It’s probably an understatement to say millions of people love chocolate. It’s certainly my favourite sweet treat. Chocolate is made from cocoa trees and cocoa has been cultivated for hundreds of years in Mexico and Central America. Nowadays two thirds of the global cocoa comes from West Africa. Europeans became acquainted with chocolate when the Spanish conquistadors came and conquered the Americas. Hard chocolate emerged in the 18th century in Italy and a German company created the first chocolate bar in 1839. A British company followed suit, John Cadbury began marketing a chocolate bar in 1849 and his legacy lives on. Why am I bringing up this everyday delight? Because they say chocolate may become so rare and expensive that that the average person won’t be able to afford it. Yipes! One reason is that we are eating more chocolate than is sustainable. Then there’s all the political turmoil in West Africa. Apparently, there’s a shortage of cocoa beans and, like other food shortages this year, they say climate change is a key contributor. The expense of making chocolate bars has gone way up and prices have risen. SO, cocoa supplies are dwindling, chocolate is getting more and more expensive, and who knows what the future holds? I looked up how long a chocolate bar stays good to eat and found varying results. It seems they will last longer than the “Best before” date on the package because there’s no environment for bacterial growth. Maybe I’ll go buy a bunch and store them in the downstairs fridge. I know my daughter will appreciate it when she comes over.
That’s Coffeetalk. I’m Vic Dubois.
