Chocolate (Cacao)

Cacao

Whether you consider yourself a carnivore, omnivore, vegan, or locavore there’s a good chance that you still enjoy a decadent dessert from time to time. One of the most widely consumed and sought after sweets is chocolate. And while Switzerland, Austria, and Ireland lead the world in chocolate consumption the U.S. still eats its fair share. In 2001 Americans consumed 3 billion pounds of chocolate, which totaled $13.1 billion in sales. Long known for its creaminess, versatility, and mood enhancing qualities, chocolate has been a sought after food in Europe ever since the early 1500’s when the conquistador Hernan Cortes supposedly brought it from Mexico to Spain after his overthrow of the Aztec Emperor Montezuma.

In the grand scheme of things, most think of chocolate as being a bit naughty or even hedonistic. We may have grown up pestering our parents for a scoop of chocolate ice-cream or a piece of chocolate cake only to be told that we would first have to finish our dinner before being allowed a prize such as that. But what most of us never learned is that all chocolate treats start out as cacao beans, which happen to be one of the most nutritious foods on the planet. Cacao has been enjoyed in its pure, raw form for roughly 5,000 years in the South America region where it is able to grow wild. Known for its medicinal qualities, the Mayans were the first, but far from the only, civilization to use cacao beans as a form of currency. In and of themselves these beans are a fairly bitter food which is why they didn’t gain notoriety in Europe until additives like sugar, milk, and a multitude of possible flavorings were mixed in to create delicious desserts while never losing the underlying chocolaty taste.

There may be three main reasons for chocolates long-lasting, mass appeal. One of the reasons being that it contains a measurable amount of caffeine. This in and of itself is never a problem, but when we combine the small amount of caffeine with a fair amount of sugar we wind up with a sharp increase of energy that will lead to an inevitable crash as the day goes on. The second reason for its popularity is an element called anandamide. This neurotransmitter is an oil that has been called the “bliss chemical” because it is generally released in our bodies when we are feeling our best. Some studies have linked the “runner’s high” to the production of anandamide which may carry endorphins through the blood-brain barrier to give us a feeling of exhilaration. And lastly there is the caffeine related alkaloid called theobromine, a very mild stimulant found in cacao that is often mentioned as the possible culprit for chocolate addiction. Theobromine has also been used as a heart stimulant and cough suppressant.

Past civilizations have called cacao the “food of the Gods” and many nutritionists seem to concur when they assert that raw cacao is nature’s most perfect all around food. In addition to anandamide cacao is rich in magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc, copper, and vitamins B1, A, C, and E. Cacao beans also contain polyphenols, similar to those found in wine, which have a powerful antioxidant effect. Cacao and chocolate also contain tryptophan, an essential amino-acid which aids the bodies production of serotonin, an important neurotransmitter and a significant mood elevator in its own right.

If you are a self-proclaimed “chocoholic”, who feels a trifle guilty each time you indulge, then there is wonderful news. If taken in its raw, unadulterated form chocolate is actually very healthy for both you and the planet. Once heated and mixed with sugar cacao loses many of its beneficial qualities, but when eaten raw (either alone or blended with natural sweeteners) it is rightly known as a superfood. Furthermore, the tree that bears the cacao fruit is one of the most sustainable and productive on the planet. Although it has some very specific requirements for growth, once established it is one of the only trees that can produce food year-round. This is an extremely important point when we consider the current threat to many of our crops and increased dearth of good arable land. Cacao trees need steady warm temperatures in a humid climate, regular rainfall, and protection from harsh winds, but they grow best in partial shade in places like the tropical rainforest. This means that cacao can easily be grown right under the rainforest canopy without having to bulldoze the existing land, as we have been doing to grow conventional soybeans.

Presently most of the world’s supply of cacao (about 75%) comes from two West African countries: Cote D'Ivorie (Ivory Coast) and it's neighbor, Ghana. However, the rarely reported horrific fact is that the massive world demand for chocolate has created child slavery in these regions. The largest chocolate manufacturers, such as Nestle and Hershey, have been quietly purchasing cheap cacao from farms that, altogether, use as many as 100,000 children for slave labor. Amid public pressure there has been some progress made in this area but nothing close to alleviating this tragic issue. For this reason, among others, it is particularly important to seek out either the “fair-trade” or “certified organic” label whenever you buy chocolate.

There is every reason to believe that places like Brazil and Ecuador, where there is already an ample amount of cacao production, can someday become major exporters of this remarkable food while at the same time assisting in protecting the rainforest. An adult cacao tree produces anywhere between 300 to 1,000 pounds of cacao per acre for about 50 years. This tells us that when we plant chocolate in this region we are working to keep the rainforest safe, indigenous people employed, and countless numbers of exotic plant and animal species from extinction.