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Coffee leaf rust is bad news An up-close look at the half-smooth destroyer

5 October 2020

Coffee leaf rust inside a leaf

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Stuart McCook
Stuart McCook
When I think of Ceylon — Sri Lanka — I think of tea, but that’s because I wasn’t alive 150 years ago. In the 1860s, coffee was the island’s most important crop. Coffee leaf rust, a fungus, put paid to the coffee, but only after a global downturn in coffee prices, and planters switched to tea. The rust, however, is not the reason the Brits drink tea rather than coffee, just one of the things I learned from Stuart McCook, who has studied the history of coffee leaf rust and what it might hold for the future.

Notes

  1. Stuart McCook’s book is Coffee Is Not Forever: A Global History of the Coffee Leaf Rust.
  2. The disease is no stranger to news media. Coffee Rust Is Going to Ruin Your Morning is a recent example that actually says nothing about your morning joe — but does blame rust for Britain’s preference for tea.
  3. There is a transcript, thanks to the show’s supporters.
  4. Banner photo shows coffee leaf rust inside a leaf, used under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia License

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13 thoughts on Coffee leaf rust is bad news An up-close look at the half-smooth destroyer

  • AgroBioDiverse commented 4 years ago.

    Thanks to both of you for a great discussion.



    Reply
  • Stuart McCook commented 4 years ago.

    Attention coffee lovers. We have a transcript of @stuartmccook on coffee leaf rust, in the Notes at eatthispodcast.com/coffee-rust/ https://t.co/rjV

    Reply
  • Jorge C. Berny Mier y Teran commented 4 years ago.

    In the latest episode @stuartmccook tells me about #coffee leaf rust

    eatthispodcast.com/coffee-rust/

    Reply
  • AgroBioDiverse mentioned this post 4 years ago.

    So why *did* the Brits switch to tea if it wasn’t because of coffee leaf rust in Ceylon?

    twitter.com/eatpodcast/sta…

    Reply
  • AgroBioDiverse commented 4 years ago.

    Attention coffee lovers. We have a transcript of @stuartmccook on coffee leaf rust, in the Notes at eatthispodcast.com/coffee-rust/ https://t.co/rjV

    Reply
  • Philip Magowan commented 4 years ago.

    In the latest episode @stuartmccook tells me about #coffee leaf rust

    eatthispodcast.com/coffee-rust/

    Reply
  • Jonathan Morris mentioned this post 4 years ago.

    Can’t wait to listen to this.

    Reply
  • Stuart McCook mentioned this post 4 years ago.

    A delightful conversation with Jeremy Cherfas about the coffee leaf rust. Among other things, remember this: the coffee leaf rust epidemic in Ceylon did NOT cause the British people to switch from drinking coffee to drinking tea. @OhioUnivPress

    Reply
  • Stuart McCook mentioned this post 4 years ago.

    A delightful conversation with Jeremy Cherfas about the coffee leaf rust. Among other things, remember this: the coffee leaf rust epidemic in Ceylon did NOT cause the British people to switch from drinking coffee to drinking tea. @OhioUnivPress

    Reply
  • Stuart McCook commented 4 years ago.

    In the latest episode @stuartmccook tells me about #coffee leaf rust

    eatthispodcast.com/coffee-rust/

    Reply

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