It is always difficult to see the link between an economically impoverished country being one of the best coffee providers in the world. It is like finding gold without a sense of its usefulness.

In the midst of an economic recession, almost every shop in downtown Miami, virtually yards from each other are selling coffee and are having return customers. Hardly any is Jamaican coffee. It is estimated that this is undoubtedly one of the world's most consumed beverages in the world. Imagine in this huge market if Jamaica was producing enough to meet a greater number of the world's population! What great economic deficit could not be replaced by the greatest wealth ever to bless a country? And with one of, if not the best coffee in the world who could reasonably say that this is just dream?

Expansion in coffee production

The interest in cassava, though commendable, may be best directed to a wider expansion in coffee production. All may not be of the Blue Mountain quality, but the prospect of an economic boon is real and sustainable. This is a world product for which there is a good market.

Bob Marley, reggae, Red Stripe beer, and jerked pork have their place. But coffee is a product that cuts across religious and national barriers - the gold mine waiting to transform shacks into mansions and beggars into kings.

I am, etc.,

HOMER SYLVESTER

homersylvester@hotmail.com

Miami, Florida