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

Fri Nov 12 11:48:26 CST 2010

Jennifer, good point.  But I did not disavow the possibility of a  
benign contribution or intervention on the part of plant scientists.   
What bothers me is how we all seem bedazzled by more abstract (and  
expensive) technologies -- and the entities who profit from them --  
at the expense of humbler, less costly methods.  Even if we do  
diversify cacao through tissue culture (and I hope so), where are the  
resources to convey those gains, to help those farmers stay on their  
land?  That's a social problem.  Follow the money -- and money flow  
is always preceded by Qi (including attention, focus, intention and  
will) -- it's going to the wrong places.
Jean

On Nov 12, 2010, at 11:51 AM, Jennifer Chesworth wrote:

> 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 devastate 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 11:47 AM, Jennifer Chesworth  
> <cafesombra at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> 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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>
> 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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>
> To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to MPWG- 
> request at lists.plantconservation.org with the word "unsubscribe" in  
> the subject line.
>
> 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.
>
>
>

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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