Movie: The Dark Side of Chocolate

Smally daily difference

We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily difference we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.

Marion Wright Edelman

To receive such quotations every day, subscribe to Word for the Day at Gratefulness.org.

I know these words apply to social justice, but right now they connect me to all my reading and thinking about fair trade, which is also social justice. My little effort at only buying Fair Trade chocolate bars has made a big impact on me, but it seems insignificant. But I'm sticking with this.

Happy Halloween!

Awhile ago I ordered a book of vintage Halloween postcards from Amazon.com. They quickly arrived and soon I misplaced them. I had intended to send them to friends, but am now reminded of this saying my father used to repeat: "The road to hell is paved with good intentions," as I have not done so.

Happy Halloween!

This is the first Halloween I have not bought any chocolate for trick-or-treaters, because I am committed to buying only Fair Trade Chocolate candy. (Husband CB complained that we don't have any "good" candy, but that's healthier for us, too.)

Whatever Halloween candy you have in your house, Hungry Girl has a handy guide to those treats. She posts the calories and the Weight Watcher points for each "fun size" and other handouts.

Anne has a cheery Halloween reflection at her Reverent Irreverance blog.

Raise the Bar Hershey!

There is an excellent article "Is There Child Slavery in Your Chocolate?" by John Robbins from the September 24, 2010 Huffington Post that I urge you to read. He gives anecdotal and solid info, with many links about chocolate, including the following report.

"In 2006, Hershey acquired the Artisan Confections Company21, which produces Dagoba Chocolate and Scharffen Berger chocolate22. By acquiring the company, Hershey inherited Dagoba’s cocoa purchasing policies for its specific branded items, which include the “Conacado Bar” that is made using cocoa from the Conacado Fair Trade cocoa cooperative in the Dominican Republic. Dagoba’s drinking chocolate, syrup, and cacao powder are also Fair Trade Certified™.

"Of 22 different chocolate bars, baking products, and drinking chocolate produced by Dagoba, seven are made using Fair Trade Certified™ cocoa. No products under the Hershey label outside of the Dagoba subsidiary use Fair Trade Certified™ cocoa. When considered as part of Hershey’s total product line, these Fair Trade Certified™ products constitute less than one percent of the company’s offerings."

Download the entire report "Time to Raise the Bar: The Real Corporate Social Responsibility Report for the Hershey Company" HERE.

Friday Five: Fall Word Association

Trees in Calgary last week

Singing Owl offers this Fall Word Association for RevGalBlogPals:

Give us the the first word that comes to mind (you know how that works, right?) and then add a little something about why, or how or what.

1. Pumpkins--carved

2. Campfire--rarely experienced, because we did not go camping. My dad was a career Marine and felt that "camping" was too much a part of his job description.

3. Apples--crisp and juicy

4. Color--fall leaves, which do not occur in south TX. I miss colorful and cool autumns.

5. Halloween--costumes, trick or treating
However, this Halloween is different for me since I have become aware of child slavery in the growing of cocoa beans, so I am not buying the usual bags of chocolate mini-bars to hand out to trick-or-treaters. My commitment to buying Fair Trade chocolate bars is getting me to buy non-chocolate candies to hand out. (That is a healthy choice for me--less snitching!)

For more info about child slavery/fair trade chocolate, go here.

Canada beats the USA

Today I found Cadbury Dairy Milk milk chocolate at a local pharmacy here in Calgary that is clearly marked "fair trade." Whenever I look at Cadbury milk chocolate bars in the USA, they are not marked "fair trade" at all. Of course, I have only looked at selected stores in TX and WA State, but I think they are indicative of the products sold all over the USA.

Obviously, there has not been a demand for FAIR TRADE CHOCOLATE in the USA to Cadbury. I guess Kraft bought Cadbury, so that would be the place to write. I emailed Cadbury and asked about American Cadbury Dairy Milk bars not being fair trade and never received a reply. Most annoying.

So I ask you, have you ever seen the above wrapped chocolate in the USA? Please tell me where!!

Reverse Trick-or-Treating!

Global Exchange’s Fair Trade Cocoa Campaign
presents the Fourth Annual:

Reverse Trick-or-Treating!

This Halloween, it is kids who will be giving treats to adults!

Media: Click here to cover Reverse Trick-or-Treating.
Click here for Reverse Trick-or-Treating in Canada!

Thousands of groups of Trick-or-Treaters in the United States and Canada will unite to help:

• END poverty among cocoa farmers
• END forced/abusive child labor in the cocoa industry
• PROTECT the environment
• PROMOTE Fair Trade

How? By distributing Fair Trade chocolate to adults, attached to a card explaining these problems in the cocoa industry and how Fair Trade presents a solution.

Scroll down to request your kit TODAY, while supplies last.

You can also participate by distributing flyers on Halloween!

Reverse Trick-or-Treating is an initiative of Global Exchange’s Sweet Smarts network, in partnership with worker-owned Fair Trade cooperative Equal Exchange, whose vision, leadership, and generous contributions have made Reverse Trick-or-Treating possible.

Thanks to generous donations of Fair Trade chocolate companies listed below.

• Equal Exchange
• Sweet Earth
  
• Coco-Zen

Participating lead nonprofit organizations:

• Ballston Spa Fair Trade Coalition
• Fair Trade Federation
• Fair Trade Resource Network
• Fair Trade Towns/TransFair USA
• Global Exchange
• Green America
• International Labor Rights Forum
• Jeannette Rankin Peace Center
• Montclair Fair Trade Coalition
• NY State Labor-Religion Coalition
• Oasis
• Public Citizen
• San Diego Friends of Fair Trade
• Sustaining Cultures
• Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
• UMCOR of the Board of Global Ministries
• UMC General Board of Church and Society

Participating organizations include: Africa Faith and Justice Network, Americans for Informed Democracy as a Participating, Chicago Fair Trade, DC Fair Trade Network/Meetup, Durham Fair Trade Coalition, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Four Corners of the World/Fair Trade Milwaukee, InterReligious Task Force on Central America.

Organizations (schools, congregations, youth groups, etc organizing multiple groups of Trick-or-Treaters)
Dates to request kits –- October 1 - October 8 (unless supplies run out sooner)
Price: $24 per box of 150 cards/chocolates (maximum 2 boxes per organization) + shipping costs

Organizations: Click here to request a kit

Individuals (one group of Trick-or-Treaters):
Dates to request kits -– September 1 - October 8 (unless supplies run out sooner)
Price: FREE + shipping costs Click here.

A diet aid-->Fair Trade!

Do the supermarkets in your neighborhood have these candy racks right next to the checkout counter? The ones at our local HEB's are much wider and more abundantly supplied.

The last time I was shopping at the store, I was hungry and looked longingly at the candy bars. I rationalized that one would be about 200 calories or maybe 4 Weight Watcher points, which wouldn't be that bed. Then I remembered that none of the candy offered was FAIR TRADE, so I will not buy it. Since I am very aware of the reality of slave labor in the production of cocoa beans, I am trying to be committed in NOT buying such chocolate.

I know I am not completely supporting Fair Trade chocolate, because currently I am still eating desserts and/or ice cream with chocolate components that are most likely not Fair Trade.

I have decided that my small effort to only buy chocolate candy that is Fair Trade chocolate is one little step towards justice. This decision is also helping me to resist the impulse to buy a quick snack of a chocolate bar, which is a healthier choice for me. I feel confident that I will be able to continue on this path, narrow though it may be. (It will definitely alter my Halloween candy buying for this year!)

Where is Fair Trade Chocolate?

Fair Trade Chocolate?

Last night CB and I went looking for Fair Trade chocolate here in Corpus Christi, TX. With all the foreign varieties at World Market, we were disappointed to find none carrying the label "Fair Trade." A few are organic, but not many.

In 2009 Cadbury came out advertising about their commitment to Fair Trade with their Dairy Milk Bar. They are still advocating that endeavor, but I am wondering if the company's recent sale to the Kraft Company will change that. Or is this Fair Trade Cadbury bar only sold in Great Britain or Europe? If anyone knows where Fair Trade Cadbury can be purchased in the United States, please let me know!

None of the bars at World Market carried the United Kingdom or international logos of Fair Trade. The UK logo is seen above and below.


Looking for this logo, I found a blog about Fair Trade, which looks quite interesting.

I love chocolate!

Visiting the Theo Chocolate Factory in Seattle this summer introduced me into the idea of Fair Trade and artisan chocolates. The tour was fun and informative, with snacks of various kinds of Theo chocolate all along the way. I previously blogged about that here.

Since most Fair Trade chocolate seems to be dark chocolate, I have passed it by until this visit. As I wrote in the blog post below, my love for chocolate now is encompassing Fair Trade milk chocolate, which is somewhat similar to semi-sweet chocolate chips, but richer. I feel fortunate that I was introduced to Theo Chocolate and that one store here in Corpus Christi sells it. But it still takes an effort to get over to that store!

Chocolate can also be ordered online from Theo Chocolate.

I probably will stick with milk chocolate, but since I find that the cheaper U.S. milk chocolate is too sweet now, I plan to keep looking out for Fair Trade milk chocolate. I did find that I liked the milk chocolate made by Endangered Species, which does not have the Fair Trade certification on it but is organic. I am thinking that if Fair Trade chocolate is not available, it is better to buy organic certified chocolate, because the growing conditions and hopefully the working conditions are better than the cheaper brands. (Look for the amount of cocoa beans used!)

IF I can find Fair Trade chocolate in Corpus Christi, Texas, I know you can find a Fair Trade brand near where you live!

Fair Trade Chocolate

I have always loved chocolate, especially milk chocolate. Avoiding milk chocolate is one of the difficult things about being on a diet. However, now I am not sure that I like milk chocolate best of all, because I have tasted Fair Trade chocolate.

MJ brought me varieties of Fair Trade chocolate bars from the Whole Foods Market in San Antonio, since not much is available around Corpus Christi, TX. After eating Fair Trade milk chocolate, which has 40-45% cocoa in it, I find that I prefer it much more than the normal U.S. milk chocolate bar. I bought one (on impulse) and found it to be too sweet. Plus, such an average milk chocolate bar has only 10% cocoa and lots more sugar; no wonder I find it so much sweeter.

Since preparing for and participating in the Green Fair at First United Methodist Church this past Sunday, I have learned about the injustice and cruelty perpetrated in the production of cocoa/chocolate. An excellent source to learn about this is here. This site also has an extensive chart showing whether various chocolate companies use slave labor and/or have organic ingredients. Also the book Bitter Chocolate: The Dark Side of the World's Most Seductive Sweet by Carol Off has extensive data and information about the history and current production of chocolate.

Here is a little bit of info about cocoa and slavery:

• West Africa collectively supplies nearly 70% of the world's cocoa AND the Ivory Coast produces nearly half of all all the world's cocoa.

• There are about 600,000 cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast, with an estimated 15,000 children forced to work as slaves on these farms.

• It is estimated that 90% of cocoa farms on the Ivory Coast use child labor.

Since 90% of most U.S. candy purchases are impulse buys, we can affect the large chocolate companies by NOT buying the "slave chocolate" so readily.

We can write to the big chocolate companies and ask them to buy Fair Trade cocoa. (I just ordered some from Amazon.com here.) Tell them that you expect something to be done immediately to ensure that cocoa imported into the U.S. is not harvested by enslaved children.

• Hershey Foods Corporation, 100 Crystal A Drive, Hershey, PA 17033; (717) 534-6799--POST on their Facebook site.
  

• Mars., Inc., 6885 Elm Street, McLean, VA 22101; (703) 821-4900

• Nestle USA, (800) 225-2270
  

Fair Trade

I finished my school project board about fair trade for tomorrow's Green Fair at First United Methodist Church. I pasted info that I typed and wrappers from Fair Trade chocolate bars, tea and coffee on it.

A couple quotes I found from Clawson's book Everyday Justice: The Global Impact of Our Daily Choices:

"Researchers estimate that there are more slaves in the world today than there were during the four hundred years of the African slave trade during the colonial era. The current estimate stands at 27 million." (59)

"Candy companies rely on impulse buys for 90% of their sales. Altering this everyday action can send a huge message to the chocolate companies." (68)

"If we purchase items made by underpaid and abused workers, we participate in their exploitation." (133)