Coca, noun: A bush/shrub. It grows on the eastern hillsides of the Andes in Peru, Bolivia and Columbia between 1000 and 6500 feet above sea level. It is the raw material behind cocaine. “Mate de coca,” also called coca tea, is a traditional drink in the Andes. It’s available prepackaged in many supermarkets. Since the tea mixture contains plant parts from the coca plant, these are subject to the German Narcotics Act, which is why simply possessing or importing a tea bag is a criminal offense. There were and are a number of anti-drug programs, but these have not prevented cultivation. However, we have succeeded in convincing many small farms that organic coffee cultivation is more lucrative over the long term.
