Danielle Levy

Chocolate as we already know has become expensive, that is because cacao trees mainly from Ghana and Ivory Coast have not been producing as much, and that is due to climate change issues. So companies that depend on chocolate for their business are looking for alternatives, not alternatives to chocolate but alternative ways to produce it. And there are now many. They involve the fermentation and roasting of legumes, grain and seeds in various combinations. Favorites are rice and sunflower. Once fermented they may be roasted, then fats added, and maybe carob and what other products they deem will reproduce the texture, taste and even melting quality of chocolate. Some producers, such as Aldi are already using this new form of chocolate in their products. Caillebaut, the Swiss chocolatier is going another route, they are using chemistry to reproduce the enzymes of cacao cells, and are having success.

he new formulae for chocolate are being touted as better for the environment. Cacao trees require lots of water, for example, and also to be noted their use involve child labor. The new ways which are basically centered on plant products obviously do not. But here is the trade off, the new chocolate while making a difference to the environment does not have the health benefits of the real thing. Gone are the properties that help the immune system, that are rich in antioxidants, help with heart and brain function, provide essential minerals, help with gut health by promoting good bacteria and even help skin by protecting against sun damage.

So soon buying chocolate, which is so beloved by so many of us, will involve serious choices for our health, our concern for the environment, our tacit endorsement of substitutes for the real thing and no doubt for our pocketbook as well.

It’s so easy to place art on the back burner to think it is important but not as worthwhile as some other aspect of our society.  That it can be a boon to our well being and that of society is not something we associate with art, yet a new study and a new program show us art not only benefits us as individuals but also as a society.

The study comes from Kings College in the UK where they measured people’s reaction to seeing original art, including taking samples of saliva. What they found is that the emotional experience affects our hormones and that affects our immune system. Hence our wellbeing is enhanced.  It’s much less so when people are exposed to copies of original works of art, yet the point is the same going to a gallery or a museum benefits us physically and emotionally.

The program is one in Ireland which is instituting a basic income for artists. The program began as a result of the pandemic because many artists needed financial help. From that came a pilot program and now that the results are in the program will become permanent in 2026. Not only did giving a basic income to artists increase their income, it increased their income from practicing their art, thus decreasing the need for income from other sources and also decreasing their reliance on social services. What happened they discovered is that the economy benefited as well as the individual artist. The program includes not only visual artists, but musicians and other performers, composers, writers, movie makers and architects. The issues are not criticism of the program but who can be counted as an artist, as well as debate around how to select the artists to be chosen whether they should be selected based on need, merit or randomness.

For us the answer is plain, let’s expose ourselves to art!

*reposted from GGID page