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midnightsmum

Weekend Trivia -- Sunday

Good Morning, Cottagers. It is a cool, clear am here. Not encouraged to go out, but must venture forth for supplies. Eventually. I was little worried about my computer this am - the graphics did not want to load. I wanted to watch a movie on-line last night, but it lagged when I tried to stream it, so I decided to download it - make that tried to download it. I ended up with a bunch of junk on my hard drive, till eventually I wished I could just restart, and lose all the changes - remember when you could actually do that?

Anyway, here I am. Last week, we talked about what I believe is still the Number 2, company trading the Number 1 commodity in the world. So, what is the Number 2 commodity, as of 2010?

Nancy.

Comments (16)

  • aftermidnight Zone7b B.C. Canada
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hmmmmmm, must think about this for awhile, something popped into my head immediately but I'm probably just clutching at straws LOL.

    Annette

  • thinman
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Good question. I'll do some cogitating.

  • midnightsmum (Z4, ON)
    Original Author
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Well, gee - no guesses yet?? Let's see: the old Number 2 was military arms. Unlike those, and more like oil, this commodity is ubiquitous in most of our daily lives.

    Nancy.

  • mnwsgal
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I am contemplating two different commodities. One was raised on our farm while the other changed farming dramatically in the late '30s/early '40s. Either one would be a guess. I will wait for more clues.

  • lorna-organic
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hmmmm, I seem to go off on tangents with most of these trivia questions. Out on a limb I go, as usual. I think trees come into play.

  • Ginny McLean_Petite_Garden
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Oh boy! I have to laugh at this one! I am a late (sometimes very late) riser on the weekends that my DH isn't working as he gets up with our "kids" and does all the morning chores. He always brings me a cup of tea in bed. Usually it sits by the bed till I get up and nuke it. He teases me every time! And I remind him of the Green Acres episode where Eva Gabor stood the spoon up in the coffee! Thick as tar (or crude oil)! There was more to it but so funny I still laugh! Could probably find a utube vid of that scene.

    I am a tea drinker but I'll bet I am in the minority. I think the answer to this trivia question is dark and rich like oil but much more enjoyed by the common folk.....

    Ginny

  • thinman
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'm leaning toward something used in manufacturing, like iron ore or steel. They're pretty closely related, since one is made from the other, so can I just sneak them both in under one answer?

    I also like wood and paper products.

    Those are my guesses.

    TM

  • aftermidnight Zone7b B.C. Canada
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My thinking is either wheat or corn, oh well.......

    Annette

  • midnightsmum (Z4, ON)
    Original Author
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Well, ahem, it is a crop. It is grown between the Tropics of Cancer, and Capricorn. It is grown in 50 countries around the world and is the principal commercial crop of over a dozen countries, half of which earn 25% to 50% of foreign exchange revenue from its export. These figures are from 2008.

    Any help?? Nancy.

  • aftermidnight Zone7b B.C. Canada
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    "It is grown between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn" Aha, can I change my answer to coffee?

    Annette

  • mnwsgal
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I was thinking grain but will go with coffee instead after reading the clues.

  • lorna-organic
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    In that case, I am changing my guess to corn.

  • thinman
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My final guess is sugar.

    How's that?

    TM

  • midnightsmum (Z4, ON)
    Original Author
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    It will be lovely in your Coffee, TM! While cane sugar is grown in those latitudes, sugar beets can be grown anywhere most other crops can be grown.

    So, coffee it is! Here are 20 facts about coffee:

    1. Coffee is the second most traded product in the world after petroleum.
    2. Each year some 7 million tons of green beans are produced world wide. Most of which is hand picked.
    3. Over 53 countries grow coffee worldwide with almost all of them along the equator.
    4. The world's largest coffee producer is Brazil with over 3,970 million coffee trees and is responsible for 30 to 40 % of total world output. Colombia comes in second with around two thirds of Brazil's production.
    5. It takes five years for a coffee tree to reach maturity.
    6. The average yield from one tree is the equivalent of one roasted pound of coffee.
    7. With the exception of Hawaii and Puerto Rico, no coffee is grown in the United States or its territories.
    8. Most coffee is transported by ships with approximately 2,200 ships involved in transporting the coffee each year.
    9. Germany is the world's second largest consumer of coffee.
    10. 27% of U.S. coffee drinkers and 43% of German drinkers add a sweetener to their coffee.
    11. People who buy coffee primarily at drive through windows on their way to work will spend as much as 45 hours a year waiting in line.
    12. The average person who buys coffee outside the office to consume at work will spend the equivalent value of a round trip plane ticket to Florida every year.
    13. The first coffee house in Europe opened in Venice in 1683, while coffee was available in Europe as early as 1608, mostly for the rich.
    14. The expression "a cup of Joe" was first coined during WWII, when American servicemen (known as G.I. Joes) were identified as big coffee drinkers.
    15. The popular trend towards flavored coffees originated in the United States during the 1970's.
    16. October 1st is the official Coffee Day in Japan
    17. Most of the world's coffee is grown by small-scale coffee farming families
    18. The global coffee industry makes about $60 billion annually. Coffee farmers earn as little as 4 cents a pound for the coffee they pick by hand.
    19. 25 million families around the world work in the coffee-fields and totally depend on the coffee crop as their only source of income.
    20. A Belgian living in Guatemala invented the first instant coffee in 1906 and later immigrated to the United States. His name, ironically enough, was George Washington.

    And there we have it. For Ginny Annette and mnswgal,

    Thanks for playing everyone!! Maybe I should put the clues in earlier? I just like to give everyone lots of time to cogitate! I am also including a fun video I found on YouTube, that has lots more 'fun' facts about coffee. I tried to check out corn and grains, but it is difficult - their PR people aren't as aggressive as the coffee people, but I did find this:
    In 2005, the U.S. produced 42 percent of the world's corn. Over 50 percent of the U.S. crop is produced in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska or Illinois. Other states in which corn is grown include Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Missouri. In 2005, over 58 percent of the U.S. corn crop was used for feed. The remaining U.S. crop was split between exports (25 percent) and food, seed or industrial uses such as ethanol production (17 percent). It is America's largest crop. No word on $ values. Corn is Canada's third largest grain crop (after wheat and barley) and the most important one in eastern Canada - with an annual Canadian production of approximately seven million tonnes of grain, produced on about one million hectares (2.5 million acres) of land. About 200,000 hectares of corn are also grown for harvest as forage (whole-plant silage). About 70% of Canadian corn is grown in Ontario.

    Nancy.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Coffee: the Greatest Additction Ever

  • Ginny McLean_Petite_Garden
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    That one was easy for me Nancy. In fact, it was the first thing that came to mind as I was having my tea yesterday.....afternoon! I hunted for the clip from Green Acres and couldn't find it. I was probably only about 6 or 7 when that episode aired but I will never forget Eva Gabor in her Hungarian accent. One of the guys stood his spoon up in the coffee and said they coudn't drink it just yet cause they had something to do or some excuse.She replied with something to the effect that the coffee would wait another hour or so since it had already been sitting for a month or something like that! So funny! First thing that came to mind and your first clue confirmed it for me.

    Working with addicts for a good part of my working life, I have no doubt why coffee is the second place commodity! Just ask Timmy! Lol!

    Such fun! Look forward to next weekend. :)

    Ginny

  • thinman
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow, that's really surprising to me that only oil beats coffee. Fun fact.

    TM

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