NVGurl1979 said:

Or the farmers could grow food to feed their families which is a lot more important.

They could grow food. But perhaps growing food on their land would not be sufficient to feed their families. Or it might be better to grow something they can sell and make money to buy food. That way they would not be limited to what they could grow. They could buy meat and fish and grains. They also could buy clothing and other necessities.

There may not be very many staple crops that grow well in the area or it may be that they are not reliable. Or they may have a short growing season which would mean they would be out of food the rest of the time unless they could preserve it, which they may or may not be able to.

Atom Power – Shine!
The Earth’s lights burn, ever bright.
Containment cracks – Oh!

Or the farmers could grow food to feed their families which is a lot more important.

Of course, this begs the question why people would use the scarce resources of land and labor to grow coffee instead of food.

Perhaps they perceive that by growing coffee, they can sell the coffee, buy the same amount of food that they could have grown, and have money left over. Of course, this perception could be entirely incorrect; it is their choice. If you know better than they do, feel free to write to them.

Finrod.