Chocolate Crisis

Chocolate is the center of a massive global industry worth billions of dollars annually, yet its future in our modern world is currently under threat. In Chocolate Crisis, Dale Walters discusses the problems posed by plant diseases, pests, and climate change, looking at what these mean for the survival of the cacao tree. Walters takes readers to the origins of the cacao tree in the Amazon basin of South America, describing how ancient cultures used the beans produced by the plant, and follows the rise of chocolate as an international commodity over many centuries. He explains that most cacao is now grown on small family farms in Latin America, West Africa, and Indonesia, and that the crop is not easy to make a living from. Diseases such as frosty pod rot, witches’ broom, and swollen shoot, along with pests such as sap-sucking capsids, cocoa pod borers, and termites, cause substantial losses every year. Most alarmingly, cacao growers are beginning to experience the accelerating effects of global warming and deforestation. Projections suggest that cultivation in many of the world’s traditional cacao-growing regions might soon become impossible. Providing an up-to-date picture of the state of the cacao bean today, this book also includes a look at complex issues such as farmer poverty and child labor, and examines options for sustainable production amid a changing climate. Walters shows that the industry must tackle these problems in order to save this global cultural staple and to protect the people who make their livelihoods from producing it.

This book, written by global experts, provides a comprehensive and topical analysis on the economics of chocolate. While the main approach is economic analysis, there are important contributions from other disciplines, including psychology, history, government, nutrition, and geography. The chapters are organized around several themes, including the history of cocoa and chocolate — from cocoa drinks in the Maya empire to the growing sales of Belgian chocolates in China; how governments have used cocoa and chocolate as a source of tax revenue and have regulated chocolate (and defined it by law) to protect consumers' health from fraud and industries from competition; how the poor cocoa producers in developing countries are linked through trade and multinational companies with rich consumers in industrialized countries; and how the rise of consumption in emerging markets (China, India, and Africa) is causing a major boom in global demand and prices, and a potential shortage of the world's chocolate.

This timely book explores crises as an inevitable part of modern society, which causes ramifications not only for organisations, but also for a diverse range of stakeholders. Addressing the need for organisations to be guided by a stakeholder-oriented approach throughout all phases of the crisis communication process, the author draws upon various business disciplines and covers the management of issues, risk, reputation and relationships. Covering all stages of crisis communication, from pre-crisis to post-crisis, stakeholder engagement is analysed through a series of case studies, with a particular focus on the role of social media. Scholars of corporate communications and business strategy will find this new book undoubtedly useful, and it will be of particular interest to those involved in crisis communication and management.

Food and agribusiness is one of the fastest changing global markets; change that is driven by technology, developments in manufacturing and supply, and a growing consumer engagement. The success of the agri-food industry and many of our household brand names will depend on how much you understand about these changes and the extent to which you can deliver secure and competitive products in the face of growing expectations about food safety and quality, as well as changing attitudes about the environment, human diet and nutrition, and animal welfare. The Crisis of Food Brands offers perspectives on many key aspects of these changes including the role of business, policy-makers, and the media in communicating with and engaging stakeholders about: o relevant and dynamic models of risk and crisis management; o the value of innovative and, sometimes controversial, food systems; o their buying behaviour and attitudes to movements such as organic and fair trade; o how and where we source and buy our food now (and in the future). The quality of the original research that underpins this book and the imagination and practicality with which the authors address its applications for the industry is first rate. Anyone with responsibility for marketing food, communicating about the food industry, or engaging with consumers will find this an important source of ideas and inspiration.

Our world is filled with unseen wonders - the most phenomenal of which is the often hidden beauty of the diversity that surrounds us. Apart from the beauty diversity brings to our lives, it is also absolutely necessary to the sustainability of life itself. The importance of diversity is overlooked in the social realm, yet decisions made in that realm affect all of society for generations. Planners tend to ignore ecological diversity because they don't understand it. Ecological Diversity in Sustainable Development: The Vital and Forgotten Dimension makes that clear. The author tackles this difficult problem: how are we to maintain sustainable diversity in the Earth's ecosystems and our cultural systems? He provides examples of how natural and cultural diversity have been reduced by altering the linkages between climate, soil, water, air, forests, animals, and people. The book is divided into three parts. Part one examines diversity as it is found in nature, part two considers how culture affects diversity through its evolution, and part three explores the diversity of Nature as seen through culture in an attempt to guide culture toward social/environmental sustainability. Anyone who is interested in the quality of life on Earth will want this book. Maser writes in easy-to-read lucid prose, providing a holistic overview of environmental issues that 21st century decision makers must address in shaping our destiny.

Indonesia's monetary and political crisis is examined here in relation to its impact on Indonesia's agricultural sector. The twelve essays that comprise this volume take a micro-economic approach and analysis relies on observed facts and first-hand data collected both before and after the country's crisis. This is a lively, well illustrated and instructive book.

Indonesia's monetary and political crisis is examined here in relation to its impact on Indonesia's agricultural sector.

'Ella Risbridger has a comforting talent for delivering deliciousness in a way that seems like an act of compassion.' NIGELLA LAWSON 'An extraordinary, heartwarming book with gorgeous recipes. I loved it.' NIGEL SLATER 'Love, sorrow, grief and how cooking can get you through. Ella Risbridger has such a sincere and distinctive voice. A book full of wisdom.' DIANA HENRY This cookbook is about a year in the kitchen. A year of grief and hope and change; of fancy fish pie, cardamom-cinnamon chicken rice, chimichurri courgettes, quadruple carb soup, blackberry miso birthday cake, and sticky toffee Guinness brownie pudding. A year of loss, and every kind of romance, and fried jam sandwiches. A year of seedlings and pancakes. A year of falling in love. A year of recipes. A year, in other words, of minor miracles. The Year of Miracles by bestselling author Ella Risbridger is more than just a cookbook; like her award-winning Midnight Chicken, every page is a transporting blend of recipes and life story. This is about what happens when you've lived through the worst thing you could have imagined – and how you can still cook, and eat, and love.