The Not-So-Sweet Truth About Chocolate

Meera Naveen
Apr 6, 2024
2 min read

Updated: Jun 24, 2024

For many people, chocolate is sugary and satisfying, and comes in liquid (hot chocolate, chocolate milk) and solid form (wrapped chocolates, chocolate chips, chocolate cookies).

However, it might not be the best option for a treat when you consider the Earth.

You see, when consumed a lot, its ingredients and where they come from become not the best sources when it comes to sustainability and certain communities.

According to a study, the production of a milk chocolate bar releases around 200 g of carbon dioxide, dark chocolate 100 g more.

But exactly how does chocolate have such drastic impacts?

For example, take cocoa powder, the main ingredient of most chocolates. Produced largely in West African countries, supplying this ingredient results in mass deforestation, as several farmers end up clearing out forests and the habitats that go along with them to make space for cocoa trees. Even more, in specific techniques used to grow cocoa, harmful chemicals are used that pollute the water and the surrounding ecosystems.

If that's not enough, multiple practices in growing cocoa have gone so low as to farmers earning around 50 cents, more or less, in a day. Slavery and child labor are other harsh situations faced in these areas.

Even more, the milk in many chocolates of course comes from cows, which release methane, another, stronger greenhouse gas into the atmosphere, contributing to more global warming.

As dairy processing/production and chocolate production in general also is very water intensive, consuming chocolate, especially in large quantities, is basically contributing to the stripping of the world's natural resources, the rights of ecosystems and humans, and the alarming speed of climate change.

So in order to be a mindful consumer when it comes to chocolate, let's try three things:

Buy less chocolate. When shopping, say no to that chocolate truffle cake and maybe choose that strawberry creme cake instead. Those Hershey's bars sitting at the counter? Nah. Hot chocolate or hot black tea? Maybe the tea.
When buying, buy less. Don't buy the gourmet pack of Ferrero Rocher. How about opting for an 8-piece one, or basically a pack where each person gets maximum two pieces?
When buying, try vegan chocolate that causes no deforestation. Trust me, there are such conscious brands out there. Brands such as Beyond Good (flavors/fillings like sea salt, caramel, crispy rice, you name it!), Pacari (cherry, cardamom, fig, chili, etc), and AlterEco (vegan options include sea salt, quinoa, raspberry, etc; it would be best to try those to avoid methane release as much as possible) try their best to follow eco- and human-ethics. These include using recyclable/compostable packaging, organic and vegan (for the most part) ingredients, and supporting agroforestry and small-scale farming.

The key takeaway is that although chocolate may seem to be a sweet luxury or pleasure for most, it's not so sweet for those who have to work unfairly hard to produce it or those fragile ecosystems that are hit most because of its production and global warming in general.