Thursday, November 11, 2010

Say it ain't so!

I was poised to write an entry about the Carnival Cruise ship debacle, but couldn't ignore this: They are predicting that the world will be hit with a chocolate shortage.


Tell me you didn't recoil in horror when you read that.


World demand for chocolate is increasing while the supply is decreasing. Raising cacao, the bean that gets made into chocolate, is back-breaking work and the farmers just don't get paid very well for it. As a result, cacao plantations in Africa are being abandoned as farmers look for other ways to make a living. Analysts predict that by the year 2030, chocolate may become an unaffordable luxury according to the article I read on this topic.

Chocolate isn't essential to life. Not technically, anyway. Most people I know, however, think chocolate is essential to their happiness.

The good news for those of us who build up food storage is that you can store chocolate for two+ years. The secret is to vacuum seal chocolate chips, candy, etc. in a mason jar with the aid of a FoodSaver. I've never done it since I don't own a FoodSaver (yet), but I read a helpful tutorial about it on Granny Smith's blog.

Sounds like we should all be adding chocolate to our food storage. Buy it when it's on sale, seal it up, and don't forget to rotate! I think I have some peanut butter M&Ms I need to rotate into my stomach right now...

4 comments:

  1. This would be the end for me :)

    I remember calling home one day while I was in college and my mom said she needed a chocolate fix, so she was at the stove heating up butter, sugar and unsweetened chocolate powder to make a chocolate sauce to just eat.

    Obviously, its genetic :)

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  2. Would the butter fat in chocolate go rancid? Maybe sealing up coco instead.

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  3. I drive my tractor in pearls - LOL! That totally sounds like something I would do.

    K - Check this out: http://www.preparednesspro.com/blog/foodsaver-saves-the-day/

    Sounds like vacuum sealing really can extend shelf-life of even oily items like nuts and chocolate.

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  4. We took a portion of Halloween candy and rotated it into food storage this year ... thanks for the tips about how to preserve it! (Although I must confess that I'm giggling about the thought of any chocolate actually going rancid in our house ... we're *very* good at rotating!)

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