Coffee: import me a cup

Yesterday I spoke to a source who runs a coffee-importing business here in Rockford. She and her husband buy green coffee straight from growers in Africa, then sell it to wholesale and retail roasters here, in Canada and in Taiwan. She's trying to get a foot into Japan, where the tea-drinking masses are just beginning to turn their taste buds toward the black bean.
I was salivating at the thought of real fresh-roasted coffee, which sophisticated drinkers tell me has no comparison to what we drink. I've never had just-roasted coffee. Apparently, roasted coffee goes stale on the shelf rather quickly, in a matter of days. Ground coffee goes in a matter of hours and brewed coffee in a matter of minutes.
But green coffee stays fresh for months. A neighbor up the street tells me he buys it green and roasts it himself to enjoy the freshness. Apparently there is another type of coffee consumption I have yet to enjoy. (I've never had Turkish coffee either.)
Here's something else I learned: Coffee is the second largest imported commodity to the United States. Guess what's the largest?
Oil.