“There are four food that is basic: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate and chocolate truffles.”
— Anonymous
My love affair with chocolate has stood the test of time. True, I recently broke up with the milk variety to go over, literally, to the side that is dark but we’ve both recovered and managed to move on.
Depending from the circumstances, I’m able to go that is high*) at $250 — or I can go low — La Madeline au Truffle au Twix at $1.59 (with a coupon). I can eat chocolate for breakfast, lunch and dinner, justifying this behavior on the premise that “A balanced diet is chocolate in two hands.”CVSNor am I alone in this belief. Demand for cacao beans, the stuff that is raw of, has soared by double digits since 2008 and is growing as the supply diminishes. Americans eat on average 11 pounds of chocolate a and Europeans eat even more.(* year) is the world’s candy bar that is best-selling. Just last year, 400 million Snickers were consumed around the world, 50 % of them by me.
As addictions go, that one seems harmless enough, right? Unfortunately, like so much else today, chocolate has turned into a proposition that is fraught. And I don’t mean only because of the sugar, calories and saturated fats that go if they weren’t enough.
No into it, as, it is an issue when it comes to environment since the raw materials suck up so water that is much. In fact, the water footprint of a pound of chocolate is four times larger than that of beef!
Who knew?
, author of Florencia Ramirez, that’s who. Ramirez, an Oxnard resident, did research that is extensive the subject additionally the results aren’t pretty.Eat Less WaterCacao trees require between 50 and 80 inches of water each year, that was fine for 2,000 years if they grew underneath the rainforest canopy.
Then, into the century that is 20th cacao farmers were told they could get higher yields if they brought the trees into the light. That led them to destroy rainforest to plant in sunlight, but eventually those trees succumbed to disease and rodents.
Today, cacao is raised in semi-shade, but the damage was already done. Rainforests used to cover over 14% of the globe’s landmass. Today, thanks in part to cacao culture, they are down to 7%.
This has led to the cycle that is vicious of rainforest, less water — and, less cacao.
Enlightened retailers and growers are fighting back, promoting trade that is fair organically certified cacao grown with sustainable practices, such as minimum pesticide use, reduction of greenhouse gases and treated water disposal.
As I cling to chocolate for me, although I’ve had my eyes opened to the negative impacts of cacao on the environment. I’ve tried cookies without chocolate chips,
that imitate chocolate, as well as other tries to slip in substitutes when it comes to thing that is real. As far as I’m concerned, they don’t cut it.See’s CandiesBesides, aren’t the
a institution that is national? For me. if they were good enough for founder Juliette Low, they’re good enough
— Barbara Greenleaf may be the composer of This Old Body: And 99 Other Reasons to Laugh at Life. She will be reached at [email protected]. Click here for previous columns. The opinions expressed are her very own.
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