A Cultural Study of Chocolate

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A Cultural Study of Chocolate

• By Eugene Sayson

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Who we areidentityis intimately tied to a
political ecology of who and what we produce,
consume, regulate, and waste. Petrina (2001).
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Chocolate is very much a part of our culture.
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It is celebration.
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It is comfort.
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It is happiness
and pleasure.
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It is art.
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It is sensual.
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It is the language of love.
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It is fun.
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It is elegance.
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It is big business.
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Mass production of cocoa became possible with
the introduction of a perfected steam engine,
which mechanized the cocoa grinding process. The
invention of the cocoa press in 1828 was another
major breakthrough in cocoa production.
Chocolateusa.org
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Only the wealthy could afford hot chocolate
drinks in English Chocolate Houses in the late
17th century.
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Switzerland has the highest per capita
consumption of chocolate at 22.3 pounds.
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The USA spends 13 billion a year on chocolate.
It is the top importer of cocoa beans.
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Theobromo cacao
food of the gods
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The cacao pods symbolized fertility to the
Mayans.Cacao beans were used as currency in
Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica.
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Over 2,500 years ago, the Aztecs drank xocoatl, a
bitter drink made from cacao beans. They shared
this drink with the Spanish explorer Hernán
Cortés, who then introduced it to Africa, the
Caribbean, and Spain in 1528.
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Since then, chocolate has spread throughout the
world.
Chokolade sjokolade ??????? ??? chocolat
s?????ta ??? chocolade suklaa czekolada
?????? cioccolato chocolate schokolade
??????? choklad ??? çikolata
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Chocolate contains substances called flavonoids.
These natural antioxidantsmay help reduce the
risk of blood clots and heart disease. Mayo
Clinic
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White chocolate contains no chocolate liquor,
so it has no flavonoids. Dark chocolate has two
to four times the amount of flavonoids that milk
chocolate does. Mayo Clinic
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West Africa produces 70 of the worlds cocoa.
Côte d'Ivoire produces 43 of the worlds cocoa.
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In Côte d'Ivoire millions of hectares of
tropical rainforest have been devastated for the
creation of cocoa and other primary commodity
plantations for economic motives. Gnoan (1995)
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The international commodity market traps
developing countries in a permanent poverty. To
exit the snare those countries have to produce
more by using more land as well as more chemicals
which alter the environment. Gnoan (1995)
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284,000 children use machetes to clear cacao
fields153,000 children handle toxic pesticides
in West Africa.
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In 2002, Canada bought 47 million worth of
cocoa beans from Ivory Coast. Cocoa farmers in
West Africa received about two cents for a
typical candy bar that sells in Canada for 1.
Canadian Labour Congress
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many children return from these cocoa farms
with wounds inflicted by the farm owners, backs
scarred from carrying heavy loads, malnourished
from being overworked and underfed. Canadian
Labour Congress
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Drissa was a slave in a Cote dIvoire cacao
plantation.
When he tried to escape, he was beaten until his
flesh was raw.
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A reporter asked him what he wanted to tell the
world, and he responded
"They enjoyed something I suffered to make I
worked hard for them, but saw no benefit
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They are eating my flesh.
TrueVision TV
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Child labour is a violation of fundamental human
rights has been shown to hinder children's
development...perpetuates poverty across
generations by keeping children of the poor out
of school limiting their prospects.Internation
al Labour Organization
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The Harkin-Engle Cocoa Protocol calls for a
voluntary public certification of child slave
free cocoa by the year 2005.
Save the Children
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A child should be protected from economic
exploitation and from performing any work that is
likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the
child's education, or to be harmful to the
child's health or physical, mental, spiritual,
moral or social development.
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
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Remember the children of the cacao fields
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as you eat
and drink
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the fruits of their labour.
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The End
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References

• Canadian Labour Congress. (2003, January). Child
  slaves on cocoa farms. Sweatshop Alert. Retrieved
  June 1, 2005, from http//www.psac.com/bargaining/
  treasuryboard/Table_3/Sweatshop_JAN02.pdf
• Chocolate Manufacturers Association. (n.d.).
  About chocolate. Retrieved June 1, 2005, from
  http//www.chocolateusa.org/about-choc/index.asp
• Gnoan, A. (1995). Cocoa trade in Côte d'Ivoire
  (COCOA). TED Case Studies, 4(2). Retrieved June
  1, 2005, from http//www.american.edu/projects/man
  dala/TED/cocoa.htm
• International Institute of Tropical Agriculture
  (2002, July). Summary of findings from the child
  labor surveys in the cocoa sector of West Africa
  Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria.
  Retrieved June 1, 2005, from http//www.iita.org/n
  ews/child2Dlabor.pdf
• International Labour Organization. (2005). Child
  labour. Retrieved June 1, 2005, from
  http//www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/norm/s
  ubject/child.htm

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References

• Petrina, S. (2001). The political ecology of
  design and technology education An inquiry into
  methods. International Journal of Technology and
  Design Education 10, 207-237.
• Rimfors, F. (2005). Chokladkultur. Retrieved June
  1, 2005, from http//www.chokladkultur.se/english.
  htm
• Save the Children. (n.d.).Harkin-Engle Cocoa
  Protocol. Retrieved June 1, 2005, from
  http//www.savethechildren.ca/whatwedo/advocate/tr
  affick/harkin.html
• Truevision TV. (n.d.). Slavery a global
  investigation. Retrieved June 1, 2005, from
  http//www.truevisiontv.com/slavery.html
• United Nations. (1989). Convention on the rights
  of the child. Retrieved June 1, 2005, from
  http//www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/k2crc.htm

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Photo Credits

• Microsoft Office Clip Art
• Morguefile.com
• Wikipedia.org
• Geekphilosopher.com
• Eugene Sayson

Music Credits
Falling Again By Rick DeAguiar
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Dedicated to the children of the cacao fields.

• Eugene Sayson
• ETEC 531
• June 2005