BARS THAT GIVE SOMETHING BACK
their local environment for future generations.
The more benevolent attitude towards chimpanzees is symptomatic of a wider concern for all the flora and fauna of the rainforest. The farmers know better than anyone that they live in a complex and interdependent ecosystem. But until recently it has not been easy to square care for that system with the cultivation of crops that bring a decent financial return.
Now, though, Brima and Yambasu and their farming colleagues know that if they grow their cacao in ways that will secure them Fairtrade and Organic certification, they will get premium prices for their crops.
“The more quality we have, the more money we have,” as Brima puts it. “Money for community needs.”
At the UK end of the food chain, which the two Sierra Leonean farmers were visiting to experience, it is gradually becoming easier to eat chocolate with a clear conscience. As consumers have become queasily aware that their favourite sweet indulgence has for years been provided at terrible cost to farmers and the environment, particularly rainforests, so large-scale producers have been starting to take steps to address the issues.
Bars of Dairy Milk now wear “Cocoa Life” logos, and some of the bars heaviest in cheap fat and sugar are now appearing in “Dark Milk” forms that promote the quality and importance of their cocoa content. Brands that make great play of their ethical standards, such as the Dutchbased Tony’s Chocolonely, are starting to appear more often on our supermarket shelves.
But chocolate companies that have long been drawing attention to these issues – while making very good chocolate – are pushing on further, and taking action where their investments of time and money can be most effective: where the cacao beans are grown.
Hence Divine and Twin’s work with the farmers from Sierra Leone, who grow cacao on the fringes of the Gola rainforest, a 270 sq mile area that is some of the most ancient terrain of its kind still in existence.
The land that Brima and Yambasu and their colleagues farm is home not only to their families but to more than 300 species of birds and a wonderful
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Market leaders in ethical and tasty chocolate bars. The biggest share of the company is owned by African cacao farmers, among whom women have a powerful voice.
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Committed to making chocolate 100 per cent slavery free, these chunky Dutch bars in colourful wrappers are in hundreds of UK stores.
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Much-prized, made “tree-to-bar” in Madagascar, an unusual instance of manufacture close to where the crop is grown.
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Small-batch, multiple awardwinning, vegan bars made in Dorset with directly traded cocoa so that Iris and Bob, the makers, know they are buying beans grown by good people in the right way.
At the UK end of the food chain, it is gradually becoming easier to eat chocolate with a clear conscience