By chance of luck, Paraguay may have stumbled onto the next big cash crop. Okay, well, the second biggest. Stevia, or ka’a he’e as it’s known locally, is a non-caloric sweetener native to Paraguay that (if it isn’t already), will probably soon be in everything you drink that says sugar-free or diet on it. Saccharine and the like have gotten bad name as “chemical sweeteners”, stevia on the other hand: all natural.

I’m not sure if it’s widely available for consumer purchase in the US yet, but I’m sure you can find it at your Whole Foods type places. Here, it comes in liquid form in a 3 oz bottle with a squirt/dropper on the top and really is pretty amazing. A quarter teaspoon of this stuff will sweeten the hell out of a cup of tea – or I imagine a cup of coffee. I’ve been making a good bit of iced tea lately and a few squirts of this stuff will sweeten the whole pitcher – as opposed to a half cup of sugar. No lugging sugar, no ants to deal with, no calories. It can also be used in it’s raw form as leaves.

The bottle runs about 5500 Gs or about a buck fifty here, so I imagine there it’s probably going for 5 bucks plus in the US. Check it out next time you’re at the store – if you buy it, chances are your supporting the Paraguayan economy (in just about the only way possible at the supermarket).