Ambiguity, Cacao and the Flowering of Gaiapoiesis

my ambiguous, ambitious, and gloriously absurd mission does not seem simple to explain...but that is what I will try to do...

I have this crazy idea, that has come through various visions that
crashed their way through meditations, visits with plant allies, and
talks with friends that lasted well into the night.

This idea has shaped my life, and brought me here, to the damp tropical forest in search of a wild, native variety of cacao.

Yes...somehow it all has to do with chocolate.

But chocolate is merely the currency of the vision. And just as I am
loath to believe that dollars are the end all be all of human
existence, so to is cacao limited (but integral) in the idea..this
pesky vision that has tugged me (or perhaps that I have chased with
feverish eyes?) to this vivid tropical dreamscape.



The craziness (or perceived craziness) of this idea makes me reluctant
to spill it across my glowing computer screen to be cast across the
internet....but that same seeming absurdity is what drives me to share
it. perhaps that idea, of the fresh absurdity of my idea might seem
counter intuitive to some of my readers...so I will put that part of my
story away for the time being, and get down the the nitty-gritty of
explaining what has brought me to this amazing, green, vivid landscape
in search of a particular variety of a globally traded plant that has
many of the same properties of illegal species that grow in a similar
climate.

Theobroma cacao, food of the gods. This amazing species could be a key
element in the design of a regenerative system that can reverse
deforestation and desertification in the tropics, boost the standard of living of a
substantial proportion of rural inhabitants of tropical countries, and
link the world together in a way that will build information rich,
cooperative and symbiotic relationships in a way that our world is in
dire need of.

This is a story of resilience, and diversity. This is a vision of connection and symbiosis.

This is an idea that grows out of the firtile soil that has been cultivated with care by ecologists, permaculturalists and bioregionalists.

This is my story of Gaiapoiesis, and the reason that this blog exists...
So, I will plunge on un-abashed at my crazy vision for a better way...a different way.
At this point my mind is jumping to start creating outlines and bullet points...

but for the moment, in the interest of going with the flow of my creative leanings and the current state of the local noospheric
conditions (there is a poetry festival pulsing away just down the hill
from the poor barrio in Granada from which I am sending this humble
dispatch)...

so, for the time being, a rambling exposition of my ideas will have to
suffice until I come back into the state of mind that will allow a more
concise expose of the patterns and details of this plan for eco-social
regeneration and patrix busting on the grandest scale.

So

I won’t be bashful.

here it comes...the crazed blathering of a lunatic? or the
pre-sentience of things to come? or perhaps a glimpse of a world that
would have...would have...should have been.

well...lets see what it looks like:

It looks like a small farm barely visible through the thick tropical
vegitation. Monkeys howl and big cats prowl through the dark
shade...and the wily human inhabitants make an amazing living providing
quality commodities, namely cacao, coffee and medicinal plants for the
international and local markets.

Elements of this finca desiparicido are a biofuels plant, a pyrolysis
unit, a satellite uplinked computer system, a conservation buffer zone,
shade grown cacao plants of various species, shade grown coffee, and an
assortment of other tropical fruits and nuts woven together in a mosaic
pattern that mimics natural habitat and increases the disease
resistance, overall yield and pest resistance of the marketable crops.

The total start up cost for this kind of farm depends on if one is
working with existing growers, but current estimates put it at less
than a million dollars to bring a fully functioning regional trade
system up on line that can bring carbon negative commodities to market.





This finca is up-linked in to a transparent commodity trading system
that allows people to connect directly with the producers, and also
connected with a transportation supply chain that is carbon nuetral,
relying on biofuel transportation for rural overland routes, trains
powered by renewable for the mainline overland routes, and sail powered
over sea shipping for oceanic travel.


This vision starts here and now with me, bootstrapping together a trip
to learn about cacao, and sniff out the possibilities of all the
different facets of this absurd vision...as I try to weave together
enough of it to create a viable business model to jump start the dream,
and chase ofter the vision with the reckless abandon of a hopeless
romantic and youthful idealists.

Armed with some amazing wisdom dolled out in homeopathic doses from
elders like Sandy Hepler, Andy Langford, Albert Bates, my amazing
parents, and a whole host of encouraging folks with more years under
their belt I plunge on ahead making enough mistakes to sink any but the
fiercely determined...

And the best part is...its all fun.

Learning about the ins-and-outs of cacao production and it’s
transportation and marketing is like a microcosm of the global
commodities market...and addressing this head on to create a business
model that functions for people and the planet is an edge that many
folks are surfing with the advent of Financial Permaculture, True Cost Economics, B Corps, BALLE and triple bottom line accounting.

sometimes the juggling act that has allowed me to really jump head long
into this quest can be a bit taxing...but the learning curve for
automating that part of my life that had, heretofore, been in my way is
all part and parcel of learning to be an eco-social entrepreneur.

And the people I am meeting along the way, the story book friendships
and serendipitous connections make me shake my head in wonder at times
as I plunge ahead into un-chartered waters with a gin on my face and
love in my heart.



So,

that is one of the base harmonies and driving beats of my vision.
There are certainly more ins and outs...and some important crescendos
that have not been unveiled (i am certain that even I will be surprised
by many of developments that will be sparked by this unfolding
dream)....



my vision is a part of a flowering conspiracy or resonant regeneration

“The question is not who else is in a conspiracy and what they are
doing. The question is, are you in a conspiracy, and if not...why?”
C.A. Fitts

so, my conspiracy laid bare in the full embrace of open source philosophy, I offer this question to the world...



what is your conspiracy? how do you want to change the world? and what are you doing about it?

Matagalpa, Finca Las Palmas

With sweat running down my brow I pushed up over the latest hill in the 20 kilometer trek through the verdant hills of the Matagalpa district of Nicaragua.

I am here trekking through the emerald landscape of the tropics chasing a dream, and as my vision cleared the hill I was climbing, that dream seemed to snap into vivid reality as a familiar looking, steep sided cerro rose majestically from the landscape.

Atop the cerro, a red flag waived in the day breeze giving the impression that a fort lay hidden under the green canopy of the tropical forest that blanketed the cerro.



walking down the drive way to a non-descript concerete house, coconut, mango, limon, orange, grapefruit, pineapple, papaya and guayaba surroung the house, and cattle can be seen in a muddy little pen.

The place is vibrant, verdent, lush...in a word....green

friendly faces greet us, and a couple of teens (Michaela and Clinton) take us on a walk about to see cerro molsun form the top of a hill.



The finca that I am visiting is a 250 Manzano (50 acres) small holding owned by a family. Finca Las Palmas is a part of the Campesina Cooperative in Matagalpa Dstrict of Nicaragua. I am visiting to learn about their gorwing techniques and to find a Criollo Variety of cacao that my chocolate mentor Sandy used to make some amazing, distinct chocolate a few years back.

As we tour around with the owners of the Farm, Don Eloy and his Grandsons, we find out a few interesting facts...some quite concerning.


As it turns out, of the 1500 cacao trees that make are grown int he shade of a little more than an acre, Don Eloy is activly selecting for a new species that produces larger fruits.
He is grafting the new species, recently arrived from who knows where, onto the older native root stocks that offer disease and draugh resistence. This is a pretty common practice in orchardry, but We came in the hopes we would be able to ask Don Eloy to sort out some of the Lower producing, but more nuanced and flavorfull Criollo fruits so we could experiment with single estate pure Criollo cacao in our artisinal, small batch chocolate production back on the Ecovilave Training Center.

After some consersation it became apparent that the switch over to higher yeilding vareities would take a few years, and during that time Don Eloy would sort his cacao into varieties (something no one in the area...and potentialy no one anywhere) is doing. The main buyer in the area is German chocolate giant Ritter Sport. They buy a very small percentage of their total cacao intake from the area, but it is one of their flag ship Fair Trade organic sources that was develooped in conuntion with the German International Development Agency. Small buyers and Chocolatiers like us are very nearly squeezed out, although through cooperation a few manage to survive and are now working towards finding the better quality and more refined vareities instead of the bulk grab bag that is purchased by Ritter Sport and other big companies.

Currently the state of cacao growing is akin to throwing all the different vareities of grapes from an entire region into one mash, and calling it red wine.

While that may produce some great table wine, for the consosour its nice to distinguish all the interesting flavors that come from different varieties and different soils.

A few crafts people and artisinal chocolate makers have made this kind of effort...but its few and far between.

As a way to boost the market price and start working towards a direct connection between consumers and producers, Sandy, Don Eloy and I all agree that starting to sort the varieties and label their origin, harvest time and names will be a good move no matter what variety he ends up choosing.

Our hope is that through continued interaction with Don Eloy and his small farm we can work towards INCREASING the varieties he grows to help buffer disease and pests, as well as provide a myriad of interesting cacao flavors form this region that has been producing wild cacao for thousands of years.

La Esperanza: Mt. Mambacho

Mt. Mombacho soars over the quaint Colonial town of Granada in Nicaragua, Central America. Overlooking Lago Nicaragua, the biggest lake in Central America, Mombacho is quite a majestic site.

With verdant slopes and plenty of water, Mombacho is also home to Finca La Esperanza, a Cacao and Coffee growing farms that produces high quality, certified organic, shade grown cacao and coffee for the local and international markets.

I am plunging head long into a personal education and passionate exploration of the world of Cacao and Chocolate as I work to combine a Fair Trade Chocolate Business with my passion for permaculture, travel, and learning. So taking a nice long walk up the slopes of Mt. Mambacho to see La Esperanza, where some of the Cacao that I am using to make the super suave Tennessee Booya Chocolate in a Jar for some of our local CSAs seemed like just the trip.

Esperanza has a multi-layered agroforestry approach to growing their crops.

With a high canopy to provide “Sombra Alto” (High Shade) and intermediate canopy intermixed, Cacao and coffee are both medium to lower canopy trees.

The inter-cropping of Coffee and Cacao allows to highly valuable export crops to be grown in close proximity in a way that mimics the natural structure of a neo-tropical forest.
According to Don Amado, the foreman at La Esperanza, there are Three distinct varieties of Cacao grown on the farm: Indio a light colored variety from El Salvador, Forrestero, a deep red vareiety from the Amazon, and Crillollo, the native species that still grows in the region.

Production methods.

After the harvest, Esperanza Ferments their cacao for three days.
This is unique among cacao growers, and creates a very refined and delicious tast. Most growers over ferment their cacao at the request of large Chocolate companies who want the strongest possible flavor in order to put the least amount of cacao in each chocolate bar. In contrast, chocolate that is not over fermented gives a more delicate taste and for connoisseurs, there is little better than a lightly fermented Crillollo bean.

La Esperanza is an organic farm, but to protect some of the older cacao trees they do use a natural pesticide made of coffee and cacao leases and branches ground in water and sprayed over the leaves and trunks of the trees:








A brief History:

Cacao has been an important trade item for thousands of years. used as a currency, a highly sought after drink, and then turned into chocolate by the Europeans, cacao has a rich, and sometimes troubled history.

Like coffee, sugar and tea, cacao was one of the first “drugs” to be trades as a commodity by the colonial powers. because of this cacao has been intertwined with slavery, human trafficking, and environmental degradation as companies sought to extract as much cacao for the lowest possible price to turn it into chocolate for customers.
Now, Fair trade, and similar movements are helping reconnect consumers directly with growers, and re-establish the healthy and amazing relationship that cacao can help create between people in different parts of the world.

Perhaps once again cacao will be the life blood and currency of exchange for the American Continent.
After all, wouldn't it be better to back our money with something that really does grow on trees?
but that's another story all together.

Stay tuned as we search for the perfect cacao, and the best way to keep it JUST and SUSTAINABLE on its way to the CSAs and local food markets in Tennessee.


Booya Cacao's criteria is:

• Carbon Negative
• Social Just
• High Quality
• Whole Food
• No additives

Start a business to help the world?
yummm...taste the adventure.

Clowning for Social Change

Patrix busting the old fashioned way.
Working in the heat and poverty of Nicaragua to help set up a micro economic engine for a education and nutrition project en Barrio de Santa Rosario, Granada:

One of the hardest part of development of any sort is seeing simple problems go unsolved because of cultural reasons.

While this issues is often pointed to with a scowl of "laziness" by some, there is a deep thread of truth in the idea that our culture often passes down habits of self and social oppression.
The matrix of patriarchial dominance and socio cultural patterns that lead to the perpetuation of unhealthy habits tied to old survival mechanisms is called the Patrix.

By opening the doors of perceptions to the possibility that old ways of seeing the world are potentially nothing more than oppressive habits passed down from the Patrix we can give ourselves the chance to shed old habits and meet the challenges of the day with verve, resilience and fresh intelligence.

One of the best, and oldest, ways of addressing stagnant socio-cultural habits is by calling in the ancient energy of the trickster. Coyote, Loki, Brer Rabbit, Buggs Bunny, and Jokers
to name just some of the many faces that weild the powerful energy of the clown to help teach lessons and change society.


Here is Barrio el Rossario on the outskirts of Granada Nicaragua, there are some significant hurdles for a child to overcome in order to have a real chance in the world.
Mal-nutrition, lack of education and sanitation issues to name a few.

And the Gorrioncitos project lead by Project Director Sandy Hepler is working on all fronts. But not without a sense of humor.
Enter the Gorrioncitos clown club: Los Payacitos.
Los Payacitos practice with Sandy learning acrobatics, juggling, clown tricks and jokes in perperation for a big skit that will poke fun at the neighborhood, the project, Sandy himself, the kids and all aspects of the project and the reasons for the project. This kind of clowning brings light to unresolved issues and allows for a kind of communication that is often times hard to find, and even harder to udnerstand without a little laughter.