Climate & Chocolate

An article from the NOAA about how chocolate production around the world will be affected negatively by a warming climate. Some of the concerns and also some strategies for how those concerns may be mitigated.

“Carob is a brown powder made from the pulverized fruit of a Mediterranean evergreen. Some consider carob an adequate substitute for chocolate…because it can, when combined with vegetable fat and sugar, be made to approximate the color and consistency of chocolate. Of course, the same arguments can as persuasively be made in favor of dirt.”
—Sandra Boynton
CHOCOLATE: The Consuming Passion

“For chocolate lovers, there is simply no substitute, and if cocoa beans could be cultivated anywhere, cocoa (Theobroma cacao) trees might outnumber apple trees in American yards. They would certainly outnumber any plants that produced vegetables.

Unfortunately, cacao trees don’t thrive in the temperate climate of the continental United States. Chocolate grows best in the places where it would quickly melt in your hands. Over the next several decades, those places may grow warmer, drier, and less suitable to cacao cultivation. But with planning and adaptation, cacao farmers can keep producing our favorite treat.”

Follow the link to the full story here… NOAA – Climate and Chocolate