What is cocoa?
Economics, Health, Home Economics
Begin by asking students about the products they associate with “cocoa.” Teachers may also ask about the events students associate with “cocoa.” Teachers may write on the board terms and events so students can categorize the kinds of products (beverage, sweet, health) and events (daily experience, cold weather only, special days).
Give students “A closer look at this confectionery” to read and discuss. Chocolate is differentiated by percentage of cocoa and its possible health benefit. If sugar were not added to it, would chocolate be as popular? “Chocolate’s Reputation and Reality” begins with five questions based on this summary.
“Is chocolate healthy? My bitter answer.” is more extensive examination of the potential health of eating chocolate and flavanols that are referred to in the shorter piece. Questions 6 and 7 in “Chocolate’s Reputation and Reality” may be asked before reading the article. In what ways do students change their responses after reading the article?
Map It
Geography, Social Studies
Cocoa is grown in areas other than Western Africa. Originating in South and Central America, cocoa beans are now grown in tropical regions around the world. Ask students to locate 15 degrees to the north and south of the equator. What countries are located here? What conditions exist to make this an ideal area to grow cocoa?
Find Indonesia, Nigeria, Cameroon and Brazil. They are among the top ten countries that grow cocoa. Locate Colombia, Ghana and Ivory Coast, the top supplier of the world’s cocoa beans. These latter countries will be the focus of the articles in this guide.
Give students “Map It: Cocoa in West Africa.” Locate the African countries that are leaders in the world’s cocoa bean production.
At the end of this exercise, students should be able to locate cocoa-growing countries on a map or globe. They will have an understanding of the temperature and climate needed to successfully grow the plants.
Want to Boycott Cocoa?
Business, Home Economics, Personal Finance
What if the home baker decides not to use chocolate when baking? Ask students to name alternative ingredients. Give students the FOOD section article to read, “The best butterscotch, mint and peanut butter baking chips for when you need a chocolate alternative.” Note that there are links to recipes in this article.
The article is an example of a review — in this case, a comparison of ingredients.
Being aware of any students with food allergies, teachers might have two to four packages of different chocolate chips, of the alternatives to chocolate chips or cookies from different companies. Ask students to rate the items: flavor, texture, color, after taste.
Source Your Meals
Business, Ethics, Geography, Government, Health, Home Economics, Social Studies
One step toward food source awareness is growing a plant from seeds. Another would be to guess what fruit or vegetable grew on the plants, pods, trees and vines that are pictured.
An awareness of labels on items found in the grocery store is another source of the origins of the foods students eat. For the latter, teachers might ask students to picture or bring labels on food items to class. These labels may indicate the country of origin, the state or ranch on which bred or grown. What other information is provided by the store or label? Why would we want to know where our foods came from?
You may also select a food item provided in your school lunch program. Where are the ingredients purchased? Any provided by the USDA Food program?
“From Plate to Soil: Who, What, Where, When, Why and How of Your Meals” activity provides steps to take to investigate the source of an item from students’ meals. Students may work in pairs to see how far they can determine the source of a food item. Are locally grown or farmers market purchases easier to follow? Someone in your school community who is a food and nutrition expert or familiar with the USDA Food program would be an interesting guest speaker.
This activity may be used with “Cocoa’s child laborers” as well.
