Photo: Chai_B/Shutterstock

Switzerland Deems Coffee 'Not Essential for Human Survival’ and People Are Pissed

News
by Tim Wenger Apr 12, 2019

A message to those who reach immediately for the switch on the Mr. Coffee machine after waking up in the morning — put down that latte and prepare your best counterargument. The government of Switzerland proclaimed this month that coffee is “not essential for life.”

This statement came from a country that has, since the end of World War I, been stockpiling coffee reserves (15,300 tons, or three months of national consumption according to The Guardian), along with staples such as sugar, rice, and animal feed in case of shortages due to war or natural disaster.

But the government wants coffee to be removed from the list of emergency items and hopes to end the stockpiling by 2022. “Coffee contains almost no calories and therefore does not make any contribution to food security from a nutritional point of view,” the Federal Office for National Economic Supply said in a statement.

From the looks of it, the proposed move isn’t a popular one. Réservesuisse, a government agency that oversees the food supply in Switzerland, said that 12 of the 15 companies responsible for storing the coffee want to continue doing so.

Should the government choose to ditch the coffee reserve, we pose this question: How are the Swiss, or the many tourists who visit to see the country’s epic alpine attractions each year, supposed to fuel up for adventure in the case of an impending coffee-pocalypse? Furthermore, where are we supposed to dip our chocolate? If your answer is into a stiff pour of kirsch, we say, “Nein.”

H/T: The Guardian

Discover Matador

Save Bookmark

We use cookies for analytics tracking and advertising from our partners.

For more information read our privacy policy.