Ingredients: lupine, chickpeas, malted barley, chicory, natural aromas, blackberries, caffeine and citric acid. It is only after my first sip that I consult the packaging. The font is attractive, and I was looking for something new. But I may have been slightly distracted in the shop, as I only now notice the large text that says: COFFEE WITHOUT COFFEE. I cannot escape the notion that this is coffee without coffee beans. A fast Google search confirms my second suspicion: this is a Wageningen product. No deforestation for the non-coffee plants in this fake coffee. And it doesn’t taste like coffee, just as my oat milk doesn’t taste like cow milk.
It feels a little like a self-inflicted punishment. Fake coffee with fake milk. For dinner, spaghetti Bolognese with fake minced meat is served. The future is made in Wageningen: instead of coming up with something new, everything we know is replaced by a watered-down imitation, which begs philosophical questions such as: how much of the original product can you alter before it becomes an entirely new product? And: what is coffee? And: Am I even real?
This is an exaggeration, of course. But, while a small percentage of climate-conscious people in the Netherlands live on a monk’s diet of water, imitation products and multivitamins, the large majority couldn’t care less about green intentions. They spoil themselves with a mid-week in Bali to enjoy tasty (sorry) authentic chicken skewers and to feel close to nature. So, why am I even doing all this?
Can I do good without expecting anything in return?
As a green Wageninger, I would rather hike the Pieterpad for a long trek through nature. Last weekend with my sister: 17 kilometres of deciduous forest on old estates followed by a distance across farmlands. When we walk through a meadow with a single tree in the middle, my sister says that such a tree can influence the entire meadow’s water level. The old, deeply rooted oak is a generous oasis in a green desert.
I look at the large oak and slowly realise there is something to be learned from this tree. To face adversity head-on and simply stand, because what else? Can I do good without expecting anything in return? I feel an almost religious inspiration. I remain steadfast in my faith in the good of green intentions, even when so many are doubtful. However I can’t spread the good word of my faith because I am an occasional sinner against nature. Thank you, Wageningen inventors. I will finish this box of COFFEE WITHOUT COFFEE, and that will be the end of it. There is too much joy to be derived from a cup of real coffee. But I will drink it with oat milk. Deal?
Ilja Bouwknegt (25) is a master’s student in Forest and Nature Conservation. Ilja is interested in the relationship between humans and nature and prefers to try every hobby at least once. Currently, that is ceramics and Japanese literature. But writing remains the undisputed favourite.