Chocolate is one of the world’s most popular food types. It is enjoyed by people from all around the globe. Unfortunately, manufacturers have not historically produced it sustainably. Now, more and more companies are prioritizing sustainable farming practices. Sustainability ensures that farmers are compensated handsomely, and that the environment is not hurt. This post will explore this topic in more detail, helping you to get a better understanding of the role that chocolate manufacturers and distributors play in helping cut back on environmental pollution, ensuring farmers are paid fairly, and keeping us all satisfied and our bellies full.
Delicious Options
As mentioned in the introduction to this post, chocolate is one of the most popular types of food in the world. You could even argue it’s the most popular since almost everybody eats it. The thing about chocolate is that lower-quality variants tend not to taste good. There are many different types of chocolate, as you can see if you click here, but the main thing you need to ensure is that you buy the highest quality chocolate you can. The higher your chocolate’s quality, the better it is going to taste. Also worth noting is that high-quality chocolate is typically a lot purer, too. It is the impure chocolates that are mixed with lots of additives that taste the worst. The purer chocolate is, the more involvement farmers have, and the more they are paid. Chocolate farmers have historically been underpaid, but not anymore.
Supporting Farmers
In the past, cacao farmers were massively underpaid. Many were even employed as slaves and forced to farm the plant. Cacao is the plant from which chocolate comes. Slave labor will be mentioned in more detail later on in this post, but one thing to know is that by supporting sustainable brands, you help keep farmers’ families fed and content. Chocolate farmers are now paid living wages, meaning they can support themselves from their crops. Mass industrial farming is no longer a concern, either. Farms are run a lot more sustainably. Rather than there being thousands of acres of land staffed by slaves, small farms are used to supply the world with chocolate. While unsustainable practices do still exist in parts of the world, shopping with brands committed to sustainability and fairness means you don’t have to worry about supporting slavery or industrial farming.
Organic Farming
Chemical fertilizers are employed in the cultivation of many different crops. However, these fertilizers pollute the environment. Their use is very bad for the planet. Organic farming is therefore something that is essential in the modern world. Previously, chemical fertilizers were commonplace in cacao farming. Nowadays, however, the industry is shifting toward organic farming. Organic farming is a lot harder on farmers, but it means they get paid more. It also means that chocolate costs more. Because of this, companies are investing more time and effort into ensuring the organic chocolates they sell taste good. It’s a lot easier to charge a markup on products when they taste better. There are lots of different flavours available now, ranging from the simple to the complex. Along with tasting better, these chocolates are not bad for the planet or human health. If you want to protect yourself from harmful fertilizers and reduce pollution, consider organic chocolate.
Slave Labour
As mentioned above, slavery was at one point very common in chocolate farming. Companies were employing tens of thousands of slave laborers, paying them barely anything to work all day in blistering heat. Companies have been punished for this, though. Now, it’s very uncommon for slavery to occur in the chocolate industry. With that said, in all likelihood, it probably does still happen. As long as you shop with producers committed to sustainability though, you don’t have to worry about supporting slave labor. You can find out what a company’s attitude toward sustainability is like by visiting its website and reading its mission statement. A company’s mission statement can usually be found on its ‘About us’ page. Make sure you check your chosen producer’s site for any information relative to their sustainability promise. If you cannot find any, the chances are they do not adopt sustainable practices. This is because companies that do often advertise this. Selling sustainably farmed chocolate is a great selling point, so it’s something all suppliers that adopt these practices do.
Chocolate manufacturers have, in the past, employed unethical farming methods to supply global chocolate demand. This has changed, however. Now, sustainability is key. Sustainability is a trend that isn’t going anywhere either, so it’s unlikely slave labor is going to be employed by major producers ever again. The environment is also being saved through organic farming, so support sustainable brands.
