GreenYour.com

The decadent pleasure of savoring a mouth-watering piece of chocolate is as American as apple pie for many. US consumers eat their way through some 2.8 billion pounds of the confection per year, which breaks down to about 12 pounds annually for the average person.[1] Make that chocolate organic and, though it will lighten your wallet more than buying a run-of-the-mill candy bar, you can be assured that it was grown in an environmentally sound way.

Find it! Organic chocolate

Before you buy

With the growing consumer trend to make chocolate "green," the labeling on your chocolate bar can be baffling. Organic chocolate will display a "Certified Organic" label, meaning it has been grown under criteria established by The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Certified Organic chocolate may also be certified by official, third-party organic certification agencies, such as Organic Crop Improvement Association (OCIA International) and Quality Assurance International (QAI), which are required to use USDA standards at a minimum.

You may also find chocolate labeled as Fair Trade Certified or Rainforest Alliance Certified. These additional certifications commonly include environmentally sound farming practices, but the chocolate is not necessarily organic unless it bears official certification.

Like other food products certified as organic, the price tag for organic chocolate runs higher in comparison to its conventional counterparts. Typically, a 1.75-ounce organic chocolate bar costs $1 more than the non-organic variety, which may cost under a dollar. Russell Stover Candies recently introduced a new organic line that sells for around 30 percent more than their traditional chocolates.

Choosing organic chocolate helps you go green because...

• It is free of the toxic fertilizers and pesticides that damage both human health and ecosystems.
• It supports small-scale farmers in developing nations who often grow cacao trees in the rain forest, helping to preserve that vital habitat.

Cacao (chocolate is made from cocoa beans which come from cacao trees) that is farmed to maximize yields is grown in full sun, thereby requiring high quantities of fertilizers and pesticides to combat stress from heat and increased susceptibility to pests and disease. Cacao trees grown in this way have the dubious honor of coming in second to cotton in crops requiring the most pesticides. These chemical treatments can cause health problems for wildlife and humans. Lindane, for example, one of the most common pesticides used on cacao in West Africa, may cause cancer and interfere with hormone function.

Organic cacao is grown without pesticides and fertilizers, shielding farm workers, waterways, ground water, and wildlife from those chemicals. Arguably the sweetest thing about it, however, is that it is usually grown shaded by the rain forest canopy, helping to maintain biodiversity and preserve habitat. Case in point are the Kallari cacoa farmers in Ecuador, who grow cacao trees for cocoa in the rain forest, along with fruit trees, hardwood trees, edible plants, and medicinal plants.

Though organic chocolate sales totaled $70.8 million in 2006, it's still just a shaving of the $6 billion worth of chocolate sold in the US that year. But organic chocolate seems to be an up-and-coming star in the organic market, as sales increased by almost 50 percent in 2006.[1] The more that consumers buy organic chocolate, the more pronounced the demand for sustainable methods of farming will become. If you respond to the craving for the melt-in-your-mouth experience of chocolate by buying organic, you'll be helping support rain forest conservation efforts.

Related health concerns

It's not often that you find something that tastes like a little slice of heaven that also might help, not harm your health. Chocolate, with antioxidant flavonoids that come from its source, the cacao plant, is such a food—but like a double-edged sword, it may also damage your health if you partake of it in large amounts. The main potential benefits from eating a bit of dark chocolate (which trumps milk chocolate or chocolate syrup) are reduced risk of heart attack, a drop in blood pressure, a reduction in insulin resistance (a risk factor for diabetes), and improvement in arterial blood flow. Natural cocoa powder is even higher in antioxidants than dark chocolate and can be used in hot chocolate or baking. The main health risk is related to caloric intake: six or seven chocolate kisses contains about 150 calories.[2] Eaten in moderation, therefore, chocolate can increase health.

External links

• The Cocoa Tree - Growing Cocoa
• The Green Guide - Product Report: Chocolate
• Environment News Service - Conservation Through Chocolate
• TreeHugger - A Sweeter Truth: Making Organic Fair Trade Chocolate in Ecuador
• Consumer Reports, GreenerChoices - Eco-labels center: USDA Organic