Why One Island Grows 80% of the World’s Vanilla

By and large, Americans seem to like vanilla ice cream better than chocolate. The International Ice Cream Association, which should know, puts vanilla at the top of the charts as first choice of 29 percent of ice-cream eaters, feebly followed by chocolate (8.9 percent), butter pecan (5.3 percent), and strawberry (5.3 percent).

Given our passion for vanilla, it seems peculiar that “plain vanilla” is the going synonym for anything basic, bland, or blah. A plain-vanilla wardrobe lacks pizzazz; plain-vanilla technologies lack bells and whistles; plain-vanilla automobiles miss out on chrome, fins, and flashy hood ornaments; and plain-vanilla music is the sort of soulless drone that afflicts us in elevators. The truth is, though, that plain vanilla is anything but dull.

Nor is it easy to make. In fact, if not for one 12 year old child,vanilla may still be the elite item that was added a dash at a time to it the Aztecs' Drink of the Gods, chocolate.

This week, a look at why one island grows 80% of the world’s vanilla.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "We are born charming, fresh and spontaneous and must be civilized before we are fit to participate in society." - Judith Martin (better known by the pen name Miss Manners, an American journalist, author, and etiquette authority, 1938 - ) 
   Why One Island Grows 80% of the World’s Vanilla by fredwine on Scribd