Contemplate with Chocolate

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The cacao contemplative practice, much like the raisin contemplative practice, made me realize that my perspective on food is rather self-centered; I had not really thought about the immense amount of inputs that go into producing food. I think this may be due to two main reasons, that are possibly interrelated. One reason may be due to the fast-paced lives that people have, where convenient food is abundant, the priority is to eat to not be hungry. The other reason may be due to how engaging in contemplative practices with our food is not a norm.

Contemplation exercises are valuable in teaching the value of food, and broadening perspectives on food. To farmers, cacao is associated to a source of income, where to much of the developed word cacao is associated to chocolate. What stood out most was that the cacao farmers have never seen the final product of what they farm, nor had they ever eaten chocolate, and on the other end, most chocolate consumers have not seen cacao and are not aware of the labor that goes into farming it. Through this contemplative practice, I connected how the inequalities that exist in the US commodity chain, also exists on a global scale. Developing countries tend to be on the lower end of the commodity chain, producing or supplying food sources that are used in industrialized foods that the developed countries consume; wherein the producers rarely get the end product and consumers are often unaware of what goes into their food and where it comes from. This sort of double-blindness highlights the inequalities in the commodity chain on a global scale. Contemplative practices has cultivated self-awareness and reflection, and a deeper sense of appreciation for food. I think that food contemplation becoming a norm would have great value, as people would not only appreciate their food more, but also become more aware of their food.

https://www.decodedscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/cacao-beans-libthinkquestorg450.jpg

Chocolate and cacao                 Taken from: https://www.decodedscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/cacao-beans-libthinkquestorg450.jpg

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