To the ancient Mayans, it was the food of the gods. Nineteenth-century Cubans used it as an aphrodisiac. In the 20th century American culinary authority Fannie Farmer recommended its “stimulating effect” for “cases of enfeebled digestion.” Throughout history people have prized cocoa—the defining ingredient of chocolate—a tradition that endures in our modern era. This Valentine’s Day alone Americans will drop a projected $700 million on chocolate. Around the world people spend more than $90 billion a year on the treat. And with appetite on the rise thanks to expanding population size and growing numbers of people in the developing world who can afford chocolate, demand may outstrip supply in the near future.

All this cocoa production does more than feed our collective sweet tooth: the five million to six million farmers in the tropics who cultivate the cacao trees from which cocoa is produced rely on the sales of the seeds to feed themselves and their families. Workers extract the seeds (often called beans) from football-shaped pods and then ferment and dry them to form cocoa liquor, butter and powder. The livelihoods of another 40 million to 50 million depend on the long production road the cacao seeds travel from farm to candy on store shelves. In Ivory Coast, which produces 40 percent of the world’s cocoa, such farming accounts for a full 15 percent of GDP and employs 5 percent of households.

This article was originally published with the title The Future of Chocolate.

1 Comments

1. 1. marclevesque 09:08 AM 2/13/12

   "The dark side of chocolate"
   
   - http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/06/the-dark-side-of-chocolate/
   
   "Approximately 40% of the world’s cocoa supply comes from farms in West Africa supported by child slavery with most in Cote d’Ivoirie (the Ivory Coast). The U.S. Department of State estimates that 109,000 children are working in an abusive labor environment with as many as 10,000 suffering as victims of human trafficking or enslavement."
   
   - http://www.oxfam.org.vt.edu/2011/02/14/make-this-your-last-slave-chocolate-valentines-day/
   - http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2010/
   
   "Hershey's, Nestlé, and the other big chocolate companies know this. They promised nearly a decade ago to set up a system to certify that no producers in their supply chains use child labor. They gave themselves a July 2005 deadline for that, which came and went without meaningful action. A second voluntary deadline sailed by as well in 2008."
   
   - http://www.fpif.org/articles/big_chocolates_child_slavery_addiction
   
   2012
   
   "The Hershey company, one of the United States' leading chocolate producers, says it's pledged $10 million over the next five years to educate West African cocoa farmers on improving their trade and combating child labor"
   
   "Currently, between 1% and 2% of Hershey products are certified, said Andy McCormick, the company's vice president of public affairs."
   
   "The company said in a press release that chocolate consumers will later this year be able to purchase a new version of Hershey's Bliss brand, which will be 100% made from Rainforest Alliance-certified farms mostly in Ivory Coast and Ghana."
   
   "The move follows a recent CNN documentary entitled "Chocolate's Child Slaves," that explored a human trafficking network and farmers using child labor in Ivory Coast."
   
   "Gearhart's organization [Rainforest Alliance], which had planned to run a Super Bowl advertisement denouncing Hershey for its alleged use of child labor, has since decided to pull the commercial because of Monday's announcement."
   
   - http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/31/hershey-pledges-10-million-to-improve-west-african-cocoa-farming-fight-child-labor/

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