Around the world, approximately 26 million people work on coffee plantations every year. Men, women, and children labor in countries along the equator picking the beans that, through murky supply chains, eventually end up in your local grocery store or café. But inside the billions of cups of coffee consumed every day, the bitter taste of modern-day slavery goes largely unnoticed. The number of people experiencing labor trafficking and exploitation in the coffee industry is unknown, as few large-scale studies on this problem have been conducted. What we do know, however, is that the problem is widespread and complex. In-depth reporting by Verité, Danwatch, The Weather Channel, and others provide crucial insight into working conditions on small farms and large plantations across the globe. Brazil is the largest exporter of coffee in the world. In the state of Minas Gerais, a small number of labor inspectors race to rescue workers from slavery every harvesting season. Reuters reports that an estimated two-thirds of coffee farm laborers in Minas Gerais are informal workers, many of them seasonal migrants from neighboring towns and states. Without official work documentation, they are left with no legal claim to minimum wage, overtime pay, or labor rights protection as guaranteed by Brazilian law. Rescued workers report being denied access to sufficient food, clean water, basic safety equipment, and their wages. Some even end up in debt bondage when forced to work off the costs of their housing and food; without money to pay for the bus ride home, some families remain stranded on plantations. Similar stories play out in coffee-producing countries around the world. Coffee