Feb 23, 2010

be a sweetheart!

So, it came to my attention that not all things sweet are tasty.

I was watching a popular show that had an entire chocolate room done by Godiva (yummmo!) and I've always wondered where on earth their chocolate came from because I know there is no cacao trees in Belgium, or Europe for that matter. Just curiosity. Color me surprised (not quite) when I found out most of the high end chocolate is from the birthplace of the cacao bean, the Americas, and the bulk of chocolate, 50-70% is from West Africa (think the more popular, cheaper, American brands). No surprise there. Of course, in the typical way of the world, most farmers of cacao (six major provi
ders - Ivory Coast, Ghana, Indonesia, Nigeria, Brazil, and Cameroon) don't receive anything near a fair price for their goods, many of the workers are underage - don't do it to the children, pleeeease :(, some work in slave-like conditions, and most have never tasted chocolate.

Now I have little to no money but I think that supporting fair trade vendors is more important than buying my favorite Hershey bar, or Mars bar (Milky Way *long sigh*), or Nestle product (me love some Milo). Maybe when I see the prices of Whole Foods chocolate I'll eat less. Good idea all around. Soon, I'll be broke trying to eat and dress fair (yes, I am going to go there one day *sigh*). I know we all can't stop buying cheaper, more affordable food or clothing but we can make small changes where we can afford to...
so next time you have some chocolate, try to make it as sweet as possible by supporting free-trade chocolatier. Be a sweet tooth with a heart.


Of course I spent some time making sure that Catch chocolate was fair trade...click here for that info
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"We must become the change we want to see." Mahatma Gandhi

"Every mickle mek a muckle."
Jamaican saying.
Translated: every good effort, no matter how minor, can amount to something meaningful.