Next to petroleum, coffee beans are the second most valuable commodity traded in the world. Young readers will be fascinated to learn how this popular product is grown, harvested, processed, and sold. Find out where coffee plants originated from and how coffee was spread around the world. Exciting text, and full-color maps and photographs also highlight such other topics as - What is a commodity? - where coffee is grown today - the history of coffee seed cultivation and uses - the impact of growing coffee on the environment - coffee plantations and the history of slavery - fair trade coffee Teacher's guide available.