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Essay about the process of growing cocoa bean
Child labor cocoa indusrty thesis statement
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It’s sweet, tasty and enjoyed by millions of individuals around the world, chocolate is one of the most popular treats that people love to eat. However many people are not aware how such commodity is produced or where it comes from. They are not even aware of the consequence of harvesting a dangerous commodity like cocoa beans. The exploitative relationship between the cocoa farmers and the massive and powerful chocolate companies has heavily influenced a deregulated industry. The focus of this paper is to provide background information on the cocoa industry as well as provide a critical analysis of the economic exploitations of West African countries. Although cocoa is enjoyed by billions of people around the world, this sweet treat was a delicacy only enjoyed by the prosperous individuals in the ancient past. The word cocoa in the Latin the language is ‘Theobroma’ which means “food of the gods”. This superior crop was something only the wealthy people can indulge in many South American countries. The first use of cocoa …show more content…
About 73% of cocoa beans originate in West African countries: Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana and Ivory Coast. The two largest cocoa producers in West Africa are Ghana and Ivory Coast, producing about half of the world`s supply of cocoa beans. The majority of the trade revenue coming into such nation’s economy comes from cocoa beans. The production of cocoa is vital to the Ghana economy that the government made it as symbol in Ghanan money. Similarly cocoa beans produced in Ivory Coast is sold to the two largest chocolate manufactures in the world: Nestle and Cadbury. Such companies make it impossible for fair trade and elimination of child labour. The cocoa such companies buy from the Ivory Coast is accountable for 2-3 of the countries revenue making it difficult to have equality and fairness in the trade
During Valentine’s week alone, millions of pounds of chocolate candies alone are sold (“Who consumes the most chocolate,” 2012, para 8). This naturally creates a demand for product, which in turns causes a need for ingredients. The main component in chocolate, of course, is cocoa. Since Côte d’Ivoire provides 40 percent of the world’s supply of this crucial ingredient (Losch, 2002, p. 206), it merits investigation i...
The videos provided for this subject builds a great understanding on what happens behind the scenes and how the production cycle of chocolates turns deadly for few. The chocolate industry is being accused having legit involvement in human trafficking. The dark side of chocolate is all about big industries getting their coco from South America and Africa industries. However, it is an indirect involvement of Hersheys and all other gigantic brands in trafficking (Child Slavery and the Chocolate Factory, 2007).
Chocolate is a food in the form of a paste or solid block made from roasted and ground cacao seeds. As suspected, its name is derived
Though, the origin of the cacao bean is indefinite, the first instant that Europeans encountered cacao beans is alleged to have been in 1502 between Christopher Columbus and the ancient Mayan civilization. Initial impressions were less than satisfactory. Christopher Columbus having believed the beans were “shriveled almonds” (Rosenblum 6), . During Hernan Cortez’s voyage to the Aztec Empire of the Americas during 1517, he was introduced to the Emperor Montezuma’s favorite drink “chocolatl”. Though, he also was not very appreciative of the drink, Cortez was fascinated with the very idea that cacao beans were used as a form of currency among the Aztec. The Spanish would pay Aztec laborers in cacao beans, as they would load their treasure ships with deposits of silver and gold. For this reason, the Spanish nicknamed the cacao bean “black gold” (Lopez 19). Still, it was Spanish monks and missionaries who recognized the value of cacao beans as a medial t...
The cocoa industry is made up of small scale family farms with low economic standings and a few large scale plantations which control the cocoa market. Due to large scale cocoa plantations small scale farms are struggling economically which has resulted in a fragile unsustainable society. The use of hybrid cocoa crops has made it easy for large scale plantation to control the market and remove negotiating leverage from small family farms. Family farms have grown accustomed to the use of child labor, and as a result have negatively influenced the education of many children in major cocoa producing countries. Family small scale farms have had to compete with better yielding crops and little wealth, in response they have grown accustomed to child
Brazil is known for having a very large biodiversity and having a huge portion of the Amazonian forest in its land. Yet, because of globalization, this country suffers a great deal environmentally wise and socially also. Both adults and children have to work in order to be able to survive. Many of these workers are exploited and changing this reality is quit hard. It all comes down to profits at the end: exploiting workers is much cheaper than paying them properly. At least, there are some people who are actually putting some effort on solving this problem. This is where the issue involving coffee in Brazil comes in. The actors involved in this product are either greatly benefited or exploited and the working conditions for the farmers are quit terrible. However, there are solutions that were proposed in order to protect the coffee growers such as fair trade. It is then understood that coffee production in Brazil has negative effects on coffee laborers, but to a lesser extent on those who work in the fair trade business.
The influence of food sovereignty on food security can be a positive for the consumers and businesses. Food sovereignty refers to the domination and/or monopolization of the food industry by transnational cooperation’s (TNCs). Agriculture such as the farming of soybeans in Brazil has provided the country with significant capital and employment. Companies such as Archer-Daniels-Midland Co, the largest soybeans exporter in Brazil, have created both an increase income and employment (Brazil’s soybean production will rise 4 million tonnes to 88 million tonnes in 2013-2014. (U.S. Department of Agriculture)) Due to it’s large economies of scale operation. (Shruti Date Singh 2013& Altieri, Miguel A 2009)
Globalization of goods /services and fair trade has helped in providing developing countries with more output of products, selling and producing techniques that are more ethical, open future investments through funding and technology. While some have benefited, others have lost jobs and resources. Coffee the second valuable traded commodity in the markets, has needed help in this industry with fair trade. These farmers crops usually grown in remote areas, have no access to credit , are indigent and in need of funding and technology. “A labor-intensive crop, coffee grows well on small and steeply slope parcels of land. Small scale producers often with landholding smaller than 3 hectares, constitute the majority of coffee producers in the country and are concentrated in some of the poorest regions.” Case Studies...(2009). The reasons these farmers do not profit well in the markets today, because they have lost their place as the foreign exchange earner allowing other competitors like Vietnam, Cost Rico, Ethiopia, India ,Tanzania and Uganda to emerge. “When the collapse of the ...
Chocolate or cacao was first discovered by the Europeans as a New World plant, as the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. In Latin, Theobroma literally means: “food of the Gods” (Bugbee, Cacao and Chocolate: A Short History of Their Production and Use). Originally found and cultivated in Mexico, Central America and Northern South America, its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC. The majority of the Mesoamerican people made chocolate beverages, including the Aztecs, who made it into a beverage known as xocolātl, a Nahuatl word meaning “bitter water” (Grivetti; Howard-Yana, Chocolate: History, Culture, and Heritage). It was also a beverage in Mayan tradition that served a function as a ceremonial item. The cacao plant is g...
When cacao became available in Spain, it was modified with cinnamon and other spices; sugar was used to sweeten the mix. Somehow they were able to keep their drink invention among them for nearly 100 years before it escaped to Europe. Sweetened chocolate became an extreme craze for the continent. In a letter of 1779, a viceroy noted: “In this country [New Spain] cacao is primary food not only for persons of means as in other countries, but also among the poor people.” It seems that the people of Spain were content with sharing this savory chocolate among all the people, rather than those in other parts of Europe.
"Food: The History of Chocolate." Birmingham Post 11 Dec. 2004, First ed., Features sec.: 46. Print
Central Idea: Explain how cocoa beans are processed to produce the chocolate we all know and love
The Theobroma cacao tree is where it all started. Olmecs, Aztecs, and Mayans were the original consumers of cocoa: they would form it into a drink and ingest it for medicinal reasons (Allen Par. 7). The Spanish then brought it back to Europe and continued to treat a variety of ailments with it (Allen Par. 7). In the last 40 years people have started to question the health benefits of chocolate, but new research is starting to prove that the Olmecs, Aztecs, Mayans and Spaniards were not too far off. Now, the pods from the tree containing cocoa beans are collected, and the cocoa beans are taken out of the pod (Healing Foods Pyramid Par. 15). The beans are then fermented, dried, roasted, then ground to make cocoa liquor (Healing Foods Pyramid Par. 15). The cocoa liquor is then combined with sugar, vanilla, and cocoa butter to make what is now known as chocolate (Healing Foods Pyramid Par. 15). Controversy over the health benefits and detriments of chocolate is slowly subsiding, but there are many things that a lot of people still do not know about how chocolate can affect ones health. Chocolate is misunderstood.
...ontributes a large percentage to the Gdp of the country. As stated in the introduction many of Africa, mostly Sub-Saharan is rich in natural resources. The largest of the products produced in Ghana that is also a large export is Cocoa other items that are largely produced in Ghana are automobiles, aluminum, and also agricultural products like Shea butter certain edible foods that are used in traditional Ghanaian foods. Many of the goods produced are exported to countries such as the U.S., Canada, and Great Britain. Below is a chart of goods produced in Ghana, these goods are mostly exported as well Ghana is the second largest producer of Cocoa, which is the basic ingredient in chocolate. The bar graph below shows the earnings of goods produced and exported in the country of Ghana from 2000-2008.
This means that each party can make choices. However in chocolate manufacturing one of the parties is often a large multi million dollar corporation and the other is a small farming company. Concern about the impact of this on small primary producers in developing countries lead to the Fairtrade agreement which Cadburys is a part of. By signing up to the Fairtrade agreement Cadburys agree to buy cocoa at a certain value. Last year Cadburys sold over 7 million chocolate products made with Fair Trade cocoa and this supported 65,000 jobs in