Sustainable+Practices+-+Group+A

Theo Frorer Ms. McGann 6-1 Science April 16th to April 23rd 2010

**__//Theo's Chocolate Outline//__**

I. Main idea #1 Life on the farm A Planting: The cocoa tree is an extremely hard tree to grow. 1. What's needed: Cocoa trees need lots of shade and constant attention. Flies must pollinate the flowers on the trees before the fruit grows. Farmers can also pollinate it by hand, but even so, only 5% of the flowers actually get pollinated. Then, in 3-5 years, the cocoa should sprout. a. During growth stage: Cocoa trees need lots of attention, like water. It is hard for the trees to get water from the sky because they are usually shaded. After three-five years in growth stage the fruits finally blossom. Cocoa trees can also grow up to 50 feet tall, although it grows better and taller in the wild, when under the shade of 200 foot tall trees. (1) Enemies of the plant: The cocoa tree has two major enemies. There is the Witch's Broom and the Monilia Rod Pot. The Monilia Rod Pot is a fungal disease found on Costa Rica cocoa trees, and the Witch's Broom is a virulent disease that is found on the cocoa trees of Brazil.
 * [[image:http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:paKSaAAfCI8-SM:http://image46.webshots.com/47/1/7/7/343610707isyvyA_fs.jpg width="105" height="102" caption="Cocoa flower" link="http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://image46.webshots.com/47/1/7/7/343610707isyvyA_fs.jpg&imgrefurl=http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1343610707030551835isyvyA&usg=__Xi0Ar4BlIN-Gpqrxd31i0D5XA_A=&h=1150&w=998&sz=126&hl=en&start=4&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=paKSaAAfCI8-SM:&tbnh=150&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcocoa%2Bflowers%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26tbs%3Disch:1"]] ||
 * [[image:http://www.cocoatree.org/assets/images/pictures/witchesbroom.jpg width="125" height="70" caption="WitchesBroom"]] ||

(a). There are three types of cocoa throughout the world. Crillio, nicknamed the prince of cocoas because it is a very high quality grade of cocoa with flavor and aroma. Less than 15 percent of the world's cocoa is Criollo, grown mainly in Central America and the Caribbean. Then, there is Forastero a much more plentiful variety of high quality cocoa. Forastero is what most of the cocoa grown in the world. Grown mainly in Brazil and Africa, it is hardier, more productive and easier to cultivate than Criollo and is used in just about every blend of chocolate that is made. B Work: Sometimes a 15 year old could be a boss to a 6 year old! 1. The workers: The workers can be as young as 6. These children are usually working there for their family, or they have no family and are desperate for a job. a. The workers are usually kids who are paid a pound a day BETWEEN the other kids. Meaning if there were 10 kids, all 10 of those kids would have to share 1 measly pound a day between them! C Harvest 1. Harvesting a. Going to town: Families carry the harvest to a town, usually miles away, on their head, so they can sell it. This is not enough to get by. (1). Or..: If families are so poor, they usually eat the food they can get off their own plantation and rarely ever go to town. (a) The cacao is chock full of B1, B2, and D vitamins as well as magnesium and iron.
 * [[image:http://www.cocoatree.org/assets/images/pictures/monilia.jpg width="148" height="84" caption="Monilia Pod Rot"]] ||

II. Idea #2: Kidnapping Slaves A. Subcategory #1 People bribe children with promises to make them follow them, so they can sell them into slavery. Most of these promises are about getting them onto sports teams 1. Supporting detail: Police are always on the lookout for this. When children are found they are brought to shelters. a. Supporting sub-detail (1) sub-sub detail B. Subcategory #2 Enslaved 1. The enslaved are usually sent to work at a chocolate plantation usually in the Ivory Coast, but also in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, and many more less "chocolate popular" countries. a. If a slave ever gets out, they usually never see their family again and live their life in vain. Most slaves feel better being in the plantation where they can still get food. They're lucky if they're sent to shelters, which aren't much better.