Cocoa beans

Hi all.

Sorry if this is too far off topic.

I, and a few of my friends, are looking to get our hands on some cocoa beans on a semi-regular basis. We do not want to go through the giant conglomerate middle-men. We would *much* prefer to pay the farmers directly. Especially little farmers operating very close to the land.

I know many of you have an awareness of farming practices outside of your own home, and so I was wondering if you know of a way to make this happen, or, even better, a specific farmer I can contact from whom to buy beans.

Cheers!

-limbo

Are you in the US? You're looking to have them shipped to you?

(I don't have a resource to connect you to, but knowing what continent you're on will help everyone help you more easily.)

Yes to both. I am in Boston, and I'd like to pay to have the beans shipped to me. (not sure what that entails yet... customs, inspection, etc.)

There are blogs out there on what this entails for coffee, I imagine chocolate is similar. Not for the faint of heart.