Wild for chocolate? Environmentalists split Crop grows best in rain forest, which can be good or bad
Copyright 2000, USA TODAY
October 30, 2000
By Traci Watson
Forget about lollipops, and don't even think of buying peppermints. As Halloween draws near, many discerning trick-or-treaters agree there's only one sweet worth getting: chocolate.
On the brink of one of chocolate's biggest nights of the year, environmentalists are asking to spare a thought for where this treat comes from -- the world's tropical forests, where the main ingredient in chocolate is grown. And a few activists say that what's good for your sweet tooth can, in some cases, also be good for the rain forest.
"There are two crops that can be grown in harmony with the rain forest: coffee and chocolate," says Chris Wille, a wildlife biologist with the Rainforest Alliance. Chocolate "is an ideal crop."
Not all chocolate consumption helps tropical creatures and their vanishing habitat. But a new wave of chocolate products that are relatively environmentally friendly has hit stores. In a few weeks, farmers should be offering to U.S. buyers the first chocolate certified as rain forest-friendly.
Whether it's the waxy, drugstore stuff or a boxful of decadent bonbons, the origin of all chocolate is the stumpy cacao tree. Three to five years after planting, it produces pods filled with 20 to 40 cocoa beans, which are processed to yield cocoa powder and chocolate.
The wild cacao tree evolved deep in the rain forest, and domesticated cacao also prefers to grow in the dimness of a dense jungle. That's where the Maya, who enjoyed many types of chocolate drinks, raised it centuries ago.
And that's where it's still raised by a smattering of small growers. On some farms in places such as Ecuador, villagers tend cacao trees growing under a canopy of native trees and trees planted for fruit, lumber and other purposes.
Research shows that at these so-called rustic cocoa farms, especially those near wild forests, birds and other species thrive alongside the young chocolate. On a farm in the Mexican state of Chiapas, for example, scientists from the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center found 140 species of birds, compared with 161 in wild forest.
Environmentalists say farms growing rustic cocoa are far better for biodiversity than banana plantations or pastures for beef cattle. That makes rustic cocoa an ideal crop for buffer zones around forests or wildlife corridors between patches of forest, says John Buchanan of Conservation International.
What rain forest advocates don't want is more forest chopped down to feed the world's candy-bar habit, but exactly that is taking place in countries such as Indonesia, Ecuador, Brazil and Venezuela. Growing demand is part of the reason, conservationists say.
Also, few farms still raise cocoa in the rustic style. Instead, many farmers grow cocoa shaded by only one kind of tree, a practice far less hospitable to wildlife. Or they grow cocoa with no shade at all, which yields bigger harvests but weaker trees and little shelter for wildlife.
Statistics about the use of each method are rare. But researcher Francois Ruf, of the Ivory Coast office of the French agricultural research institute Cirad, estimates that two-thirds or more of Ivory Coast cocoa is grown without shade. The country, which is in West Africa, grows roughly 40% of the world supply.
Manufacturers say most of their cocoa is shade-grown and essentially organic -- grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers -- but simply isn't labeled as such.
Many rain forest advocates point chocolate aficionados to organic cocoa products, which are strictly monitored to ensure that they meet standards for pesticide and fertilizer use.
Five years ago, organic cocoa products were pretty much non-existent, says Joe Whinney, president of Organic Commodity Products, the biggest U.S. distributor of organic cocoa. Now specialty markets sell organic chocolate bars, ice cream laced with organic chocolate and organic chocolate milk.
Within a few weeks, cocoa certified as rain forest-friendly should be for sale to U.S. manufacturers. Developed with aid from the Rainforest Alliance, it was grown by farmers in Ecuador who have pledged not to cut down mature forest to grow cocoa.
Some environmentalists are hesitant to urge the public to eat even organic chocolate. They point out that organic cocoa can be grown using methods that are less than ideal for wildlife.
But others unabashedly say that eating organic chocolate can help the rain forest. "Eat more (organic) chocolate, absolutely," laughs ecologist Jeffrey Parrish of the Nature Conservancy, which works with rustic cocoa farmers in Costa Rica. "It may not take the calories away, but you'll definitely feel better about it in the end."