That noted politician - ecologist, Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) has decided that the destruction of international markets is more important or perhaps it was because the funds went to England, and Europeans eat more chocolate than Americans anyway. Jeff is no
William Proxmire nor does he have a sense of how a global economy operates in terms of fair trade and sustainability. So yes, when my chocolate bars begin to cost even more, I know some idiot politician from Arizona (not the one with great news) may be responsible, but even more,
when kids hide in roller bags to get out of Cote d'lvoire, Jeff Flake will be someone memorable.
Sen. Jeff Flake slammed the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Friday for a program aimed at ensuring the survival of a food much loved by Americans: chocolate.
The Arizona Republican highlighted the department's $135,615 grant last year to the University of Reading's International Cocoa Quarantine Centre to help develop a quarantine system for cocoa plants.
After cocoa plants spend two years under quarantine, parts of the plant are shipped to cocoa-producing countries, where they can be bred with local cocoa plants to try to build a higher-resistance crop, according to the university.
The Arizona Republican used the grant as part of his "Pork Chops" series, a "weekly roasting of egregious federal spending."
Much of the world's cocoa comes from West Africa, which provides 70% of total output. The two main suppliers are the Cote d'lvoire and Ghana. In these countries the cocoa beans are typically grown on small family farms. Most of these are only two to three hectares in size. Each farm produces around one tonne of beans each year.
The ICCO's attention to cocoa production is the mirror image of its work on cocoa consumption. Issues such as the environment, as well as economic and social sustainability play prominent roles in cocoa production. Cocoa is predominantly a smallholder crop, as more than 90% of world cocoa production originates from small farms. In Africa and Asia, a typical smallholder cocoa farm covers only 2 to 5 hectares of land.