Chocolate? Last August when I asked “What’s on your list of little things that make the world work?” I got brilliant responses, all of which are being incorporated one way or another into these Spirit Moxie conversations.

But one response simply was, “Chocolate.” And as with any unexpected response I’ve been thinking about “chocolate” ever since. Chocolate. No verb. Just, well, chocolate… A quick Internet review says that this has been on our food list for at least 4,000 years, which is all very interesting, but what does chocolate say to my world and yours in 2014?

Valentine’s Day is just a few days away and I can remember countless Valentines when others hoped for chocolate and I hoped no one would give me chocolate. Flowers would be good. Flowers aren’t fattening. Of course chocolate isn’t either, in moderation, but I have consumed tubs of chocolate with almonds despite my protests that I prefer salty things and flowers seem safer.

When I was growing up I lived near Hershey, Pennsylvania, before hordes of tourists visited there and before safety in factories was as highly regulated as it is today. The last time I was in Hershey the only way you could learn about Hershey’s candy was a mechanical ride that took you through depictions of how chocolate candy was produced.

But I can remember when we could tour the actual Hershey plant and see the huge vats of chocolate being churned and feel overwhelmed by the smell. We were probably given some sort of sample at the end, but the real reward was that across the street we could buy a huge box (two pounds?) of something we called “half and half.” It seemed as if it was half chocolate and half almonds, the solid bar barely scored into smaller ones. The only proper way to eat it was to break off chunks and you could buy this magnificent treat only in the town of Hershey itself. Nothing tasted like it. A Hershey’s almond bar didn’t come close.

Chocolate weaves its way through my life now that I’m thinking about it. There was the Whitman’s Sampler^® that was beloved by my paternal grandmother and had me agonizing over the “map” that named each piece. There were my feelings of “finally I’m an adult” when I discovered GODIVA. When I moved to Cincinnati there was the local pride in Aglamesis Brothers and Esther Price, perfect gifts to bring when going out of town.

And then there was graduating to the flavors of other specialty brands in other cities at other times, often through the aegis of my younger son who seems determined to know the esoteric. So chocolate is one way to claim my history, not a bad legacy for such an ancient food.

Right now I have an emergency order into Equal Exchange, known for fair trade products, particularly coffee and chocolate. They used to always supply my coffee, but I’ve found other fair trade sources for coffee. However I’m almost out of their hot cocoa mix, a bitter yet perfect blend that I don’t use often, and a girl needs to be prepared. And of course, as I was ordering anyway, I stocked up on bars of dark, dark chocolate and did include a bag of coffee.

So how does this fit, this challenge to consider chocolate as a way to make the world work? It will be a little different for all of us, but I think chocolate feeds into many ways of how we can change the world, help it to work a little better. It feeds into Spirit Moxie conversations that are planned such as “accept gifts” (even chocolate), “be generous,” and “love.” And there is the whole concept of fair trade, a deliberate and life affirming program to change the world.

But even more chocolate challenges us to truly enjoy the great things in life. To taste. To talk about. To share. What challenges and calls to you? Coffee? Wine? Beer? Bourbon or a great scotch? The latest flavor of ice cream or crisp popcorn, with or without butter?

Chocolate?

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Photo credits from the top:

Cocoa farmer David Kebu Jnr holding the finished product, dried cocoa beans ready
for export — photo by Irene Scott for AusAID (13/2529) —Australian Government, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Chocolates — Sean MacEntee
Hershey Park — Ed Kennedy (lostinmiami)
Our Products 100 Gram Chocolate Bars — Equal Exchange