The Chocolate Fudge Cafe

Equadorean Protestors in Lago Agrio near the Columbian border

Cacao pods on trees

  Did you know that some of  the best chocolate comes from Equador?  Small family farmers are growing some of the best cacao in the world and the chocolate from those trees is delicious!  It is pure, organic and fair trade without the “greed energy” of some of the other cacao growing regions.

   This is why we must do all we can to protect the Equadorean rainforest and its farmers.  One way is to get Chevron to clean up its mess from an oil spill by Texaco.   The plaintiffs in a huge lawsuit in the Ecuadorean oil boom town of Lago Agrio, located just across the border from Colombia, allege that Texaco, which operated in Ecuador from 1964 to 1990 and was acquired by Chevron in 2001, poisoned their lands, rivers and ground water with toxic chemicals.

http://mobile.globalpost.com/dispatch/the-americas/090429/chevron-ecuador

If you interested in signing a petition regarding this issue:

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/chevron_ecuador/

There is also activity in Tena and the Kallari, where Ivanhoe, a Canadian oil company, has leased rights from the Ecuadorian government to prospect for oil. The form of oil that is found in the area does not lend itself to conventional drilling, instead, a form of strip mining must be used. Naturally, the consequences of unrestrained exploitation of oil in the region could be devastating not only to Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest, but to large amounts of acreage planted in cacao, and to many members of the Kallari community. One only has to visit the town of Coca to see the potential for problems.  Keep updated:  http://www.thechocolatelife.com/group/tenadiaries

From The Nourisher

Chocolate Avocado Pie by Anand

Crust
1 cup pitted dates – soaked for 20 min
2 cups desiccated coconut

Filling
2-3 avocadoes
3 Tbsp of Agave syrup optional
½ cup of coconut butter
10 Tbsp of raw cacao powder
2 cups dates (pitted)
1 Tbsp zest of an orange (optional)
2 Tbsp raw cacao butter (optional)
1 Tbsp desiccated coconut (optional)

Directions
Process the crust ingredients until a sticky dough is achieved. Press the dough firmly into a 9 inch pie dish. Put in the fridge to set. For the filling, melt, dehydrate at 45°C, or double boil the cacao butter. Process thoroughly the remaining ingredients into a smooth creamy, unctuous mousse. Add the cacao butter. Spread onto pie crust and eat right then or place in the fridge for later. Decorate with desiccated coconut and orange zest.