Living in Peru : your everyday companion

eco worldly
Levi Novey

A Peruvian company that makes beer from coca leaves now has plans to export its product to countries like China, Venezuela, and South Africa.

The company making the beer is a supporter of the National Confederation of Coca Farmers, a group that advocates for more organized production of coca plants. The beer is named Apu, and is already sold in southeastern cities of Peru like Cusco, the well-known gateway city to legendary Machu Picchu.

But wait… don’t draw any conclusions yet. According to the source of this information, the online news source Living in Peru, spokespeople for the group say “The goal is to demonstrate that coca leaves are not cocaine…the plant should be industrialized to avoid the production of cocaine.”

Coca Plant Widely Used, Has Significant Cultural Value in Andean Countries of South America

What is unknown to many people around the world is that coca leaves are considered a culturally important plant to people in the Andean mountain regions of South America. While best known as being the derivative for the drug cocaine, the leaves also have a variety of other less harmful uses. For instance, many people in the Andes Mountains chew the leaves as an energy booster or to reduce hunger, thirst, or pain. It is also popularly consumed in tea form, and can help travelers to overcome altitude sickness.

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