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The Positives and Negatives of Chocolate

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The Positives and Negatives of Chocolate According   to WorldAtlas.com the top 4 countries that consume the most chocolate per capita are the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany and Switzerland. Despite the fact that Switzerland is the biggest consumer of chocolate in the world, it is in the top 3 healthiest countries in the world according to dmarge.com. So does this mean we should all be eating more chocolate? I certainly hope so. Statista info graph Chocolate is a confectionery product as it is high in sugar and calories. Therefore it is a contributing factor in the obesity epidemic across the world. Public Health England is currently trying to get businesses to cut sugar by 20% by 2020. Businesses are to achieve this by trying to lower sugar levels in their products, reduce the size of their products or push healthier products. Mars, Nestle, Cadbury and Mondelez [manufacturer of Toblerone] have all reduced the size of their products, while leaving prices unaltered to protect
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The Influence of Chocolate Around the World

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The Influence of Chocolate Around the World A huge number of countries produce cacao beans and there are approximately 4.5 million cacao farms around the world. The current value of the annual global crop of cacao is 5.1 billion dollars. Almost all countries that produce cacao beans are developing countries and almost all countries that consume chocolate are industrialised countries. The top 4 producers of cacao beans are the Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Ghana and Indonesia. The demand for chocolate is increasing. For the last century demand has increased by 3% each year. It is estimated that the demand for chocolate will double by 2050. This puts increasing pressure on farmers to produce a more cacao beans and at a quicker pace as well. Climate change has caused longer drought seasons which makes it more difficult for farmers to plant and sustain cacao trees. Traditional cacao farms plant cacao trees in the shade among other plants and trees. However, to increase the quantity of bean
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The Make up of Chocolate

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The Make up of Chocolate As much as I would like it to, chocolate does not simply come ready to eat off a tree. Most people do not know about the complex procedures required to make chocolate. First of all, let's get the terminology right. According to Smithsonian.com 'most experts these days use the term 'cacao' to refer to the plant or it's beans before processing while the term 'chocolate' refers to anything made from the beans. 'Cocoa' generally refers to chocolate in powdered form.' Cacao trees grow in hot tropical areas within 20 degrees of latitude from the Equator. Harvest occurs over several months and in many countries cacao can be harvested all year round. Cacao beans grow in pods that sprout off the tree. These pods are green and turn yellow when ripe. They have to be harvested by hand using machetes and hooked blades mounted on a long poles, as machines would damage the trees. It can take approximately 3 years for a caca
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Chocolate's Involvement in War

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Chocolate's Involvement in War Sainsbury's Christmas Truce Advert While the message of the video above is nothing really to do with chocolate, it is important to understand that the gesture made by the British soldier was huge, not only because he was a Brit giving chocolate to a German, but also because chocolate was rationed during WW1 so chocolate would not have been easy to get. In many wars throughout history, chocolate has offered soldiers fighting, a small comfort in times of great fear. In America during the Revolutionary War, chocolate was so highly valued that it was included in the soldiers' rations. During WW1 Cadbury helped to support the war effort by providing clothing, books and chocolate to soldiers and more than 2,000 of Cadbury's employees joined the Armed Forces. During WW2, Cadbury's Bournville factory was used for the war by producing seats for fighter aircraft. Chocolate was placed under government supervision for the whole of WW2. T
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The History of Chocolate

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The History of Chocolate Chocolate is definitely something that is part of daily life. Many of us might say we can not live without chocolate. However how many of us have actually stopped and thought about where this wonderful creation began. Historians have estimated that chocolate has been around for about 2,000 years. However many scientists believe it may even date back to 1400BC.  The history of chocolate begins in Mesoamerica which was a region in the Americas. The cacao tree is native in Mesoamerica and cacao was used extensively. The Mesoamericans first cultivated the cacao plants. They roasted and ground the beans into a paste which they mixed with water, vanilla, honey, chilli peppers and other spices to brew a frothy chocolate drink that was quite bitter. The Myan people and the Aztecs both believed the cacao bean had divine or magical properties and used it in sacred rituals. The cacao beans even became a form of currency in the Aztec Empire. Records from the Spani
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Hello, my name is Holly Micklem. I am doing my blog on the geography of chocolate.
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