What about the Chocolate?

As time touring CRS programs across Ghana wrapped up, our delegation got noticeably excited about meeting the cocoa farmers of Kuapa Kokoo. Although everyone was enthusiastic about all they had seen and learned in the upper west, upper east, and northern regions of Ghana, as we turned toward the Ashanti region, one person summed it up with, “This is what we’ve been waiting for!”

Our drivers–Ringo, Rashid, and William—navigated a series of both paved and unpaved roads to get us to Kuapa’s administrative offices in the city of Kumasi. After some get-to-know you time with staff, we headed to the community of Comfort Kumeah, a Kuapa farmer and kindergarten teacher. I had met Comfort last summer in Ghana when she was a candidate for the National Secretary position of Kuapa’s Farmers Union. She won that election, and as a respected leader within the organization Comfort was tapped to come to the United States for the Valentine’s Day launch of Divine Chocolate’s U.S. company. While touring, Comfort was nice enough to meet personally with scholarship recipients of the CRS Fair Trade Fund and other folks committed to the CRS Fair Trade chocolate program.

It was nice to see Comfort in familiar tropical surroundings, meaning that she was warm and comfortable. Most of her February visit to the U.S. East coast was accompanied by snow and freezing temperatures! She prepared our delegation a delicious traditional lunch and then took us to meet with Nana Opiah Mensah the Second, a subchief in the Ashanti region, who would give us permission to visit a local farm. Although startled by the fact that we were not able to meet with the chief in his usual reception area because women are not allowed to sit on the ceremonial goat skin chairs, our delegation of eight women and two men gathered with the chief and his interpreter at nearby gathering place for official greetings from the United States and the granting of permission to be farm visitors.

We then met with a gathering of farmers, who also received greetings from our group, including rousing exchanges of “PA PA PAA!” This twi phrase means “Best of the Best” and is Kuapa’s motto. Thanks to a hint from colleague Michelle Born, who had met with Kuapa the previous year during a CRS diocese to diocese partnership visit, we had brought Divine chocolate to share with the community. Cocoa farmers rarely if ever get to sample the chocolate made from the cocoa they produce!

From the farmers meeting we headed to the farm. In the coming weeks we’ll post video clippings from our time there, but for now you can get a taste of what we learned about the cocoa growing, harvesting and fermenting process by taking a virtual tour of a cocoa farm.

This will be my last dispatch from the trip, but please subscribe to this blog and sign up for the CRS Fair Trader newsletter to stay up to date with the latest about CRS Fair Trade. We will be especially excited to share all the great things the returning Raise Money Right delegation (see that handsome group below) does to help make the world sweeter through our chocolate program.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 8th, 2007 and is filed under 100% Fair Trade, Chocolate, Fair Trade . You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “What about the Chocolate?”

Pamela Vail Says:
August 12th, 2007 at 10:01 pm
In the Northwest we are privileged to enjoy our fair trade chocolate made right here in Washington State - Theo Chocolate is the only 100% fair trade and organic “bean to bar” chocolate factory in the US. Theo spreads the fair trade message with their delicious chocolate - try single origin bars or chocolate confections - tour the factory in Seattle, sample chocolate to your heart’s content (there really is a difference in taste between chocolate from Ghana and chocolate from Madagascar - who knew?) and eat happily because you are supporting fair trade and the environment too. I’ve included the website in case a trip to Seattle is in your travel plans!
Ashley Zerangue Says:
August 19th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
Great blog! It was so great to be able to have lunch with all of you in Cape Coast! If you are ever in Seattle let me know because I would love to chat some more.
Susan Says:
September 12th, 2007 at 3:09 pm
When the people of Seattle are trying to earn a fair living in the face of devastating poverty after decades of famine, drought, civil war, imperialism, illness and injustice, you can use this blog to promote their chocolate. But since the vast majority of them spend their days living in some of the highest-priced real estate in the country and guzzling Starbucks like water, you should be ashamed of yourself trying to take business away from these people. See if you can grow a conscience, organic or otherwise.
Jackie Says:
September 16th, 2007 at 7:42 am
Susan, I have to say it took me a few days to approve your post. When I saw that it was insult against what you call the “vast majority” of a nameless “them” I thought, “I am not going to encourage that kind of overgeneralization on our blog!” especially because the CRS Fair Trade program has lots of friends in the Seattle area who we know personally to be solid people doing their best for economic justice in a variety of ways, large and small. I don’t know who you are, where you work or who you hang out with, but I commend the Fair Trade community (check out Fair Trade Puget Sound for example or the Diocese of Seattle) to you for examples of the positive impact citizens of your region are having.

Plus, after a few days I decided to take a chance on the side of free speech. Fair Trade is about transparency, no?

What about the Chocolate?

4 Responses to “What about the Chocolate?”

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