You are enjoying mildly interesting conversation at a social
gathering and someone throws out the term cacao. “Hold that
thought,” You say, “Did somebody say CACAO?!” Theobroma cacao!
This is the Greek name for the plant where chocolate comes from
and translates Food of the Gods. With Valentine’s Day just
around the corner, chocolate is more ubiquitous than ever! In
fact, we can say that chocolate can be purchased in practically
any grocery store, gift shop, and even online. This divine and
delicious pleasure is everywhere! Yet this cash crop grows in
some of the most underdeveloped areas of the world, namely in
West Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. The incredible
cocoa or cacao plant is cauliferous, meaning it has two main
harvest seasons, and requires human labor all steps of the
process, from collecting the pods by hand using machetes, to
scooping out the seeds or mucilage, to begin fermentation, to
laying out the seeds to dry in order to transform into beans.
Later they are hauled off to market.