By Theodora Filis Mars chocolate manufacturer, the 5th largest privately held company in the US, is funding research to genetically modify 70 percent of the global cocoa supply. Funding for this project comes from Mars, involving scientists based at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the US Department of Agriculture and Science in addition to researchers working at IBM’s Thomas J Watson Research Center. Cacao production provides a livelihood for over 6.5 million farmers in Africa, South America and Asia and ranks as one of the top ten agriculture commodities in the world. Although chocolate is mostly consumed by the industrialized world, it is grown in developing countries. The US, France, and Germany consume more than half of the world's cocoa supply. The first use of cocoa appears to have occurred around 1100 BC. In the Americas, this crop has been cultivated for at least three millenniums. So the question arises if humans have been growing coc...
It is imperative we all pay attention to the impact of our collective and personal actions on the environment. During the next decade, our global community will be unable to deal effectively with the formidable environmental challenges posed by decades of environmental mismanagement. I hope you question and research everything.