Environmental Outlook: Saving Chocolate
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-02-07/environmental-outlook-saving-chocolate
It’s almost Valentine’s Day and Americans are expected to spend around seven hundred million dollars on chocolate. We consume almost three billion pounds of this sweet treat annually and we’re not alone. The world’s appetite for chocolate is increasing but the supply is under threat. Plant scientists are working to fortify the embattled cacao tree. Researchers at the USDA say we’re losing thirty to forty percent of the crops a year, due to fungal diseases, climate change and insufficient farming practices. On this month’s Environmental Outlook, Diane and her panel of experts look at what's threatening the world's cocoa supply.
Guests
Harold Schmitz
chief science officer of Mars, Inc., co-author of "The Future of Chocolate" in the February 2012 issue of Scientific American.
Robert Peck
senior director of operations of the World Cocoa Foundation
Lyndel Meinhardt
Research Leader, USDA/ARS Sustainable Perennial Crops Lab
Program Highlights
An article in February's [Scientific American](http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-future-of-chocolate) said the world's cocoa supply is under threat. For this month's Environmental Outlook and in time for Valentine's Day, Diane and some chocolate experts look at what is happening to the cacao tree and the environmental and social factors affecting the cacao supply.
The Most Serious Threats
"The single most important threat to cocoa going forward and the tree, theobroma cacao, is that it is essentially undomesticated and the pool of knowledge that we use to improve crops like maize, corn or soy or wheat or other crops...is almost barren compared to these other crops," Schmitz said. At present, there is not a shortage of cocoa, but Schmitz said the problem is more one of "large origins." In the 1980s, Brazil was on its way to becoming the world's leading supplier of cocoa, but the supply there was wiped out almost overnight. Currently, 60 to 70 percent of the world's supply comes from a small West African region, primarily in Ghana. If a similar disease issue or pest issue or climate change issue were to strike that region, Schmitz said, the answer to whether we have enough
chocolate would be very different.
Mapping The Cacao Tree Gene
There has been a global effort toward mapping the genome of the cacao tree. "The genome is like any additional tool. It gives us more background information that we can go back and look at. There's a number of teams around the world that are doing the research but the point is most of the
growing countries are in the developing world. And so they don't have the research or the cutting edge technology that we in the developed nations can actually provide," Meinhardt said. Some of the genome-mapping was done by Mars, who shared the information on the web. It was important to Schmitz to put that information in to the public domain, where the smartest plant scientists in the world could easily access it, he said.
Helping Farmers With Production
Cacao is a crop that requires a lot of labor, Peck said. The World Cocoa Foundation is running programs that help farmers in growing regions, teaching them how to use more tools and techniques to be more productive. "We need to create more educational opportunities in rural Africa through our programs," Peck said. "And in combination with the USDA, we're doing that." Basic literacy, agricultural knowledge, leadership skills and vocational educational opportunities are some of the areas of focus.
Diane Tastes The Testing Kit Chocolate
Diane had the chance to taste some of the chocolate that Schmitz brought in - each tiny piece labeled by country of origin and contained in a small plastic bag. Sounding a bit like a fine wine expert, Schmitz said Ghana is the "heartland of chocolate flavor." He said the taste should include a "rich chocolate base" with some "light bright notes." This kind of chocolate, Schmitz said, commands a price premium because of its complexity of flavor. Diane also tasted Jamaican and Ecuadorian chocolate, and then, the final piece - a foil-wrapped piece of commercial Dove chocolate that combines the blending of the previous three.
You can read the full transcript here.
Comments
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My husband and I recently lived in Jakarta. He had to travel to Sulawesi several times. His company was trying to counsel the locals into planting cocoa in the rainforest shade rather than clear cutting for palm oil trees.
Hello Diane and Guests,
Will you be discussing Fair Trade Chocolate? Everyone knows of Fair Trade coffee, but I don't think they know of Fair Trade chocolate.
Thank you!
I hope so.
Dear Diane,
Please ask your guests what the organizations they represent are doing to encourage Fair Trade for chocolate farmers. My understanding is that the farmers are generally so poor that they and those in their communities have never tasted processed chocolate.
Beth
Hello Diane and Guests --
Will your panel please discuss the use of children (slavery) in the harvesting of chocolate in Ivory Coast? CNN recently produced a program on this sad & shocking subject ... this question may in part relate to the use of "fair trade" labels (earlier comment) as well.
Thank you very much,
Christine
I can tell from your comments that you like chocolate as much as I do. Please remind your listeners that even if the plants themselves are not currently under threat, many of the people involved in the production of cocoa live in abject poverty. In many cases their lives are under threat (from such extreme poverty). Child labor is also a serious issue. Buying fair trade is a must. Surely something so pleasurable to so many of us, should help those in extremely different circumstances live better lives and not worse.
I can tell from your comments that you like chocolate as much as I do. Please remind your listeners that even if the plants themselves are not currently under threat, many of the people involved in the production of cocoa live in abject poverty. In many cases their lives are under threat (from such extreme poverty). Child labor is also a serious issue. Buying fair trade is a must. Surely something so pleasurable to so many of us, should help those in extremely different circumstances live better lives and not worse.
I can tell from your comments that you like chocolate as much as I do. Please remind your listeners that even if the plants themselves are not currently under threat, many of the people involved in the production of cocoa live in abject poverty. In many cases their lives are under threat (from such extreme poverty). Child labor is also a serious issue. Buying fair trade is a must. Surely something so pleasurable to so many of us, should help those in extremely different circumstances live better lives and not worse.
I can tell from your comments that you like chocolate as much as I do. Please remind your listeners that even if the plants themselves are not currently under threat, many of the people involved in the production of cocoa live in abject poverty. In many cases their lives are under threat (from such extreme poverty). Child labor is also a serious issue. Buying fair trade is a must. Surely something so pleasurable to so many of us, should help those in extremely different circumstances live better lives and not worse.
What if Mars corp and Hershey said they won't buy from farms that use child labor?
I went to Peru this winter and visited cocoa farms in San Martin. The genetic diversity that Peru has is really impressive. There was a chocolate bar that is made in the area called Orquidea. They work with small farmers to teach them how to properly manage their fields to deal with disease. They use yucca, banana, guava, trees to integrate their fields and ensure future fertility of the land.
It is really important for us, consumers, to know who is producing our chocolate. African sources for cacao still utilize child labor and large companies like Mars are not doing their due diligence to ensure a exploitation free supply chain.
I am giving Orquidea chocolate this valentines. I know everyone can't visit their chocolate producer, but it made for a wonderful vacation. Educational tourism.
I would like to know if the guests are familiar with the work of the Tropical Cultivations Institute in Tarapoto, Peru and if so, what do they think of the work being done there.
Also, I understand there is a group in Peru that has begun research on the nutritive properties of the cacao husk itself. This NGO, called INED, is focusing on training cacao growers on learning to use the material they normally throw away to feed their families better and eventually develop commercial uses which would add to the income of these families. Are the guests familiar with this? Do they know where else similar efforts may be in the works?
Cocoa is a fascinating food, in fact, many consider it a superfood because it contains so many nutrients - chromium, magnesium, zinc, seratonin and the USDA rates raw cocoa as having more antioxidants than any food in the world.
I knew little of cocoa until a couple of years ago a friend of mine developed a new drink made with cocoa - Crio Brü - which is 100% cocoa that brews like coffee - and since then I've learned that it's one of the healthiest things you can eat (or drink)...in its pure form.
We were in the Dominican Republic 3 years ago. We were some of the first to take a Chocolate Tour in the Hato Major region. A consortium of local producers sold their cocao beans and a group of women used chocolate to make a variety of products to sell to the public. This was a great tour with some very good chocolate products including chocolate wine!
To visit or see what this group is search for CONACADO. A great tour!
Your guest's assertion that child labor and slavery are not an issue in Africa seems to be painting a rosier picture than reality.
http://ihscslnews.org/view_article.php?id=182
http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-02-01/tech/31011794_1_internati...
Mars is a private company that profits from exploitation of children in Africa. There are many other guests with knowledge about cacao. There are many small companies who know the reality of what is happening with cacao. I am disappointed that NPR seemingly bows to corporate interests, they are the only "persons" in our country with enough money to support NPR. Monsanto and Mars. Corporate Sponsors have seemingly newsworthy clips that keep up the facade of a legitimate news outlet.
Just wanted to mention that cocoa in German is Kakao and is pronounced the same as the original word. So, it was the English who got it messed up not all Europeans.
I am disappointed at your so-called expert's explanation of the origins of the word cacao. Having had the opportunity to live in the Guatemalan highlands only a few miles from the center of cacao distribution, I can tell you that the word is the Anglo form of the Katchikel word kakao, with emphasis on the hard consonants . Coco is the Spanish form of the word.
Where would I go to get chocolates to do the taste test that Diane just did?
To add some additional sources regarding the investigation of child slavery & chocolate...and might suggest that perhaps a new panel be assembled to engage in a conversation about this difficult subject for a future DR Show.
From CNN: http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/?iref=allsearch
Let's keep in perspective that child labor in the context of a small family farm---where, quite possibly, all family members are working the farm together---is something quite different from the context of agribusiness or a large farm or plantation with hundreds or thousands of workers kept in line by a manager or overseer. Since kakao is potentially a valuable crop, knowledge of how to cultivate and process it is valuable and possibly best acquired at the side of parents on the family farm, and not in an agricultural college or in Mars's labs.
Of course children should have the opportunity to attend school, and no one, man, woman, or child, should be exploited. But I think we need to know just what we are talking about before going on a "child slavery" tear. After all, here in the USA we idealize the values represented by the family farm, where all family members pitched in and the sons and daughters learned from the dads and moms. This is why agribusiness advertisers so eagerly exploit the family farm image.
Cries of "child slavery" based in ignorance of actual conditions may well play into the agenda of agribusiness interests to consolidate production of kakao into larger agricultural units and squeeze out production on family farms. This would quite possibly result in small farmers' being deracinated and forced to work for agribusinesses as laborers, not farmer-owners. Their children, too. Do the "child slavery" handwringers actually think that Mars and its pals have the best interests of family farmers at heart, in particular, keeping them on their own land?
when the "aliens" finally come from outer space they are not going to be here for gold, or water, or for our women; they are going to be here for CHOCOLATE! (If we had sent a Dove bar on voyager we would've heard from somebody by now). And we humans are the only ones who can make it so this is the best motivating issue for our preservation I've heard yet!
when the "aliens" finally come from outer space they are not going to be here for gold, or water, or for our women; they are going to be here for CHOCOLATE! (If we had sent a Dove bar on voyager we would've heard from somebody by now). And we humans are the only ones who can make it so this is the best motivating issue for our preservation I've heard yet!
One year our son's school had a fund raiser which was hugely successful. They sold chocolate, baking cocoa and chocolate products from a company representing "fair trade". I wish more school fundraisers would participate in supporting such companies.
The cocoa industry is a business like any other. They are motivated solely by profit - building supply to meet demand. The only reason they are addressing issues of child labor is because congress has legislated that they do so, and public awareness of the issue has increased to the point that any association with child labor would hurt sales. In short, these companies fund institutions, such as the World Cocoa Foundation, to abide by a government mandate that they address child labor issues. They give the bare minimum to fulfill this mandate.
Regarding climate change, the cocoa industry has little knowledge or interest in the topic. While the representative from the World Cocoa Foundation notes efforts to diversify crops and educate communities, the motivation for these efforts again comes back to profit for the cocoa industry and not climate adaptation. The younger generation of cocoa farmers are leaving the agricultural sector in droves in the hopes of finding more exciting and lucrative opportunities in urban areas. The cocoa industry, fearing a dearth of future cocoa farmers, are trying to find ways to keep young people in the fields growing cocoa. Aside from Mars, you wont hear anyone else in the cocoa industry talking about addressing climate change in any serious manner. When climate change makes it impossible to grow a quality crop in any of these countries, you will see the cocoa industry pull out and move to wherever the climate is more hospitable - likely cutting down rainforests and contributing more to increased carbon emissions. The representative from the World Cocoa Foundation acknowledged partnerships as being a part of the cocoa industry's response to climate change, but didn't give an example of this actually happening.
The cocoa industry isn't the worst offender of the many industries sourcing from the developing world, but people should know the truth about what their consuming.
The seeds of the cocoa tree have an intense bitter taste, and various procedure are carry forward for making chocolate and thus from my point of view this is not that effective for oneself.
want it now