Benefits to studying cacao

I wouldn't say that I've ever been a HUGE chocolate lover. I mean, I like it a lot, that's for sure. And I know a lot about how chocolate is made now, especially at the production level of the chain (aka growing cacao). But when it comes to tasting beans and cocoa liquor (100% cocoa ground down from nibs), I usually just throw out words like "nutty", "floral", "citrus-y" and "slightly acidic". I didn't choose to write my thesis about cacao because I love chocolate SO MUCH, but rather because I'm interested in agriculture, Ecuador, sustainable development, trade relations, and evaluating the claims that fair trade can really bring farmers out of poverty. It turns out that cocoa is an agricultural product that is produced under fairly sustainable conditions (especially with the heirloom, Nacional variety in Ecuador) that lends itself fairly easily to fair trade certification, which is why I eventually decided to continue studying cocoa in Ecuador. Much like with my independent research project in Chile about ice cream vendors, I didn't choose to study ice cream or chocolate, but rather I chose to study informal economies and social marginalization, as well as fair trade's effects on economic, social, and environmental conditions in cocoa communities.

Still, although I honestly didn't pick these topics for the benefits, there have been a few. In Chile, I often conducted my interviews with ice cream sellers after buying an ice cream from them (and while eating that ice cream- hey, it was going to melt otherwise!), and at union meetings, several vendors would offer me free ice cream while we waited for the meetings to start. Studying cacao, I've had a good excuse to buy new chocolate bars that are sourced in Ecuador, and to attend chocolate fairs held in Quito. Even better, when I visit farmers or chocolatiers who make artisinal chocolate, they often offer to share it with me. I've learned to identify (a few) flavors, and I can comment on fancy-sounding processes like "conching". At Cofina (where the pictures in the previous post are from), the nice guys there sent me off with three big bars of chocolate that had been made on site from cacao that came from the north- near Esmeraldas- that they had ground into chocolate (100% cacao- that means no sugar). So as I write this, I'm enjoying a fresh cup of hot chocolate made with melted chocolate from one of my Cofina bars, milk, and a bit of panela- unrefined sugar.

I might not have been looking for these perks when I picked cocoa as a thesis topic, but I'm definitely not complaining!