[MPWG] In Twenty Years Chocolate Will Be A Rare Delicacy

[Jennifer Chesworth]

Jean, in the case of cacao you are mistaken.  Several years ago, chocolate
manufacturers experienced a crisis when they discovered the stock of almost
ALL global plantations (and small holdings) of cacao were descended from the
seed of a single cacao plant brought to Martinique by the French in 1660.
All plantations were similarly resilient or not to any number of diseases,
and a single plague could edevistate the entire industry. "Maintaining
resilience" of cacao requires tissue culture, something most small holders
cannot achieve on their own.

On Fri, Nov 12, 2010 at 11:27 AM, Jean Giblette <hfg at capital.net> wrote:

> Thanks, Robin.
>
> Quoted from the Independent article:
>
> "Despite price rises on the trading floor, precious little reaches the
> smallholders who make up 95 per cent of growers, according to Mr. Lass, a
> former Cadburys trader and ethical sourcing advisor who has co-authored a
> book on the cocoa industry.
>
> "These smallholders earn just 80 cents a day," he says. "So there is no
> incentive to replant trees when they die off, and to wait up to five years
> for a new crop, and no younger generation around to do the replanting."
> Note the main thrust of these articles, which is to celebrate the genome
> sequencing in hopes that a genetic engineering "solution" will be found,
> when all we have to do is incentivize the farmers to replant on a regular
> basis and to maintain/enhance the resilience of the small holdings.
>
> These articles portray the microcosm of what's wrong with medicinal plant
> production worldwide:  the growers are neither adequately compensated nor
> rewarded for good stewardship.  At the same time, industrial ag (including
> its ultimate manifestation, genetic engineering) displaces the growers.
>  These dynamics are based on social constructs, and social constructs can be
> revised.
>
> Meanwhile, Mother Nature is waiting to reward us with chocolate and all the
> abundance of the fertile earth.  All we have to do is follow her lead and
> cooperate with her.  Why is this so hard for us to understand?
>
> Jean
>
>
> On Nov 12, 2010, at 10:50 AM, MoonBranch Botanicals wrote:
>
> Chocolate Black Hole; Chocolate consumption is increasing faster than
> production, meaning the future will probably be less chocolaty....
>
>
> http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-11/future-chocolate-will-be-rare-delicacy-analysts-say
>
>
> http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/chocolate-worth-its-weight-in-gold-2127874.html
>
>
> http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-09/sweet-breakthrough-scientists-led-candy-company-sequence-chocolate-genome
>
>
>
> Robin Alton Suggs
> MoonBranch Botanicals
> 5294 Yellow Creek Road
> Robbinsville, North Carolina 28771
> USA
>
> Telephone: 828.479.2788
> Email: moonbranch at earthlink.net
>
> www.moonbranch.com
>              &
> www.localharvest.org/store/M16074
>
> Member:
> Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project; Farm Partner
> Green Products Alliance
> North Carolina Consortium on Natural Medicines
> North Carolina Goodness Grows/NCDA&CS
> Southwestern North Carolina RC&D Council
> United Plant Savers
>
> “If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines
> they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of
> those who live under tyranny.”
>
> - Thomas Jefferson
>
>
>
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> information contained in posts is not intended nor implied to be a
> substitute for professional medical advice relative to your specific medical
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> discussed on this list should be carefully reviewed by the individual reader
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>
>
>
> Jean Giblette, Owner
> HIGH FALLS GARDENS
> Box 125 Philmont NY 12565
> 518-672-7365, hfg at capital.net
> www.highfallsgardens.net
>
>
>
>
>
>
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>
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>
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>
> Disclaimer
> Any advice given on this list regarding diagnosis or treatments etc.
> reflects ONLY the opinion of the individual who posts the message. The
> information contained in posts is not intended nor implied to be a
> substitute for professional medical advice relative to your specific medical
> condition or question. All medical and other healthcare information that is
> discussed on this list should be carefully reviewed by the individual reader
> and their qualified healthcare professional. Posts do not reflect any
> official opinions or positions of the Plant Conservation Alliance.
>
>
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