Since its discovery, coffee has continued to spread its bitter or sweet taste throughout the world. When you take a look at coffee's journey from its simple beginnings, to its complex processing, to its widespread use and consumption, you can't help but be amazed at how prosperous and vital the American food system has become. Coffee backgrounds are surprisingly diverse. Many of the characteristics, as well as the merit of its distribution, come from different cultures. For example, the word “coffee” comes from the Arabic root qahwah (Kaye 557). Kaye goes on to explain how although the etymology originally derives from qahwah, the evolution to the modern word “coffee” is also strongly influenced by the phonetics of the Turkish word kahva and the African word kaffa (557-558). It is believed that the origin of coffee, from a geographical point of view, dates back to the 9th century in the mountains of Ethiopia, from there it spread to the rest of the world (Mangal 1). Coffee gained greater popularity in the 15th century when it was introduced to Persia, Egypt, North Africa, and Turkey by Muslims, and later introduced to Europe and Asia by the Dutch in the 17th century (Mangal 2). Finally, coffee first spread to North America when French colonists brought its seeds to the Caribbean in the early 1700s (Rice 558). Growing coffee is relatively easy. Mangal lists the five procedures needed to plant coffee trees: preparing the soil, planting windbreaks, edging rows, establishing shade trees, and watering (22). It can all be done by the average citizen with little agricultural experience. Some places, like the Wattles Farm community garden in Hollywood, California, offer three-hour tours of their coffee farms, where they also teach these principles to... middle of paper... consumption around the world has grown to a average annual rate of 2.5% over the past 12 years." LexisNexis® Academic & Library Solutions. Np, nd Web. January 20, 2014. Kaye, Alan S. "The etymology of "coffee."" Journal of the American Oriental Society (1986): 557-558. Kwok, Yenni. “The World's Most Expensive Coffee.” Time Inc., October 2, 2013. Web. January 15, 2014. Mangal, S K. Coffee Books, (2007). A. "Functional forms and habit effects in coffee demand in the United States." LATIN NORTH AMERICA*. Geographical Journal 89.4 (1999):554-579. Spurrier, Jeff. “How to grow your own coffee: It's easy, in a way.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, May 21, 2013. Web. Jan. 13, 2014. “Starbucks Investor Relations.” Starbucks.com. Np, nd Web. January 15. 2014.