Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Chocolate elitism

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  • Joe Wylie,

    Great Cadbury/Bourneville recollections webweaver, thanks!

    About the palm oil - it's a real irony that Cadbury have succumbed, as they were supposedly the first to produce a an additive-free chocolate bar back in the 1860s with the slogan “Absolutely Pure: Therefore Best.”

    The quaker connection is interesting. The original John Cadbury, along with Joseph Fry and George Rowntree, were all 'friends', i.e. quakers, and were supposedly drawn to the ethical aspects of chocolate back when it was simply a drink, as an alternative to alcohol. Cadbury, Fry and Rowntree were all notable for the practical aid they provided to Ireland at the time of the potato famine.

    While Cadbury and Fry were a single operation for much of the 20th century any quaker influence, with its ethical considerations, was lost with the takeover by Schweppes in the late 1960s.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report

  • Sacha,

    all us girls in the village would spend months practising maypole dances

    Aspects of Te Gathering suddenly make more sense. :)

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Ben Austin,

    On a related note I've discovered I really do not like Cadbury's produced for the British market - the difference in flavour is rather substantial. Oddly enough the same factory in Birmingham produces for the Irish (ROI) market and the latter variant tastes ok, to me.

    Having witnessed the activities of Palm Oil shills here and in other places I think I will boycott on that basis alone

    London • Since Nov 2006 • 1027 posts Report

  • st ephen,

    ...the guy from Cadbury's was claiming their Palm Oil is "sustainably sourced". Is that possible ?

    Well, it's about as sustainable as the glass-and-a-half of full cream milk. Production of both has involved the mass clearance of rainforest (with resultant extinctions), additions of artificial fertilisers (mined or petrochemicals), further degradation of the environment etc.

    I'm afraid if you're eating any kind of chocolate more than at Christmas and on your birthday, then you're the problem, not the solution. Teh Evil Multinationals are just meeting the demand of rampant over-consumers for luxury goods at below their true (triple bottom line) cost. But hey. Those orang-utans have been on borrowed time since their distance rellies stood up to admire the view in the Rift Valley...

    dunedin • Since Jul 2008 • 254 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    Well, it's about as sustainable as the glass-and-a-half of full cream milk. Production of both has involved the mass clearance of rainforest (with resultant extinctions), additions of artificial fertilisers (mined or petrochemicals), further degradation of the environment etc.

    I'm afraid if you're eating any kind of chocolate more than at Christmas and on your birthday, then you're the problem, not the solution.

    Thanks for the lecture.

    But as far as I can tell, that's just not true. If you clear rainforest, you can't grow cacao trees -- they need canopy. They're not a plantation crop.

    There are still obvious problems with the established chocolate industry, but I can't seem to find anything to say that the actual growing of cacao trees is unsustainable, let alone comparable to dairy in its environmental impact.

    Greenpeace doesn't appear to have a problem with it (as opposed to, say, "sustainable" palm oil).

    Are you really sure of what you're saying?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Sacha,

    Cows on the other hand do not need canopy, and delight in shitting in our streams and farting contentedly.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia,

    I'm afraid if you're eating any kind of chocolate more than at Christmas and on your birthday, then you're the problem, not the solution.

    Cheers, mate. The only chocolate-related problems I've got at the moment are a waistline spreading faster than coughing pig death, and the kind of teeth that will make whoever sells my dentist his mid-life crisis relief positively orgasmic.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report

  • webweaver,

    all us girls in the village would spend months practising maypole dances

    Aspects of Te Gathering suddenly make more sense. :)

    Ah Sacha, now I see you know too much, I shall have to hunt you down and silence you - and I was leader of the outer strings two years in a row, so you'd better watch out! :)

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 332 posts Report

  • Peter Ashby,

    @Craig

    The only chocolate-related problems I've got at the moment are a waistline spreading faster than coughing pig death,

    according to an article in today's New Scientist out of those who have died from Swine 'flu in the US there are twice as many obese people who have died than their prevalence in the population would suggest. IOW it makes you susceptible and there are good biological reasons why.

    Step away from the chocolate bar.

    Dundee, Scotland • Since May 2007 • 425 posts Report

  • Jackie Clark,

    Oh no, you di'in't, Peter. You about to get yourself a can of special Craig whup arse.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report

  • Joe Wylie,

    . . . a can of special Craig whup arse.

    There's an image to conjure with - aerosol chocolate mousse crossed with pepper spray, with maybe a touch of Liquid Wrench™.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report

  • Danielle,

    Srsly, Jackie. If we have this argument again I will stab myself in the eye with the tines of a fork.

    Also, Peter, I'm not entirely sure if you realise how annoyingly rude you're being to Craig. If he jokingly notes his waistline on a public forum, that is absolutely no reason to zero in on him with the latest freaking obesity research to tell him what he can and can't eat.

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report

  • Jackie Clark,

    Srsly, Jackie. If we have this argument again I will stab myself in the eye with the tines of a fork.

    I know. I'm just sitting back to watch what Craig's going to say. Cos, Peter, he is not going to be happy. You know that. Right?

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report

  • Kyle Matthews,

    On a completely different note, last night's Media7 programme is up for viewing online.

    The episode numbering on this page is wonky Russell:

    http://tvnz.co.nz/media7/s2009-e25-video-2848051

    Two episode 24s.

    I watched the 60 minutes interview as background to watching the media 7 show. I hope her new husband is the sort of bloke that he came across as in the interview. I thought your interview was pretty well done.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report

  • giovanni tiso,

    Are you really sure of what you're saying?

    I propose that this be made into the tagline of The Internet. With scare quotes, thusly:

    The Internet
    "Are you really sure of what you're saying?"

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Paul Campbell,

    aerosol chocolate mousse crossed with pepper spray

    you're still not going to get away with claiming that's a good as a great mexican chilli-chocolate ....

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report

  • Spinner,

    Link: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_wQ6U6-RrU]

    Remmers • Since Jul 2007 • 24 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia,

    I know. I'm just sitting back to watch what Craig's going to say. Cos, Peter, he is not going to be happy. You know that. Right?

    No I'm not, Jackie, but sanctimonious scolds (I'm not going to Godwin my pants by using the phrase 'Health Nazis') never get it. Do they?

    OTOH, I've really got to learn that on teh interwebz the only thing worse than laughing at the latest moral panic, is making a joke at your own expense. Sorry to disappoint my fans, but the price of Whup Arse had just hit US$200 a barrel and I've got none to waste.

    Now, I'm going to go commit my favourite stress-relief activity; Baling. Will make, in Peter's dishonour, a double batch of unfair-trade-so-much-palm-oil-you-could-use-the-shit-as-sex-lube chocolate chip cookies. Washed down with steaming tankards of instant coffee and Coke Zero chasers, naturally. I plan to shorten my life by a month of wet Sundays, and thoroughly exploit the developing world while I'm at it. So suck on that,

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Baling

    Frau Freud, please come and collect your slip... Balling is fun, and chocolate has its place in adult fun-time. But I meant "baking".

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report

  • Jackie Clark,

    We knew what you meant. And I have to say I feel immensely let down. But you are right of course. I think we have had that conversation too many times. J'ai ennui.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report

  • Jackie Clark,

    Or even better, ca suffit. C'est trop.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    IOW it makes you susceptible and there are good biological reasons why.

    Step away from the chocolate bar.

    I rather like the endorphin release that chocolate delivers to the brain.Not a huge fan but occasionally with a glass of red is what hits the spot.Chocolate in the right dosage is great medicine. Right being a couple of pieces a day or two chocolates a day which will not make you obese,I don't think the palm oil is good though and it is the dark which is better (Rik may have said so already, he sounds like he knows what he is doing, and I will probably have to support his venture)
    Sooo Kyle .Does that mean your dad is Barry?cos I like the mans style and I recall an ex copper friend of mine praising his ability to do a good job in corrections when he was first appointed. Jus' sayin'

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report

  • Kyle Matthews,

    Sooo Kyle .Does that mean your dad is Barry?

    Yup.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report

  • Jackie Clark,

    I think we should just change the name of this thread to People with interesting parents and be done with it.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    I think we should just change the name of this thread to People with interesting parents and be done with it.

    How many would you like dear? :)

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report

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