More Chocolate.

This afternoon I watched a documentary entitled The Dark Side of Chocolate. After watching the video I instantly felt guilty for having gone out and bought a chocolate bar. The documentary showed how child trafficking occurs in Africa because of the cocoa industry. The farmers get paid so little for the cocoa from the big companies such as Nestle or Hershey's so the farmers have to use slavery to harvest and pick the cocoa beans. We learned in class that if a bar of chocolate would cost $2, the farmer only gets twenty cents of the two dollars. I personally think this is so unjust, and if the distribution of the money would change to benefit the farmer more then child slavery and trafficking might not happen so frequently. Unfortunately there are many unjust systems in our world, and I honestly do not know how to begin to make a change in them. I think prayer is the place to start; pray for the children involved in the trafficking as well as prayer for the adults who enable the trafficking.

After I watched the documentary (still feeling guilty for buying a chocolate bar and supporting the cocoa industry) I went to class where we had a taste testing of different types of chocolate that everyone contributed. We first watched a video on how it is key to place the chocolate on the roof of the mouth and then use the tongue to taste the chocolate. The chocolate crystalizes and melts on the tongue; the actual taste of the chocolate is strongly attributed to the smell it gives off.  I brought in my personal favorite chocolate bar which is Hershey's Milk Chocolate with Almonds. Yum, my mouth waters just thinking about it. We then were able to walk around and taste all different types of chocolate. My personal favorites in order from first to last are my very own Hershey's with almonds, Lindt Milk Chocolate, and Cadbury Chocolate with Caramel. Each of those chocolates was rich and creamy with a little something special about each one. I did enjoy the variety of chocolates that people brought; some of the chocolates I have never had before in my life. I do have to say though that I was sick of chocolate by the end of the class; I never knew that would be possible, but I tried almost 24 samples of candy within a short time. I think I am going to take a break on the chocolate for awhile!

Below are my top three chocolate choices from today!