The steep price paid for cheap chocolate (Well, not the Truffle Shop)…

Thousands of years ago, the Maya people of Central America believed that chocolate was the food of the gods. The Maya — who helped pioneer cultivation of the cocoa tree, along with the Toltec and Aztec peoples — even used cocoa beans as a form of currency.

Fast forward to today, and chocolate is considered less of a rarity and more of an anytime treat. “Somehow the ancients understood that chocolate was special,” says owner and CEO of Seattle Chocolate Company Jean Thompson in her TEDxBellevueWomen Talk. “Today, chocolate is the inexpensive darling of the candy aisle.” Read more from IDEAS.TED.COM