economics, with Daniel's black and white, silver gelatin photographs having been appropriately toned in coffee. In addition to text and images, the display also includes historic coffee artifacts and of course, some coffee, too.

The Birth of Coffee is on exhibit through January 9, 2011 at the Craft and Folk Art Museum: 5814 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. Hours are Tuesday-Friday: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday: 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is $5-$7, with the first Wednesday of every month free. For more information call (323) 937-4230 or visit www.cafam.org.