I’m going to make this appeal extremely short and straightforward: Please don’t by chocolate this Easter (unless it’s certified Fair Trade). Here is why:
- Nearly half of the worlds chocolate comes from Cote d’Ivoire in West Africa.
- Thousands of children are forced to work on cocoa farms there (not family farms, forced labor: slavery)
This is different then the fair-trade vs. free-trade argument that comes up regarding coffee and some other commodities. This is a certified (meaning independent regulators, investigation etc) vs. unregulated (meaning enslaved children are likely harvesting the cocoa for your chocolate).
I’m very glad that legalized slavery was eliminated in this country many years ago, but our unconscious consumers is fueling slavery today. Buy jelly beans or something this Easter, but if your going to buy chocolate please make it fair trade.
Fair Trade chocolate options: Equal Exchange, Global Exchange, Cadbury (but not this year, they have http://www.stopthetraffik.org/news/press/cadbury.aspx that there Dairy Milk product will be Fairtrade certified by late 2009)
Will you avoid buying chocolate this Easter?
Thanks Ariah. I had no idea. No more non-Fair Trade chocolate for me…
Thanks Ariah. naturalcandy.com also has good options (including chocolate easter bunnies for those that can't do easter without biting the ears off of a bunny…)
so good to see so many people asking people to go slave-free on their easter chocolate.
so good.
Hmmm, good I don't even really LIKE chocolate!
thanks ariah! I think food choices are so important. How we spend money on food impacts people, the environment and our health across the globe. Sometimes what is the cheapest doesn't mean what is the best, for us, our health or others producing the food around the world. This is an important conversation. I'd love to hear more of your thoughts on food and justice issues. I have some fantastic reads if you're interested!
Very cool, I've never heard of them before.
Often I'm disappointed that the “natural” and “organic” options (like food coops) don't take fair trade into consideration, particularly related to chocolate.
Glad people can have their cake and eat it too with the bunnies. Probably need to order ASAP to get them in time.
🙂 That definitely makes it easier. Like my non-red meat eating habits…
Yeah you guys are much farther along then me I think. I'd be interested in your thoughts. The fair trade thing on issues like chocolate are a no brainer for me. When it comes to some of the other things (local/global, pesticides, etc) I'm a little less sure where I stand. Particularly, I'd like to stick to a conscience food choice for our family that is within reach of all those in our community, financially and resource wise (does that last sentence make sense?)
Hey Ariah, I am glad to hear people talking about this issue. I have some friends who are passionate about this issue and they put together http://bakeforward.com/ It is a simple, tasty way to raise awareness about slave chocolate.
Greg,
Thanks for stopping by! Definitely encouraged by others taking a forward step on this issue. Cool looking website too. Thanks for the resource.
but it's going to take the pioneers willing to show love to others and for the earth who just bite the bullet, make the sacrifice, and just choose to eat/shop differently to get the ball rolling. Eventually, yes, i do think ethical consumption will be in everyone's reach. but as long as the rumor that loving others is elitist prevails that will never happen
Try reading The Food Revolution or Diet for a New America and you won't want to eat the other colors of meat either.
Point taken. But I hope what I said didn't come across as “loving others is elitist”, I don't hold that view nor do I know of anyone that does (do you?).
I consider myself one who “bites the bullet” and makes the sacrifice, but I try to aim for a lifestyle that is attainable by all in our community, not just the economically privileged (not that I'm there, but that's what I'd like to shoot for). To be specific, I'll dumpster dive and shop thrift stores before I'll shop at over-priced and out-of-reach coops (a good place to buy fair trade cocoa, but much of it seems out of reach of our food budget).
I hope that's making sense. My point isn't to critique anyone's choices on this, but to articulate that I'm aiming for a specific eat/shop differently lifestyle that I can encourage all of my neighbors to live, regardless of income.
My point was that eating organically or buying clothing that was made fairly has been branded as elitist because it costs more to the consumer. It's become about our bottom line. We would rather keep buying what we want and pass on the expense to those poorer than ourselves. To me the easiest way to keep people from embracing ethical living is to brand it as elitist. It's the best marketing ploy around that ensures that standard methods that hurt workers won't ever be challenged by the average joe.
I'm great with thrift stores and the like. But if I know I can get fair-trade cocoa by simply being willing to pay full price for the item (instead of cheating the workers of wages) and choose to instead personally save a buck by buying what's cheap – I'm placing myself above others and failing to love. To me it would be better to go without the item. I think there are multiple ways that our lifestyles can change. just consuming more (but hey, it's organic!) shouldn't be our only option. But neither should ignoring that as unfeasible – there are ways for it to work on most budgets. I totally understand wanting to make this attainable for everyone – but that won't happen overnight. there has to be some people out there doing it and paving the way for it to ever happen.
maybe that makes sense – my brains in a bit of a fog at the moment…
I think it can be easy what can I do with my limited resources? I recently have looked at my money more carefully lately. While not buying Easter chocolate would be good, it might be hard for the chocolate companies to get the message. If you find a way to buy Fair Trade chocolate instead, they'll get the message sooner. It is a nearly impossible task to try to buy everything you need in a way that fits your budget and ethics, but we need to think of our purchases as small ethical/political/spiritual statements. Thanks for the alert on the chocolate, now I can be empowered to make my a small statement if/when I purchase chocolate in the future. If we all make these small statement they'll be like those little mustard seeds that grow like crazy.
I think it can be easy what can I do with my limited resources? I recently have looked at my money more carefully lately. While not buying Easter chocolate would be good, it might be hard for the chocolate companies to get the message. If you find a way to buy Fair Trade chocolate instead, they'll get the message sooner. It is a nearly impossible task to try to buy everything you need in a way that fits your budget and ethics, but we need to think of our purchases as small ethical/political/spiritual statements. Thanks for the alert on the chocolate, now I can be empowered to make my a small statement if/when I purchase chocolate in the future. If we all make these small statement they'll be like those little mustard seeds that grow like crazy.
Elijah, I definitely agree with your logic. In most cases (including chocolate) I recommend active consumerism, including a phone call or letter to the companies about your decision.
The one difference with chocolate is, they way I see it, the less demand, the less need for child slavery. So even with out choosing to by fair trade, simply lower demand would have a specific benefit.
At the same time, I'm always an advocate of fair and ethical alternatives.
Thanks for sharing the site, Greg. And yes, please DO buy chocolate this Easter. Lots of chocolate. But fairtrade and ethically produced chocolate. This will shift the market toward fairtrade chocolate if enough people start to do it.
Check out http://bakeforward.com for lots of tips on how to have a slave-free Easter, as well as some cool awareness projects you can be a part of. And follow us on twitter @bakeitforward
I checked out your blog and it looks pretty interesting. I'll keep up as I can.
I agree, there is definitely a benefit to choosing a fairtrade option rather then not buying any.
At the same time, I run into people all the time that seem to think looking for alternatives, going to a coop, ordering online, or whatever other “outside the norm” steps are just too much to change their habits. Chocolate is not a necessity and reducing consumption of cocoa in general reduces the demand, so I feel it's about the easiest step to make to simply not purchase it, and it makes a much more clear and specific ultimatum.
Ariah and bakeitforward, you are both on a list i just compiled on my blog. just a heads up-
I'm pretty new to economics, and am trying to fill my head with as much information as I can, so forgive me if this doesn't make sense. But this is why Bake it Forward isn't encouraging a boycott (at least as I understand it):
First of all, keep in mind that fairtrade chocolate companies provide really good jobs for people who really need them. The cacao industry is full of poverty and slavery, and these companies provide fair wages and healthy work environments in a region of the world that really needs them. Boycotting all chocolate would hurt that those companies right alongside the bad ones, and thus hurt the workers themselves.
At this point in time, there isn't a huge market for fairtrade chocolate because consumers prefer chocolate that is cheap and convenient, and companies respond to that demand. If more people were educated about the availability of fairtrade chocolate and the reasons to purchase it, that market would increase, and there would be space for larger companies to join the movement in order to share in on that potential profit.
If there is no demand for fairtrade chocolate, there will be no need for companies to produce it. Additionally, it's expensive for companies to make the switch to fairtrade, and they will not do it unless they are certain there is a market for it, so that they can make back the money they lost in the transition. Purchasing lots of fairtrade chocolate shows companies that the consumer demand is there, and that it's safe for them to transition their company. A boycott does nothing to grow the fairtrade market, and thus gives companies no incentive to switch. There's really no reason for a boycott, except for clearing one's own conscious- it's not proactive.
I agree with you that a lot of people are unwilling to make the switch because it's harder to find fairtrade chocolate. But if each person in this country purchased just a few fairtrade bars per year, this would vastly increase the fairtrade chocolate market and give lots of companies the incentive to make the switch. It doesn't necessarily have to be every single bar that people buy- every little bit will help.