Bitter Chocolate The Sweet and not so Sweet Side of the Global Commodity: Cocoa By Jenna Sandoe

Theobroma cocoa – “Food of the Gods” Malvaceae family hot, humid, shaded, not windy and rainy location with rich soil Cote d’Ivoire is the top producer, produces 46%, All of West Africa produce 80% Pollinated by random chance by a gnat Each tree makes 2 kilograms of cocoa paste per harvest

How it is Grown Monocrop preferred- Grafted tree reproduction Produces year round, even has fruit and flowers at the same time Pesticides to prevent disease and bad bugs- heavy use Disease in gnats big concern

To Make Edible Cocoa Harvest Ferment Dry Roast De-shell

The 5 different uses of cocoa Cocoa Liquor Cocoa powder Cocoa butter Chocolate Cocoa juice

We Love our Chocolate Surveys say chocolate is Americas favorite flavor The average American eats pounds of chocolate a year. In Switzerland, the most chocolate loving country, the average Swiss eats 22 pounds a year.

Beneficial to our Health? Benefits! -Cancer fighting antioxidants (double wine, three times green tea) -Lowers blood pressure -Increased brain activity -Helped cancer survivors -Cough suppressant -Aphrodisiac?

Beneficial to our Health? The Down Side… - Obesity - Acne? No! -phenylethylamine- increases anxiety if already anxious (but serotonin if depressed!) -Mild lead poisoning

Toxic to many animals dogs and many other animals such as horses, cats, parrots and rodents These animals are unable to metabolize the chemical Theobromine and the consumption of it does cause poisoning. If ingested, the chemical will stay in the blood stream of the animal for twenty hours while inducing seizures, heart attacks, internal bleeding and eventually death.

From the Maya to us For millennia now, growing and thriving naturally in the understory of the tropical rainforest of the northern Amazon basin first cultivation, Honduras, dating from 1100 BC to1400 BC Maya drink chocolate Maya brought the cocoa to Mexico, spread to Aztec- Xocoatl

From the Maya to us continued… Spanish acquired it from Aztecs Pope made it popular Chocolate houses 1875 develop first chocolate bar Hershey- 2 towns and world war I rations

The not so sweet…

Nestle CEO Cadbury CEO Hershey’s CEO Mars CEO

Child Slave Labor 12,000 of the 200,000 children working in Cote d’Ivoire Traffickers promise paid work, housing, and education to children who are forced to labor undergo severe abuse, that some children are held forcibly on farms and work up to 100 hours per week attempted escapees are beaten. It quoted a former slave: "The beatings were a part of my life" and "when you didn't hurry, you were beaten."

There are Alternatives

No Slave Labor certification on its way, hopefully.