Ryan and I fasted from chocolate for
lent. We did this because some 40% of the cocoa beans used to produce chocolate (Hershey, M&M/Mars, etc) come from the Ivory Coast of Africa, where there are over 12,000 children who have been forced into slavery. Haven't a clue as to how the words "slave" and "chocolate" are linked? Go to a few of these articles ....
We took the 40 days to contemplate and decide what our responsibility is to this issue. We concluded that we would only buy "fair trade," chocolate. That is, chocolate produced without the labor of enslaved kids. Trader Joe's actually carries a really good Milk Chocolate bar which is fair trade. And a local market in town carries many of the
Endangered Species chocolate bars, which I haven't really taken to, but you might. I found a great website which lists those chocolate producing companies which are "fair trade." Here is the link:
http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/coffee/retailers.htmlReally, when it comes down to it, how much chocolate do I really need to eat anyway? And I know fair trade purchases aren't the most convenient or cheap, but it's the right decision, for us, anyway.
p.s. I started this blog with the intention of posting some fun Easter pictures of the girls, but somehow that just doesn't seem to fit with this whole slavery-kid theme. So, you'll have to wait for the pics. Sorry!
1 comment:
Thanks for this information, Amber.
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