No time for 'splaining

Ghana + World Food Crisis

WTF? rant against NYC locavores

Nigeria + Cocoa

One of many links to that chocolate study everyone is yapping about

Urban Garden from place of animal cruelty (obviously from my alert for cocoa!)

Ghana + Cocoa refuse potential

SWEET! Chocolate disguised as Swiss Army Knives!

World's Worst Chocolate? Judge for yourself, as I haven't tried them all . . . yet

Libraries are everywhere!

The 14th Congress of Southeast Asian Librarians took place yesterday and you can find a recap here and here

Nigerians pushing for library advancement

Nestle sales decline (surprised?)

Man gets imprisonment with 6 months of hard labor for stealing 1.5 bags of cocoa beans

Rising cocoa prices are benefiting growers in Ivory Coast - which is a good thing!

Too much to handle

I've been posting things on Facebook, but I see too many articles that I want to keep and don't want to post too many and end up bothering my friends.

New York Chocolate & Confections Company will start producing chocolate at the former Nestle plant

Seattle Public Library is facing big cuts, including layoffs and extended closings

145-year-old book returned to library

Kindle users' strife with accounts being locked, etc.

"Chocolate may not go straight to the groin . . ."

Chocolate innovation center opens in Wisconsin

Cars & Chocolate - why growing in Africa makes sense

Discourse on the unfairness that is farming in Africa

Nigerian farmers ask state to raise subsidies

Etc.

Tomato Products Wellness Center joins Healthy Lives this April

Providence, RI Culinary Arts Museum showcases the evolution of our food culture

AIV Microbiology's Paul Hall Receives 2009 NCFST Award for Food Safety (I just copied the whole title because I'm tired this morning)

I was interested in this post because it is about a Benefit Tea at Monticello to benefit a library, but what caught my eye was the link to the local school lunch program. I rarely see so convenient a link to get information on school lunch menus. This is very impressive.

Indonesian government wants local cocoa production to increase by 300% (!)

Cocoa farmers in Ghana looking for ways to make a disease-free cacao planting materials

Honolulu wants you know that they have a chocolate industry

Ivory Coast gets debt-relief

It's been a while . . .

Production:
Roasting is the most important step to making good chocolate, as Willie Harcourt-Cooze can tell you.

The Government is trying to save the cacao industry in Trinidad & Tobago.

Swollen Shoot Disease threatens Ivory Coast harvests.

YES! Energy is being harnessed using cocoa bean shells! There has always been a question as to what to do and where to put the shells leftover when manufacturing chocolate. If this works and the shells can be used to make energy - I'm all for it! Although, I should look into it more to see how viable it is.

Everything Else:
New Cacao Pearl Resort in the Philippines; more here

Why is Godiva offering "invitation only" events? You have to be on a list that Communispace has, then answer a survey - just to be invited. Sounds pretty biased to me.

You can deal with this, or you can deal with that . . .

Antioch library a ghost town - sounds neat actually

Myanmar Book Aid

Should ex-hostages held prisoner in Columbia be able to voice their stories?

Book (by World Vision) donation to Kigali Institute of Education Library

Mississippi library houses Red Cross history exhibit

The thing's we'll do, or tax, for chocolate

Fascist chocolate tax

Actual Headline: Trio of sword-wielding teens steal chocolate

Former President Bush knows the secret to the best chocolate chip cookie - and he'll e-mail it to you!