Encouraging sustainable, responsible cacao growing

The cacao is a fruit tree and the ‘nuts’ are actually seeds produced inside the large fruit. Each fruit has a number of the seeds which are harvested and minimally processed before being shipped to the buyers.

Cacao trees are shade-grown and should have a canopy of larger trees to protect them. That’s good news if you think jungles need to be protected. Most growers of cacao trees do so in smallish plots of fewer than 25 acres. That’s good news if you think an agricultural economy ought to be diversified and spread out into many hands instead of the grasping tentacles of giant agribusiness.

Now the beauty part: chocolate is very, very good for you! The list of components of chocolate is as long as your arm and all those micronutrients work together to stimulate many systems of your body, not the least of which is the effect on free radicals. Now, when we say ‘chocolate’, we mean as close to the bean as you can get. Alas, the milkfats and sugars that make Lindor so heavenly also pretty much cancel out the nutritional value (but not the emotional value). "Holy chocolate molé!" you might exclaim, and understandably so.

If we want the healthful benefits of chocolate, we need to use more cocoa. One idea is to add a little cocoa to our—are you ready—chili! Before you faint, what’s the difference between a little cocoa in our chili and a molé? Well, any real Mexican cook can tell you that! But try adding it as if it were a spice, and taste as you go. It just might grow on you. And use responsibly grown cocoa in your baking. The market will dictate how cacao is grown and if we all provide a market for responsibly grown cacao, both we and the planet will be healthier for it.

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