The Mayans are believed to be the first people to have discovered and cultivated the cacao plant for food.
It was then that Whinney realized his passion for the cacao plant.
Although Whinney had a strong passion for the cacao plant, he could not work with the crop unless the social and economic degradation found amongst the farmers ended.
It occurs in the cacao plant.
Because the cacao plant is used to make chocolate it also occurs in chocolate.
Those who wish a taste of spring can find abundant tropical orchids, desert cactuses and even exotic banana and cacao plants.
The Olmec share several features with later Maya culture, including extensive jaguar-worship, a diet dominated by maize, and the use of the cacao plant.
Chocolate is made from the seeds of the cacao plant, Theobroma cacao.
Some coffee farmers cultivated cacao plants on land already producing robusta coffee.
But despite chocolate's popularity in the United States and Europe, the cacao plant is in trouble.