Lecture Description
Alexa Romano recently completed her thesis, "Pursing an 'Ethical' Cup of Coffee: The Social Production of Equity in the Globalized Coffee Commodity Chain," written after completing fieldwork in Costa Rica for her MA in Anthropology. In Issue 21 of 25, we asked Alexa to lean into her anthropological training to help us understand the history of coffee consumerism and the ways in which it has evolved over time. In this lecture, Alexa will explore the emergence of specialty coffee culture as an embedded subculture within the broader coffee industry, and how the resulting shift from passive to active consumption asks us to rethink the consumers role in value creation and distribution.
Date: Saturday, April 13, 2024
Time: 9:00am - 10:00am
Room Number: S401ABC
Instructor
Alexa Romano (she/her)
Anthropologist, Stanford University
Alexa Romano received her BA and MA in Anthropology and Photography from Stanford University where she investigated the coffee value change through the lens of women and youth small holder coffee producers in Costa Rica (with the support from Bean Voyage). Her research explored the mystified, obscured, and (un)ethical relations that tether producer societies to consumer societies. Based between Costa Rica and San Francisco, Romano maintains a presence in coffee spaces where she serves as a freelance barista and coffee writer. Currently, she is constructing a small coffee house in Uvita, while also primarily working as a Contract and Grants Associate at Stanford.