On the 14th of April, Secretariat and I plan to compete in a 35 km trail run in Woodside. We have invited Randall, the join us. On Thursday of this week, I intend to begin tapering for that run by running a shorter distance each day forward. Generally, that means running 1 to 2 miles, less, each consecutive day, starting Thursday through the following Sunday. Then from Monday through Thursday limiting my trail runs to an hour or hour and a half each day.
Today, Secretariat and I plan to run 10 to 15 miles. Tomorrow’s run is likely to be roughly the same distance. Anyway, that is my plan.
I have some news for all the chocolate lovers. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal on March 30, 2012, Fredy Pinchi Pinchi is currently in the Amazon jungle. You might be wondering, who is this guy and he is doing what? All right, he is a 31 year old agronomist searching for a hardier and more prolific cocoa tree. Currently, the major chocolate suppliers are looking for better trees since the existing cocoa trees are too old, fragile and low yielding.
Fredy is looking for an elite plant since a lot of people depend on cocoa. According to estimates, the global consumption of cocoa will surge by 25% to about 5 million metric tons by 2020. Unfortunately, the process of grafting different kinds of cocoa trees to achieve the right genetic mix takes years. In fact, this year, to make things worse, the world’s biggest cocoa growing region, in West Africa experienced blasts of hot winds that seared the plants, pushing up prices 15% from a three-year low.
Some in this cocoa industry are predicting a potential problem of supply with demand increasing. Incidentally, the cocoa tree’s scientific name Theobroma cacao translated means “food of the gods.” I totally agree with the Greek description. Unless Fredy finds the right cocoa variety that yields bigger beans, expect the price of chocolate to rise. Come on Fredy I am counting on you.
0 comments:
Post a Comment