BACKERS OF COFFEE INSTITUTE HOPE TO DISPLACE DRUG CROP

Created with a grant from several South American coffee-producing
countries, the Vanderbilt Institute for Coffee Studies has received much of
its funding from countries hoping the research would lead to a decline of
illegal drug crops in South America.

The institute has received a total of $2.3 million from the countries, as
well as from several companies that manufacture coffee, including Kraft,
Nestle, Starbucks and Sara Lee.

Insight into its benefits could make coffee more popular, which would drive
the price up, said Peter Martin, a researcher at the institute.

"One of the most exciting potential sociopolitical outcomes of this
research would be if economists look to coffee as a replacement crop for
drug crops," Martin said. "If coffee consumption goes up, the cost of
coffee will go up and farmers will make a greater profit."

Growing coffee does not have to be as profitable as growing drug crops for
it to be appealing to farmers, he added. "Farmers have to place themselves
at risk to grow cocaine," he said. "If growing coffee could pay them a
decent fee, I think they'd do it."

The cost of coffee has been driven down recently by a glut of cheap coffee
available from India and Vietnam, he said.

The institute has received an endorsement from the United Nations, which
could help it get additional grants.

Also, researchers say, their work regarding coffee's disease-fighting
potential could help them get future funding from the National Institutes
of Health.