Chocolate Is Healthy

This interesting event has been held by Global Exchange, putting grassroots pressure on international companies that purchase cocoa.  They distribute information on fair trade chocolate to parents and school groups across the United States and Canada.  In addition, participants go “reverse trick or treating” on Halloween where instead of accepting candy, trick or treaters distribute fair trade chocolate to each home.

Why fair trade chocolate?  Many people aren’t aware that despite international agreements, around 2 million children work on cocoa plantations, some in slavelike conditions with no pay.   Better labor practices and sustainable agriculture are emphasized in the fair trade movement.  It takes strict adherence to policies for chocolate to be certified as fair trade.

Global Exchange hopes to draw attention to the human rights issues in chocolate production by sharing delicious samples of fair trade chocolate with consumers.  By raising awareness of fair trade chocolate, they encourage corporations to closely examine their business practices.

“Reverse Trick-or-Treaters” Deliver Fair Trade Chocolate | Worldwatch Institute.

Even larger chocolate makers are embracing the “bean-to-bar” philosophy.  In the same way that winemakers consider the “terroir” of their grapes, chocolatiers scour the world to find the right cacao to create their own balance of flavors.   Like grapes, cacao flavors differ
based on where it is grown.  Cacao grown in Venezuela tastes differently than that grown in Bali.    The unique chocolate flavors and nuances being created mean continued fascination with cacao from around the world.

“Many of these chocolatiers follow a bean-to-bar philosophy that includes working with cacao farmers and roasting and blending their own “origin” lines, made from cacao grown in a single, specific tropical valley in Venezuela, Madagascar or one of the other equatorial regions in which cacao thrives…”

“Real chocolate, he says, is redolent of not just terroir, but the very air in which the beans are fermented. Klassen calls it endemic microbiology 101 — each valley has its own airborne wild yeasts and active bacteria that launch the fermentation process. The resulting confection, he says, is meant to be savored like wine, not gobbled in a blaze of sugary glory.”

Artisanal chocolate is about more than candy – San Jose Mercury News.

CBS News provides highlights from the annual New York Chocolate Show, a fascinating chocolate experience whether you are in “the business” or not.  While many of the show’s chocolate offerings are for eating, chocolate or cocoa butter is becoming a more popular ingredient in skin care products.

Here’s what one chocolate business owner has to say about the health benefits of chocolate skin care products.

“Vanessa “Chocolate Girl” Bard, the founder of Gnosis Chocolate Body Care, told Lee that between 60 to 80 percent of what you put on your skin goes into your bloodstream.

“What’s better than putting chocolate on your skin as a way of nourishing yourself?” Bard said. “(Because) chocolate, we all know, (is) extremely high in antioxidants, and minerals, and vitamins, so it turns out you can nourish yourself with chocolate soap.”

Chocolate Show Delights – The Early Show – CBS News.

Little did we know that such a great, interesting debate was taking place on the subject of chocolate milk until we came across the site of Chef Ann Cooper, Renegade Lunch Lady.

According to many, including the National Dairy Council, white milk is healthy.  But chocolate milk?   The organization seems to think so.  However, the chocolate “flavoring” in chocolate milk amounts to a considerable amount of added sugar, and certainly none of the health benefits we’ve come to learn about from chocolate.   Chef Ann Cooper in Boulder, Colorado managed to get chocolate milk banned from schools.  Since the sugar in chocolate milk can lead to unhealthy weight gain in children, as well as obesity and diabetes, this seems to make a lot of sense.  Yet this is an unpopular sentiment, at least among some celebrities and the National Dairy Council who suggest chocolate milk is just as healthy as white milk.

Here’s the pro-chocolate milk stance:

“Chocolate milk lovers worldwide dismiss the anti-chocolate milk sentiment as something between an annoyance and an assault on baseball and apple pie. “Kids drink it,” they keep saying, “kids like it.” The subtext: otherwise they’d drink something like Sunny Delight, or soda, with 20 to 25 teaspoons of sugar per eight-ounce serving (and, typically consumed in 12-ounce portions). And the nutrients in milk, including calcium, Vitamin A and potassium, are among those which are often deficient among children.”

Chef Ann Cooper : Renegade Lunch Lady » Great Blog on Chocolate Milk!.

Glamour provides the Dos and Don’ts of how to eat chocolate, and how to maximize its health benefits.

One of the first rules of eating healthy chocolate is to look for dark chocolate that is 70% cacao.  However, the article raises a great point about dark chocolate and how it can be an acquired taste, particularly for people accustomed to very sweet milk chocolate.  Doctors make the following recommendation:

“Shara Aaron, M.S., R.D, and Monica Bearden, R.D., the coauthors of Chocolate—A Healthy Passion, have a helpful tip: “You can develop a palate for the dark stuff by gradually increasing the percentage of cocoa in your chocolates and can even find some milk chocolates with 50 percent cocoa or more.”

The Dos and Don’ts of Chocolate: Health & Fitness: glamour.com.