Have you ever discovered something so good, you just HAVE to tell someone about it? I’ve recently had this very experience, and we need to talk. The discovery (or more accurately, re-discovery) is cacao—specifically cacao nibs. I wrote about their health value in 2014. But since then, scientists have discovered even more benefits than first supposed. The Aztecs and the Mayans called it “the food of the gods,” and for good reason. For instance, research shows that raw cacao (meaning no added sugar or dairy products):

● Can reduce cataracts

● Can improve heart function

● Can alleviate stress

● Can help with depression

● Is HIGH in antioxidants, flavonoids, sulfur, and magnesium

● Can help raise good cholesterol and lower bad cholesterol

● Can help reduce your risk of cancer

And you don’t need much to reap these benefits. Just an ounce a day will do the trick!

But this is only part of my discovery. The especially exciting part is meeting Lynn and Pearl Giles, who are providing a way for people in the Dominican Republic (DR) to earn a sustainable income through operating a cacao processing facility. They along with Kevin and Melanie Keech, secured a property in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic and equipped it with (a cacao bean cleaner, roaster and winnower) to process cacao beans into nibs. The raw cacao nibs are sold to the general public, bean to bar companies, or made into healthy chocolate at a factory owned by the Giles and Keech families located in Pleasant Grove, Utah. The proceeds are used to pay factory employees and support other DR humanitarian projects.

Now, not only do the local farmers have someone to sell their cocoa nibs to at a fair price, giving them a consistent income, they also hire local residents of Puerto Plata to run the cocoa processing facility. It’s a brilliant win-win arrangement for everyone involved!

If you go to www.habitatcacao.com, you can read more about the health benefits of cacao, purchase the nibs, and also read about all the good Pearl and her friend, Melanie, are doing with their humanitarian efforts as they associate with the Dominican Starfish Foundation. This non-profit organization helps those in need by serving individuals and families in the poorest communities in the DR by providing shelter, food and clothing, assisting with medical needs, advancing educational goals, and providing employment opportunities. Involvement with the Dominican Starfish Foundation is only a part of their story, however. Their service in the DR started in 1992 with the local farmers. They continue each year to expand their service to include more local families and schools.

Since 2014 they’ve been heavily involved in raising funds which have built over 130 homes, built a distribution center for the community of Javillar, made pediatric IV boards and newborn baby kits for a hospital, purchased a school and found sponsors for children so they could attend school, raised over $200K for meals that were desperately needed after several natural disasters and during this Covid 19 pandemic, and so much more.

Along with seeing to immediate needs, their over-arching goal is to help the people help themselves—to create sustainable work and business situations so that people of the DR can live independent and productive lives. Lynn and Pearl feel that with the right kind of help, people can and will move forward, reaching their inherent potential.

So back to the cacao nibs. Considering all the health benefits of this product, it makes good sense to learn how to use these crunchy, non-sweet morsels and incorporate them into your daily diet. While you wouldn’t want to just munch on a handful (the way you would Nestle’s® semi-sweet chocolate chips), you can add a tablespoon to your daily smoothie, chop them fine and blend them into your nut-butter protein balls, or even mix them into your morning oatmeal.

With these ideas to kickstart your creative juices, we at Cook’n would like to host a cacao nibs contest. We’re looking for great ways to use this power-packed food, and in turn, the person with the tastiest recipe (as determined by Lynn and Pearl), will receive 2 packages of Habitat Cacao Nibs! Email your ideas and/or recipes to barbara@dvo.com. We’ll get them to Lynn and Pearl. (Please give us a month or so to test the entries before we announce the winner.)

In the meantime, go to www.habitatcacao.com for some inspirational reading about their cacao miracle and consider assisting their incredibly unselfish endeavors by purchasing their nibs. Finally, remember these words of the Master: "Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."