The Chocolate Fudge Cafe

The US Supreme Court has denied a bid by Chevron to block an $18.2 billion judgment against the company in a pollution case in Ecuador.

A lower court threw out an injunction blocking enforcement of the judgment. Chevron appealed to the supreme court, which rejected the appeal without explanation. On 26 January, the 2nd US circuit court of appeals in New York said Chevron had been premature to challenge the judgment, which residents of Ecuador’s Lago Agrio region won in February 2011 over pollution of the Amazon jungle and resulting damage to their health. In July, damages in the case were increased to $19 billion.

Chevron claimed that the judgment was fraudulent and unenforceable under New York law.

But the 2nd Circuit said the oil company, based in San Ramon, California, could challenge it “only defensively, in response to attempted enforcement,” which the Lago Agrio residents had not attempted and might never attempt.

The vicious legal fight dates back to the 1970s and 80s when Texaco, now part of Chevron, discharged billions of gallons of toxic waste into an area affecting over 1,500 square miles of what has become known as the “Amazon Chernobyl”.

Full article at Amazon Watch:  http://amazonwatch.org/news/2012/1009-us-supreme-court-rejects-chevron-appeal-in-ecuador-pollution-case?utm_source=Amazon+Watch+Newsletter+and+Updates&utm_campaign=cce898d4a5-post-luncheon_20121017&utm_medium=email

Watch the video here: http://chevrontoxico.com/take-action/

Living in the Choco Forests of Ecuador – The Chachi Cocoa Farmers

You’ve eaten chocolate, but did you know that it comes from rainforests?  The indigenous Chachi originally lived in Ecuador’s highlands, but in the face of Incan and Spanish conquests, fled to the Pacific Coast. There, amidst the dense, moist Chocó forest, they are raising cocoa.The Chocó is one of the last lowland forested regions along Ecuador’s coast, crucial for rainforest conservation and because it supports the coastal mangrove system.
See full interactive presentation here:

http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/multimedia/ecuador-kids

The Rainforest Alliance’s little green frog is recognized by consumers around the world as the symbol of environmental, social and economic sustainability. Click on the froggy logo to go to a listing of products bearing the Rainforest Alliance Certified™ seal that are available for direct purchase by consumers.

Click on the link to see the video of Ben Ripple’s Big Tree Farms in Indonesia.

Big Tree Farms video about growing cacao

How Vanilla is Grown and Harvested Video From the Rainforest Alliance frogblog: http://rafrogblogus.wordpress.com/2012/05/18/how-is-vanilla-grown-and-harvested/

Vanilla Plant

Fresh Vanilla Beans

Dried Vanilla Beans