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11/29/2017

Chocolate

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By Blenna Kiros
The Globalization of Chocolate: From Bean to Bar

     Through the process of trading goods and services, capital enters the markets in the form of money every day. The circulation of commodities which generates money is produced by human labour and offered as a product for general sale on the global, regional and local scale. Chocolate is a an example of a commodity produced and created by such human activity. Although it is often seen as an ordinary item on grocery store shelves, the way it circulates around the world can be viewed as a political and environmental problem (Robbins, 2010). The processes of extracting, producing, and selling chocolate involves the interaction of politics, culture and economics with many people, plants and chemicals among other things. Thus, to put in context its historical relationship with humans as well as the environment, chocolate will be presented on this blog as an object of concern.

A Short History of Chocolate

    Today, chocolate is a luxurious food item extracted from the tropical tree which yields cocoa seed. According to authors Sophie and Michael Coe of the book titled The True History of Chocolate,the scientific name of the cocoa tree--Theobroma cacao--translates to “the Food of the Gods” ( 1996). As such, it is not after processing the seeds into a liquid or powdered form that cocoa seeds are referred to as chocolate and cocoa butter (Coe,2013). According to Albers, on a biological level, people love chocolate because it contains theobromine, which is a stimulant that can increase heart rate and bring feelings of arousal (Psychology today). It also contains caffeine which can make us feel awake and increase our ability to work and focus. Another reason why humans love chocolate so much is because it is typically sweet and high in fat content making them two preferred food sources because they are calorie dense.

     The history of the consumption of chocolate began with the cacao tree. Across time and space, the cacao tree has been a plant that bore much importance because it was religiously, socially, economically and medicinally useful. Its habitat can be traced back to tropical portions of the New World where it had been first domesticated and harvested by the Mokayas, Olmecs, Mayas and Incas, all of which are ancient civilizations in Central and Southern America (Coe 1996). Some of the earliest civilizations of the New World brewed the seed into an alcoholic beverage and even used it as a form of currency. However, it was not until the 16th century, that Europeans discovered the bean, fell in love with it and began to mix it with sugar, increasing cocoa’s capitalization.

     More specifically, the cultivation of cacao received great attention in 1519 when Spanish conquistador Cortes was introduced to the Aztecs national cacao drink by the emperor at the time Montezuma (Knapp, 2007). Consequently, the conquistadors brought home to Spain quantities of cacao in which noblemen alike experimented with. By the seventeenth century, chocolate was a fashionable drink throughout Europe, also believed to have nutritious and medicinal properties. The rising popularity of chocolate eventually trickled to the hands of the European mass after the invention of chocolate houses, a place one could purchase chocolate (but not as we know it today). The invention of the cocoa press by Conrad J. Van Houten in 1828 also contributed to the popularization of chocolate (Klein, history channel). The cocoa press was a machine that separated the cocoa butter from the roasted beans to process product into a powder which made it easier to create easily digestible chocolate. According to Klein, the drop in the production cost led by Van Houten’s cocoa press is what made chocolate affordable to the masses (2014).

     Another significant figure who contributed to the transformation of chocolate is Daniel Peter, the inventor or milk chocolate Daniel Peter.
His invention was influenced by his exposure of milk products during his employment at Nestle in the 1800’s which at the time only manufactures products that mimic dairy. He called his product “Gala” from the Greek, which means, “from the milk.” Before conducting an experiment on chocolate he studied the processes of cocoa harvest and transportation of the basic cocoa ingredients from the tropics. After extensive doubts and further research on the mixture of milk and chocolate, Peter produced a desirable product with the help of his wife and another employee. With timeless effort and support from anyone willing to help him, Peter managed to put his products on the market.

Political economy: Multinational Corporations Globalize Production

     Indeed, globalization has made life (at least in the global north) more fruitful by bringing change in one area with the help of another. Multinational corporation (MNC) facilitate global change by playing a significant role as mediators. In our contemporary society, MNCs tend to be the only service providers in charge of setting prices and controlling the flow of most goods. Not only does that set a monopoly and plague markets but what is worrisome is the fact that “the potential parties in a market have not yet been born” (2010). As a result, MNCs that have had the opportunity to tickle the business profits to its offsprings become invincibly influential. Nestle is an example of a MNC that has been one of the world’s most influential food and beverage company in the industrial history because it expanded and gained power over centuries.

    What was once a bitter beverage consumed by few has been transformed by the industrial revolution into an affordable sweet for the masses. As chocolate became more and more popular, local artisans like Hershey, Mars, Cadbury and Nestle created a rising industrial legacy most memorably left to the generations of the twenty first century. Amongst the industries of chocolate, Nestle is one one the most productive ones since 1866, with the foundation of the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company in Switzerland (Nestle.com). The company was founded by the Pharmacist Henry Nestle whose initial motivation for creating milk products was to reduce high infant mortality rates. Upon his accomplishment he sold his company to three businessmen whose intentions were to expand production and sales. Nestle’s involvement in the chocolate industry began when the company took export sales for Daniel Peter.

     Since then, Nestle’s chocolate business has expanded globally. The company established subsidiaries world wide in order to drive dairy export sales. According to statistics, Nestle owns over a hundred and fifty chocolate based brands which are consumed globally (nestle.com). The Nestle logo is one of the most recognizable images in the world, and the global reach of their chocolate products is immense. The global nature of the production of their chocolates includes the involvement of more than five nations and requires Nestle to have a heavy presence abroad. Nestle is one of the biggest corporations whose taken the role of supplying foods to citizens of the world. As Kegley said about the globalization of production, “countries do not really trade with each other, corporations do (2011). Furthermore, Nestle moves large commercial flows across borders subsequently creating a monopoly on products and forcing less developed nations to submit by means of implementing corporate policies and regulations. Transnational business groups like Nestle, Mars inc and Hersheys exert heavy influence on policies and regulations, while citizen groups are marginalized and excluded. Although, cynics would agree that an end to exploitation on this form of a dominant/subordinate relationship in the global economy will subside only slowly, the exploitation of a less developed nation is crucial for a capitalistic system .Unfortunately, most developing nations remain frustrated and helpless as they get used as a resource to be exploited for profit gain.

Environmental Injustice: The Ethical Treatment of Laborers

     The emergence of an imbalance of power between social classes where one group is exploited by the other, usually in the form of systematic slavery is a product of capitalism. Beyond the labels on candy bars, chocolate holds a dark history of unfair distributions of environmental benefits and burdens. The finished product of chocolate is particularly consumed by those who occupy the global north. While those in charge of harvesting the beans live in a unhealthy environment where they don't have the means to fight back abusive conditions enforced by multinational corporations. Workers on cocoa plantations tend to be children who have been forced into a lifestyle of rigorous work; most of which have never even had a piece of chocolate. By its very nature, the deprivation of human rights and the unethical treatment of children comes from the financial drive to create a surplus value and hence profit. As such, child slavery as well as child trafficking is significantly present in the chocolate industry.

Case study: The Sweat Behind Chocolate

   According to Raghavan and Chatterjee, Ali Diabate is a twelve year old boy whose impoverished parents decided to sell him to a slave trader so he could go work on cocoa farm in the Ivory coast . The deal between the parents and the slave trader included Aly’s time and labor in exchange for $150 dollars a year plus a bonus bicycle for Aly in order to help support his poor parents in Mali. After settling in Cote D'ivoire, Aly and eighteen other boys found that their lives consisted of labor on a four hundred and ninety four acre farm which is very large by Ivory Coast standards, in the southwestern part of the country. Their days began when the sun rose and they finished work in the evening, just before nightfall. He worked eighty to a hundred hours a week for a cocoa farmer known as Le Gros (the Big Man). When they were they lived in a in 24-by-20-foot room windowless shed where they slept on wooden planks. Once in that room, nobody was allowed to cry or make any sound or leave.

  During his time on the farm Aly, was never rewarded instead Le Gros' overseers or older slaves beat him with a bicycle chain or branches from a cacao tree. Aly who was barely four feet tall when he was sold into slavery had a hard time carrying the heavy bags of cocoa beans. Faint scars remain on his back, right shoulder and left arm. If a bags were to fall no one was allowed to help them up and they were beaten and until they picked it up again. But after one of the boys ran away and told elders in the community what was happening on Le Gros' farm, police officers investigated. The boys were freed, and Le Gros was charged with assault against children and suppressing the liberty of people. He faces a court hearing this week. Ivory Coast authorities ordered Le Gros to pay Aly and the other boys 4.3 million francs (about $6,150) for their time as indentured laborers. Aly got 125,000 francs (about $180) for the 18 months he worked on the cocoa farm. Aly bought himself the very thing the trader who enslaved him had promised: a bicycle.

   Some would argue that stories such as Ali’s ought to prevent consumers from purchasing chocolate and recommend instead fair trade chocolate (Litvinoff & Madeley 2007). He lived in a shed that lacked a sanitary lavatory in a tropical plantation where he was required to use unsafe equipments. Ali was and other like him are burdened with disadvantages to the psychological and physical health of themselves and their communities. Furthermore, labor is a contentious aspect of globalization in that it directly links individuals with the global environment because goods cannot be produced without labor and space (Kegley, 2011). Interrelated changes around the global economy are not only sped up by the expansion of technology but also by the increasing availability of child labor. This violation of human rights and the injustice of child slavery in the chocolate industry is common and rarely corrected. This is because institutions of slavery serving chocolate corporations continue to practice unethical decisions based on self motivated-interest for the sake gaining profit. Such violations often stem from unfair procedures in the economic sphere, which involve multiple political institutions with uneven powers of voice and representation in the processes and decisions that affect them (Cleveland, 2014). Therefore, promoting the protection of human rights can create a space in which people are able to practice the art of individual, institutional and cultural development. However, concerns about these disproportionate impacts has not ignited a vibrant environmental justice movement in West africa, but advocates are looking for adequate legal tools to protect their communities (Bellows, 2014). Although agencies responsible for child labor and law enforcement exist in West Africa, the absence of enforced social institutions as the defining structural behavior for human rights development, it is challenging to make societies prosper as a whole. This move is especially difficult if the primary motivation of the government centers around short term economic goals.

Conclusion

     With rapid globalization, along comes complexities and problems in which human beings chose to disregard. Less and less people are knowledgeable about the process of extracting, producing, selling and trading goods and services. In order to understand chocolate’s dominant position on the global market one must trace back to its origin to early American Civilizations and follow its journey to supermarket shelves today. Many parties are involved in the making of chocolate but few of us know who to credit or who to hold responsible for its production. Although not always spoken about, the production of most mainstream chocolates are produced at the cost of the environment and civilians labor. As the global demand for chocolate increases, chances of having the means and the opportunities within this industry will simultaneously increase. Correspondingly, the comforts of our consistencies that shape our beliefs and attitudes also increase the dissonance we have created between us and the object we love to consume. And as we continue to develop economically it becomes exceedingly difficult for us to accept the clash that occurs between us and the world we perceive to be. Mass growth in our civilization then creates lots of cognitive dissonance and the root for our anthropocentric ethic. Thus, questioning where our food came from and how it has been produced and by whom could enhance our knowledge about the items we blindly consume. Otherwise, entire communities and families will continue to spend their lives farming cocoa while cocoa will continue to sell for low prices because the labor was cheap or even free. Although corporations have unquestionably brought greater wealth, power, and opportunity to the poor, it is at the expensive of our ignorance ,of the earth and marginalized groups.

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11/29/2017

Solar Panels

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Perception of Photovoltaics
Lane Garrison
We all have recently been faced with the all-inclusive nudge to move to renewable energy. As climate change is receiving more and more attention so has our outdated way of producing energy for the world. For many of us, that nudge sends us stumbling towards solar energy. Solar energy seems to be the most realistic option out of the very few options there are for the individual. This paper is going to dive into the different types of solar energy, construction of solar panels and the marketing of solar panels. By covering those topics will we also cover a range of plenty more. For instance, we will cover the harmful effects of solar panel construction, government policies, and other alternatives. By the time that you are done indulging yourself in this paper you will have a better grasp on if solar panels are the right option for you.
In a time where Al Gore won a Nobel Peace Prize for a climate change movie, cars are being made to be more efficient, and degrading the environment is frowned upon, we need other options than fossil fuels. In California, many laws have been passed to help ensure that we have rights to use solar energy. The Solar Rights Act passed in 1978 says, “The Solar Rights Act sought to promote and encourage the widespread use of solar energy and to “"protect and facilitate adequate access to the sunlight which is necessary to operate solar energy systems."” (Solar Rights N.D) This all became possible through the fact that the law limited Homeowner Association's power over the installation of rooftop solar panels. From personal experience, Homeowner Associations can be very picky about many things. This law makes the transition to solar much more efficient. In addition to this law, the government of California is also offering subsidies to help offset the cost of expensive solar panels. Sometimes they can range from 25-30% of the total cost. This is mainly happening through the California Solar Initiative. However, something this good cannot come without some controversy. Many people who had solar panels installed before the California Solar Initiative think they should be entitled to some of these subsidies. California also offers other subsidy programs for very efficient solar panels and oftentimes these ‘older’ solar panels are outside of the efficiency range. With all of these incentives and subsidies that California is offering it seems that they think that solar is the way to go. We are now going to explore some other options for renewable energy that you can have fitted for your property.
Second to solar, wind energy has major upsides for renewable energy. Micro Hydro systems are also available and they operate much like a wind turbine, but the difference is that they capture the kinetic energy of water in order to spin a turbine to generate energy. The last way to fit your house for renewable energy use requires no installation of anything! Many companies offer a program, in which for a premium price you can elect to purchase only energy that has been produced in renewable ways. While this seems like an easy way to save the earth there have been many reports of fraud. Companies have been caught selling nonrenewable energy at the higher premium price. Wind energy is a very viable option but it is much more expensive than solar and you need some property. Micro hydro systems are difficult for an individual to install and get permits for. Solar is the best option from the outside looking in. It has the most potential and room for growth. Markets are slowly starting to open up for photovoltaics.
ECONOMIC LENS
We hear a lot about how great solar is and how the only downside is that it is expensive. I am going to do my best to enlighten you that solar energy is not all that it is talked up to be. Have you ever seen a solar farm? They are massive and they make the land unusable for most anything else. When compared to a wind farm, a solar farm has no opportunity for agricultural or livestock use. For the most part, they minimize this problem by putting the solar farms on low-quality land. Most of the solar farms that I have noticed tend to be in very dry climates. Like any electrical manufacturer, solar thermal plants use water to cool the machinery. The water that is used to cool the machines will be drawn from the local pool. It is important that this is considered when deciding where to manufacture solar panels. So we now know that land and water are being used in the manufacturing process, but let's look deeper.
Dustin Mulvaney talks about the use of quartz in order to make silica. The mining of quartz is very inefficient and exposes the miners to many unnecessary risks, let alone the damage that is being done to the earth (Mulvaney, Solar Energy). With even more potential for environmental degradation, the refinement process could be better. In order to refine silica to polysilicon a very dangerous compound is used; silicon tetrachloride. When companies recycle silicon tetrachloride if can be somewhat efficient. However, that requires machinery that can cost more than ten million dollars. Smaller companies must dump the silicon tetrachloride. THE SAME SOURCE said,”If exposed to water—and that’s hard to prevent if it’s casually dumped—the silicon tetrachloride releases hydrochloric acid, acidifying the soil and emitting harmful fumes”. The fumes that are released are almost impossible to clean up.
If something is going to happen it will usually happen in places where they are the least prepared. For instance, due to the relaxed laws in China, a spill of hydrofluoric acid killed hundreds of animals. This resulted in the company's stock to dive by more than 40%. This is a very interesting conflict, on one hand, we have companies that are built upon being green, and on the other, we have companies that competing to be the biggest and best. As companies grow and compete it often comes with environmental concern being pushed out the door. If companies were to disregard the environmental side of things they would instantly be dead in the water. These companies are built on being green, and if they slipped up and were not true to their word their credentials on being green would be voided.
SOCIAL LENS
The average lifespan of a solar panel is 20-30 years (PV Recycling). So naturally, we are going to have to dispose of them somehow. We have not quite hit that point in the market where we are going to have to get the second generation of solar panels installed. Some of the earlier solar panels from the 1980s are still functioning fine. A time is coming where we will need to learn how to recycle a mass number of solar panels. SEIA’s recycling statement is as follows, “SEIA's PV Recycling Working Group has developed a national PV recycling program. This program will include specific benefits for members who utilize the services of SEIA Preferred Recycling Partners”. If we can learn how to efficiently recycle spent solar panels we might be onto something. Getting a good grasp on the recycling program is extremely important as the market for solar panels is expanding.
Solar energy is growing at an alarming pace! More than 260,000 Americans work in solar. The main factor that is driving this exponential increase in solar energy is the cost of solar panels is dropping as more and more people invest in photovoltaics. Even with the drop in the cost of the panels, much of the cost is considered “soft costs”. These soft costs include permitting, financing, and customer acquisition. They add up to be about 55% of the cost of a residential system (Solar Energy). This is just one of the reasons that selling people on solar panels is difficult. I am going to include an excerpt from a marketing guide about some of the reasons consumers would not want to invest in solar panels. ”Consumers report high up-front and out-of-pocket costs and long payback periods deter them from installing solar energy technology. The absence of solar technologies in the public’s eye and confusion about its performance and capabilities create concerns about the reliability of solar technology; it is not perceived as up to the task of powering our energy needs. The time consuming and complex nature of purchasing and installing solar energy systems discourages potential customers. The lengthy decision-making process and financial complexity of the solar sale often result in consumer inertia.” (Smart Solar) These seem to be the main reason that people would not want to invest in solar panels. I was also quite surprised to read that the CESA marketing manual-guided businesses away from touching on the ‘environmental’ ethic. Their reason was that many people already know that side and that is one of the reasons they are in your showroom. They suggested going the ‘value’ or ‘financial’ route. The manufacturers are aware of the main reasons that people might be wary of purchasing solar panels
So why would you purchase solar panels? Well with all of the governmental incentives, dropping costs and transitions to solar there are many financial reasons to make the switch. From a more ecocentric worldview, it is, important to note that solar energy, although not as clean as it is made out to be, seems to be the better option over coal and fossil fuels. Hopefully, the progress that has made will continue to keep moving forward as photovoltaics is a very new technology that still has an untapped potential.
When I talk about the untapped potential I am speaking the technological advances and the social advances. Solar energy has the ability to make huge strides socially. The portability of solar energy allows third world countries to generate power in order to help with the purification of water and keep hospitals running. That is one of the wonderful things about solar, you can set it up anywhere with very little infrastructure. This idea can be taken further by applying it to developing countries. When countries go through industrial revolutions it is all about being cheap and efficient and for all the ones in the past has been driven by fossil fuels. With so many countries on the brink of an industrial revolution, there is much upside to loaning money and manpower to help install solar. This could drive that country to remain clean and get them started on the right foot. The part that we seem to be having the most trouble with, in the USA, is the transition over to solar from fossil fuels. If we can help a country not have that hiccup there is no telling what could be.
The sun produces enough energy in one hour to power our economy for over a year (Brown, Earth Policy) It is no question that the sun provides us enough energy. The issue is if we can capture it in an efficient way. As time passes by we will continue to have big advancements in photovoltaics. There is no need to worry about the sun burning out either. Scientists estimate that that sun will ‘swallow’ the Earth before it ever gets close to burning out. People talk about solar energy like it is the answer right now. I think it can be the answer, however, I believe that it is still a long way off. We know one thing for sure, we have one earth and we need to protect it from ourselves. The best way to do that is to continue to invest in renewable energy and look into other options. The best solution is a mix of all of the renewable energies right now. We are in a “try before you buy” stage and we need to continue to test out new technologies. Social change is no easy feat but it has to happen for all change. Social change does not happen overnight, it takes years. We have been moving in the right direction by slowly weaning off of fossil fuel energy. We have seen a huge market start to open up for renewable energies and within the energies, photovoltaics has the most potential even though it is a ways off from being truly renewable.

Works Cited:

Brown / Earth Policy Institute, Lester R. “Sunlight Striking Earth's Surface in Just One Hour Delivers Enough Energy to Power the World Economy for an Entire Year.” Alternet, www.alternet.org/environment/sunlight-striking-earths-surface-just-one-hour-delivers-enough-energy-power-world.

Mulvaney, Dustin . “Solar Energy Isn’t Always as Green as You Think.” IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News, 13 Nov. 2014,
spectrum.ieee.org/green-tech/solar/solar-energy-isnt-always-as-green-as-you-think.

“PV Recycling.” SEIA, www.seia.org/initiatives/pv-recycling.

“Solar Energy in the United States.” Department of Energy, energy.gov/eere/solarpoweringamerica/solar-energy-united-states.

“Solar Rights: Access to the Sun for Solar Systems.” Rights to the Sun - Go Solar California, www.gosolarcalifornia.ca.gov/solar_basics/rights.php.

“Smart Solar Marketing Strategies .” Cesa.org, Aug. 2009.

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