Chocolate and Gender

Posted on December 5, 2015 by sloana28 in Permaculture and Chocolate.

Barb Stuckey, a food developer, writes, “One of the most seductive qualities of good chocolate is that it melts precisely at human body temperature, which provides a textural experience unlike any other food. This fact makes chocolate one of nature’s most perfect foods” (Stuckey 44) These thoughts come from a book written about the science of taste – not chocolate. Why do such powerful and sexual words feel routine when discussing chocolate? This blog post argues that of all the fetishized commodities, chocolate is most closely linked to gender. Chocolate’s historical and mythological origins have morphed into media-hyped sexism. Men consume by purchasing, women consume by “indulging.” This hype has manifested as insincere cravings which are then linked to disordered eating in women. Lastly, chocolate has become feminized and sexualized while men remain in control of the production and distribution of chocolate.

Chocolate in Advertising

If you’re old enough to have watched television in the US, you most likely don’t need visual evidence of the hyper-sexualized depiction of women with chocolate. If you’re not, here is a quick survey of contemporary depictions of the female/chocolate relationship in advertising:

chocolate sold to women as a sexual fantasy
as substitute (women holding bars to their mouths, lying in beds with their eyes closed eating chocolate)
sold to the people (through provocative advertisements) who want to seduce women as a flirtatious, necessary element in a woman’s life.

This isn’t unique to the 20th or 21st Century. Victorian ladies were dealing with suggestive ads as well, although: “the gift of chocolate operated within the bounds of accepted cultural rituals but privately represented elements of sexual drive. In other words, public eroticism displayed in packaging was permissible. within Victorian refinement provided that established male–female courtship protocols were adhered to.”(Grivetti 45) To experience the truth of this claim, I recommend a stroll through an aisle ready for Valentine’s day.

Craving Chocolate

It’s impossible not to wonder how the great deal of symbolism in chocolate influences consumption; even without the space to tackle the agency/structure debate. In Beyond Cravings: Gender and Class Desires in Chocolate Marketing, Jamil Fahim asserts that chocolate is the most craved food, pointing out that terms like “chocoholic” and “chocolate addiction” are in everyday use. Fahim argues that chocolate promises to transform the consumer (Fahim 15). “At first glance, chocolate advertising appears to cater to base appetites, but it simultaneously arouses appetites of a social nature by promising to satisfy viewers’ deep-seated desires for sexual fulfillment and higher class status.” (Fahim 2)

Willa Michener and Paul Rozin explored physiological versus sensory cravings in chocolate. They gave each self-rated chocolate craver a chocolate bar, the pharmacological equivalent in capsule form, a placebo, and a white chocolate bar. The participants cravings were only abated by the chocolate bar, and a few cravings were slightly reduced by the white chocolate. The capsules showed no effect. They concluded: “Data indicate no role for pharmacological effects in the satisfaction of chocolate craving.” (Michener 1994)

Chocolate and Disordered Eating

Bliss. Ecstacy.

Silky. Love.

Decadent. Sinful.

Words we generally save for intimate moments are often bandied about when describing chocolate. We simultaneously talk about the casual consumption and health benefits of chocolate while mentioning its extravagance. Sarah Gould writes “Chocolate is still a guilty pleasure for women, something they are supposed to crave but equally not supposed to give into without compensatory gym time.” in her piece on chocolate and gender. As early as 1698, chocolate was blamed for making the women of Paris “fat” (Grivetti 172). A study published in 2014 entitled “Chocolate craving and disordered eating. Beyond the gender divide?” linked disordered eating with chocolate cravings and postulated that chocolate cravings were significantly higher among women in North America than in other countries. Fahim writes that while we typically associate addiction with drugs and alcohol more studies are being conducted to prove that chocolate can elicit similar psychological responses (12).

Gendered Patterns of Consumption in Farming

Cocoa production is “deemed a ‘male-crop’” in Ghana and India, while women work behind the scenes as unpaid labor or low-wage casual labor, consistently taking the subordinate role in the growing of cacao. (Barrientos 2014)

Can Feminists Eat Chocolate?

Chocolate is hedonistic as well as part of the North American woman’s selfhood. The symbols woven in and out of chocolate make it necessary to approach this relationship with reflexivity. The over-fetishization of chocolate enables the people who produce it to benefit (way more so than the grower) and obscures the relationship between the consumer and the symbol. The disempowerment of chocolate may be necessary to dismantle the constructs of patriarchal and capitalistic domination.

Culture Studies

Posted on November 8, 2015 by Nikki in Permaculture and Chocolate.

Chocolate Truffle by: https://pixabay.com/en/dark-chocolate-truffle-dessert-953248/

Throughout history, chocolate has transformed from a treat made for kings into everyday candy most children have access to. In American culture, chocolate can be found everywhere from Halloween candy given out by the handfuls, to exotic handmade chocolate sculptures. There is a wide spectrum of cultures cocoa reaches. Many folks in the United States can relate to childhood chocolate as the classic Hersey’s bar they ate in smores around the campfire or as a sweet treat from a loved one. Years later, chocolate can be sensual, romantic food in adult culture. Chocolate products in developed countries now are using a huge variety of flavors and quality beans.

On the other side of the world, South America still uses chocolate in the ancient form of drinking chocolate. Gatherings typically showcase the spicy, frothy beverage reserved for special occasions. As one can assume, cacao beans go through much less processing and will cost a significant amount less to produce the end product in areas closer to the equator where cacao trees are native.

Modern cuisine has advanced chocolate to continue being used as delicacy for the rich and privileged. This tradition has carried on through the centuries and shows no signs of extinguishing in the future. From the Mayans to millionaires eating ganache that traveled thousands of miles, chocolate continues to demonstrate class standing around the world.

Drinking Chocolate: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Drinking_chocolate,_Portland.jpg

History of Chocolate

Posted on November 7, 2015 by Nikki in Permaculture and Chocolate.

A Late Classic (A.D. 600–800) vase depicts a Maya lord being presented with a bowl of frothing cacao, or chocolate.
http://historum.com/ancient-history/19200-power-chocolate.html

The latin name for cacao Theobroma, this literally means ‘food of the gods’. This gives a valued name to cacao in many South American cultures. The oldest forms of cocoa have been found in Olmeca history as a rich drink, chocolatl. It is said that this community discovered that edible qualities of cacao after seeing rats devouring the fresh fallen fruit. Later the Mayans and Aztecs used this product in sacred events such as marriage proposals and ceremonies. Cocoa production advanced throughout the following decades but remained as a drink for the privileged. In the 16^th century the Spanish court became big fans of cocoa. They started adding flavor enhancers such as sugar, vanilla and cinnamon.

In 1585, the first shipment of cacao beans arrived on the Iberian Peninsula and the grand establishment of chocolate was launched in the new world. During the 17^th century chocolate beverages began to appear in Europe French and English courts. The first chocolate-confection maker was found in Paris and around 60 years later the Italians became prize winners for their high quality products. In the years leading up to 1800, North America discovered the cocoa wonders and the first chocolate factories began opening around the world. The industrial revolution had the most dramatic effect on chocolate culture. It transformed the rare delicacy into a hot commodity, easily accessible to the public.

An ideal cacao production and distribution system created using a permacultural design lense:

Posted on October 25, 2015 by Ben in Permaculture and Chocolate, Uncategorized.

A cacao production and distribution system should make use of each layer of the forest, consist of vegetation that benefits both the forest ecosystem and the farm operators, take advantage of eco-friendly energy sources, be employee owned and operated, and the processing of cacao into chocolate and its byproducts should be done on site.

Careful consideration should be put into the planting and management of the food forest. For example, thought should be put into selection of the species cohabiting in the forest; each layer of the forest should be utilized to support the farm. A possible cacao production food forest may consist of Peach palm and Kamarare, which are both used to provide shade for growing the cocoa and to support black pepper vines (Wilkinson and Elvich 6-7).

The production village should also make use of eco-friendly energy technologies, such as using Methane biogas from a septic system to cook their food, as shown to be done at the Punta Mona Center on page 46 of Sustainable [R]evolution by Juliana Birnbaum & Louis Fox. This helps to reduce the overall carbon footprint for the production system, which in turn promotes a cleaner and more sustainable environment for continued agricultural use.

Cacao and Business

Posted on October 17, 2015 by Sally in Permaculture and Chocolate.

As a business, cacao functions much like other commodity materials. There is a vast distance between the people that produce the raw cacao, and the finished bars. In many cases, cacao farmers have never tasted chocolate, and beans which they sell by the pound will be retailed as finished products at much higher prices. Lately, there has been a rise in the establishment of small bean-to-bar operations who are attempting to close the gap between producer and product. Getting this sort of operation up and running is costly and requires much attention to detail, but it is being done. The Grenada Chocolate Company was founded with the intention of being a cooperative between cacao farmers and chocolate makers and runs from one location in Grenada. Similarly, Xocolatl Small Batch Chocolate was started with much assistance from its cacao farmers, and functions in close cooperation with them. The bean-to-bar business model seems fairly ready for the addition of permaculture design systems. Cacao grows ideally in jungle environments, with a layer of shade, and could be established within a food forest that produces many other materials. It could easily be integrated into a healthy permaculture system and refined on-site at an equipped farm.

Cacao and Soils

Posted on October 17, 2015 by Sally in Permaculture and Chocolate.

Cacao’s root systems spread through the surface of the soil, so the composition of topsoil is exceedingly important. Cacao requires high organic content in its soils, as well as ample drainage of standing water and a pH that is neither too alkaline nor too acidic. Coarse grain soil is also desirable, at least at the surface level. It is also a shade growing tree, and is particular in its growing regions (10 degrees to either side of the equator). A location with healthy soils and geology will produce healthy cacao trees, which will in turn produce quality pods. This highlights the permaculture principle of earth care. Soils that regularly receive new organic matter, and that grow other plants which regulate chemical and mineral levels, will be able to grow healthier and more productive cacao trees. Nutrient-depleted soils, or areas with poor drainage (or too much drainage) would be less likely to produce healthy trees. Cacao does not do well as a monoculture, and can quickly deplete a location of soil nutrients. Agroforesting would be extremely geologically practical in relation to cacao, and would provide a soil base that continually replenishes itself.

Cacao and Agriculture

Posted on October 15, 2015 by Lily H. in Permaculture and Chocolate.

Photo by Enggar Paramita/ICRAF: Cacao agroforestry system in demonstration farm at Cacao Research Sub Station, Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi

Cacao is not typically grown on large plantations due to high risk of disease and pests. However, large companies like United Cacao have caused damage not only to cacao production, but to entire tropical forests where they are grown through clear cutting and industrial monoculture. Clear cutting and monoculture removes sources of nutrients and shade normally provided by other tree species that cacao needs to produce quality pods. Agroforestry is a much more sustainable solution for cacao production while still yielding a profit for growers. Izabal Agro Forest has been planting and harvesting cacao and tropical hardwood trees for nearly three decades in Guatemala, a region that has a long, deep history of agricultural management. Trees such as mahogany are nitrogen fixers and provide shade to cacao growing in the under-story. IAF practice selective thinning, not clear cutting; and the diverse planting allows harvest of hardwoods in case of low cacao production so that a profit can still be made. (Bronson) Other communities, such as the Maya Mountain Research Farm in Belize, also put an emphasis on education for growers, to combat the mis-education from government-run agricultural schools subsidized by seed and chemical companies. MMRF teaches growers that tree and farm crops can work together, not in opposition like monoculture. (Birnbaum; Fox) Agroforestry and other sustainable practices are promising examples of how cacao agriculture can continue and thrive in the future.