cocoa trade

Reveals the hard economic realities of the cocoa trade, from the thousands of children who work on plantations to the smallholders who harvest the beans.

"Twelve-year-old Coco Hidden has grown up in her mother's chocolate shop in Colorado, along with her friend Leo de la Cueva, but recently things have not been going well; the shop is failing, and Leo is hanging out with the other boys, and barely wants to talk to her--but when they both win a culinary contest, the two children and their mothers find themselves on a trip to the Amazon in Ecuador, where Coco hopes to find the rare ceiba tree, and where the plight of the native people and their jungle gives her a new perspective and purpose in life"--Provided by publisher.

This history of the beloved food explains how cacao also has been a currency, a royal drink, a means of diplomacy, a slave-produced commodity, and a boon to farmers.

The author presents a comprehensive history of chocolate, and describes the process and uses of chocolate around the world in such places as France, Mexico, and the United States as well as the bitter rivalries with the chocolate trade.