One thing everyone who knows me knows without a doubt..I love chocolate. I like it melted, in cakes, in brownies, cookies, ice cream, and pie..mousse, souffle, terrine, and truffles. I like it edible, drinkable, and even body creams, soaps, lotions and such…I just really like chocolate.

I burn chocolate scented candles, and I raise chickens that lay chocolate colored eggs. I want to do my kitchen in milk chocolate colors, cream and red.

See? Chocolate.

Hershey’s Nestle’s and all of the BIG chocolate people are big supporters of buying chocolate on the Ivory coast.

Every day thousands of young boys are used on the cocoa farms in Africa as slave labor. At night they are locked into small concrete rooms for a few hours sleep until they begin work again. They are beaten, abused mentally, emotionally, sexually, and physically. Often they do not survive. Their bodies don’t grow properly, the spine bends and twists under the heavy loads of cocoa beans they carry daily..many become crippled. I wrote an article on this horrible practice of trafficking children.

Everytime you or I buy a can of Hershey’s cocoa, we support what they are supporting. The economy being what it is we feel good if we save money here and there, and organic, fairly traded cocoa is expensive. But the cost of the alternative is too much. I will not eat bloodied chocolate if I can help it. It is important to put pressure on the big companies. Consumers change things!

If you choose to continue to buy the regular cocoa and chocolate, at least do so with understanding of what you are supporting.

Fair trade chocolate means that farmers are getting a fair price. It means that they cannot use slave labor, and that they must use certain eco friendly practices. It is by no means a perfect system..but it is better than anything else we have.

The bad thing is that you can not usually run into the store and grab a can of fair trade chocolate. You must get it on the internet. You may need to experiment and see what brands suit you best…the price is a little more, but the cost is much more reasonable!

Equal Exchange carries all kinds of Fair Trade and Farmer Co op products. Their cocoa is cultivated on their cacao trees with gentle, shade-grown, chemical-free farming methods. This creates the natural environment preferred by cacao trees as well as native wildlife and migratory birds. The resulting beans are then sent to Holland for dutch processing to create a rich cocoa suitable for baking and cooking of all types.

Dagoba Chocolate has a fantastic low acid, single origin cocoa. This is a luxury cocoa (read $$$)

Dean’s Beans has a very reasonably priced Fair Trade cocoa

Sweet Earth has literally tons of organic/fair trade baking supplies. Lots of different types of chocolate at very reasonable (and similar to Hershey’s) prices.

Sweetwater Market has Fair Trade Ccoa as well.

As consumers ask for Fair Trade products more then more retailers will carry them…more manufacturers will want to manufacture them, not because it is the right thing to do,but because it is the financially correct thing to do.

But you know what? Those kids who will no longer be kidnapped to be sold as slaves on the cocoa plantations? They won’t care why.

I once got into a deep argument with someone who felt that fair trade would not guarantee that kids were not kidnapped for slavery. They felt it would continue no matter what.

I will not argue that. As long as humankind is unredeemed in spirit awful things will happen. We know that. But my money does not have to be supporting those awful things.

Images:(c)Marye Audet 

Content Marye Audet for Baking Delights 

Post from: Baking Delights