With Chocolate Comes Blood: Venezuelan Cacao
Photo by: Meridith Kohut (NY TIMES)
“Cacao, the raw ingredient for chocolate can be a violent political issue in Venezuela…Cacao is a labor-intensive crop. The process that harvesters used in the 18th century is still used today: each pod is sliced open with a machete and then the beans are scooped out by hand.”
The article addresses the number of difficulties that come with harvesting cacao. Cacao haciendas are located in the forest among villages of squatters. These cacao plantation owners have to deal with squatters around the surrounding forests that squat on their land and steal cacao pods. Another issue involves public/govt scrutiny: many people observe cacao harvesting as modern day slavery since it is so labor intensive and the workers get little pay.
Check out the article: NY Times Article
Also peep the the slide show below.
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