This program's full of tasty treats. It's all about chocolate. Luscious and lovely, it's a product that's starting to light up the fair trade lists. Sweet and satisfying, it's been hailed over the centuries as a sexual stimulant. But when it comes to chocolate desserts, there's little that's just. The country producing over forty per cent of the cocoa to make the world's chocolate is still relying on child slaves and forced labourers. Today's co-host - Troth Wells- is one of the authors of The BitterSweet World of Chocolate. As she shares with us some secrets of sweet and savoury treats, she serves up a taste of both the light and dark sides of the global chocolate trade.
• Bama Athreya and her colleagues from the International Labor Rights Forum have calculated the cost of wiping out slavery and forced labour in the supply of chocolate by paying producers properly. It's an extra .02 cents on the price of each chocolate bar. She tells us why cocoa and chocolate companies aren't prepared to pay.
• Nikki van der Gaag takes us through the many health benefits that history hands to out to chocolate consumption.
• The Grenada Chocolate Company is revolutionizing the supply chain from cocoa to chocolate block. Company founder Mott Green tells us about the dynamic impact that this will have on Grenada's economy.
Today's CD - Canta Bovea y Sus Vallenatos con Alberto Fernandez - celebrates that Colombian style of music called vallenato. It's sweet and saucy strains should provide an ideal accompaniment to any chocolate dish.
