Chocolate Around the World

This breakfast club discussed every girl’s favorite topic, chocolate. Maya Schoop Rutten, chocolate maker, businesswoman and mother of Anacapa student, Ila Rutten, visited to discuss chocolate throughout the world. Maya talked about chocolate production in places around the world, such as Africa, Venezuela, Cuba and Indonesia. She talked about the four varieties of cocoa bean and explained the many-step process of even preparing the beans for production. In the end, she stressed the importance of knowing your ingredients and where they come from, in order to eliminate chocolate made from the cheap labor of exploited workforces.

Student response: “The speaker who gave the best presentation and really moved me was Maya Rutten of Chocolate Maya.  When she spoke, I could tell she was really passionate about chocolate, food, and traveling.  Her presentation was well rounded with a slide show, not to mention the fact that she was a great speaker.  I didn’t just learn about chocolate, but I learned about culture and whole, organic food.  I already buy most of my food organically, but she really taught me more about where chocolate comes from and what people do to get it.  She said something that really stuck with me.  It was “a little bit of something with quality is better than a lot of something without.”  I’m not sure exactly how she worded it, but it really changed my outlook on a lot of different things, not only food but everything.  I’ve found that simplicity is really key to a balanced lifestyle.  As a whole, her presentation sparked my interest to pursue traveling and to study nutrition.  Even though this was a presentation about chocolate, I got much more out of it, and nutrition is definitely something I will consider as a major in college.  Even if I change my mind, I still would love to travel, and she really inspired me to love what I do.” – H. E. (grade 11)