Unit9-Part3-Reading

The future of chocolate.

To fully understand the world of chocolate,

you need to understand the difficulty of growing cacao.

For starters, the plant flourishes only in a specific zone.

Also, it's a slow growing tree easily affected by disease.

In addition, it isn't easy to harvest with mechanized systems.

Big companies are trying to deal with this problem with science

because they are interested in fast growing, easily maintained crops.

This raises the question, will our chocolate supply be subject to genetic modification?

Some people think that producing genetically modified chocolate is science fiction,

but it's not.

Scientists are currently playing with genetically modified cacao seeds.

They haven't created plants to give to farmers yet,

but they use modification to test genes out.

At the same time, hybrid cacao plants have already been grown.

Today, many farmers prefer to grow hybrid cacao trees

that produce chocolate of lower quality but are more resistant to disease.

Thus, the industry is divided between two groups of people,

those who focus on trade and money,

and those who care more about flavor and the environment.

Vanessa Barg is the owner of Genosis Chocolate,

which produces cacao that is organic, handmade, and free of gluten, soy, and dairy.

She says, if we insist on buying only higher quality chocolate,

corporations will have to meet our needs.

They have to live up to our expectations.

If it is low quality, don't buy it.

I personally can't put up with such chocolate.

The company will either go bankrupt or will be forced to change.

What is on the shelf is up to us.