chocolate

Halloween Candy Round-Up

scleaver — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:36:27 -0400

This Halloween, you can hand out the dreaded popcorn balls, my favorite Mary Jane Peanut Butter Kisses, or any combination of mini-candy bars, tiny bag of M&Ms, or an assortment of sugar-loaded candy corn. Or, you can go green.

To get you started, here are some candy suggestions from The Green Guide.

And some more delicious options:

Organic Yummy Earth lollipops and hard candy.

Mini chocolate squares or chocolate “bug bites” from Endangered Species Chocolates (10 percent of the profits go to support “species, habitat, and humanity”).

And, The Natural Candy Store has every type of candy, from caramels to licorice to jelly beans, and promises “all the fun without the funny stuff.”

And, to educate your little ghosts and goblins, check out fair trade chocolate bars and bags with the “Fair Trade Ghost” at The Global Exchange store.

What are you passing out this Halloween eve?

Photo from Good Without Gluten.

Happy Fair Trade Month!

scleaver — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Happy Fair Trade Month! This October, as you stock up for Halloween and heading into the holidays, consider what Fair Trade means to you:

Fair Trade certification is, according to Transfair USA, “a market-based model of international trade that benefits over one million farmers and farm workers in 58 developing countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.” Basically, look for the Fair Trade label and you’re telling the world what’s important to you one dollar at a time.

Among the principals of Fair Trade that you can advocate for: fair prices for farmers, including a living wage, safe working conditions, direct trade that keeps the money in farmers’ pockets and out of those of middlemen, and environmental sustainability.

How is Fair Trade chocolate environmentally sustainable, you ask?

1. Fair Trade products help maintain small ecosystems by working with small-scale farmers, which means better farming practices that protect the environment.

2. Many Fair Trade farmers also use organic practices, so no pesticides or chemicals.

3. After the harvest, Fair Trade farmers are encouraged to compost and find safe ways to dispose of farming waste.

Want to have a bar to celebrate Fair Trade month? Here’s where to find green chocolate. And, Candy Blog reviewed fair trade chocolate, Divine Chocolate or “heavenly chocolate with heart,” and what about that doesn’t sound delicious?

Image from Candy Blog.

Green Your Sweet Tooth

scleaver — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Hershey’s is “milk chocolate” no more; now it’s “chocolate candy” instead, because the company replaced the cocoa butter with vegetable oil in an attempt to reduce costs. But, as Eat. Drink. Better. reported, Hershey’s has never been the best at providing fair trade (not to mention green) chocolate anyway. So, with sweet tooth holidays from Halloween to Christmas approaching, here’s how to satisfy your chocolate fix and keep it environmentally friendly:

Eat organic: Organic chocolate is grown and harvested using eco-friendly methods and sustainable agriculture, as well as rBGH hormone free milk.

Look for fair trade labels: low wages, child slavery, and unsafe working conditions are a problem in the cacao industry, a fair trade label ensures that your delicious snack was harvested by farmers who were paid fairly and had safe working conditions. Learn more about that fair trade chocolate campaign at The Global Exchange.

Organic and fair trade chocolates are on shelves everywhere from Target to Whole Foods.

Go for artisan chocolates: Instead of going national, buy local or regional chocolates.

Looking for organic, fair trade, artisan on the web?

Try Coco Zen, Earth's Sweet Pleasures, or Dagoba Organic Chocolate for organic chocolate products. Equal Exchange for fair trade products. And, Theo Chocolate for organic, fair-trade and bean-to-bar.

Photo from Dagoba Organics.

Hot Chocolate: The Wedding Favors That Save the Planet

ckane — Mon, 19 May 2008 12:25:07 -0400

This is one of the best ideas I've seen yet for a pre-made green wedding favor: Endangered Species Chocolate. The company donates 10% of profits to protect "species, habitat and humanity," and they are partnered with Chimp Haven, The Ocean Conservancy, and a Nigerian co-op.

They offer a few different options for wedding and party favors, to name a few: for $35, you can get 144 squares of ethically traded, milk and/or dark chocolate. Or for the same price, you can get 120 squares of organic dark chocolate. They also sell boxes of organic, ethically-traded chocolate bars in three flavor variations. (So when some wise guy at your wedding claims that tree-huggers care more about the planet than people, throw this factoid from the Endangered Species Chocolate website back at 'em: "By purchasing ethically traded chocolate, we guarantee cacao farmers a fair wage that lead to more sustainable farming practices.")

These would also work for out-of-towner gift bags...but if you're planning a green wedding, you may not be so hot on the idea of including 100 or 200 bags of more stuff in your event. But talk about a feel-good wedding favor: gourmet chocolate plus organic, plus all the causes, plus ethically traded.

Cocoa Crisis Averted: Valentine's Day Saved

scleaver — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

There's an article about cocoa farming—something nearer and dearer to our hearts the closer it gets to February 14th -- in The Economist this week, In January, Cadbury Schweppes, the company that brought you the Cadbury crème egg and the Cadbury Dairy Milk bar, was feeling the heat. Prices for cocoa and other raw materials were high, anti-obesity campaigns weren’t making for good PR. Cocoa farmers in Ghana weren’t producing as much as the company needed, and the children these farming families weren’t seeing the benefit of growing cocoa for another generation.

So, on January 28, an understandably frantic Cadbury announced that it was starting a “Cadbury Cocoa Partnership.” Over the next decade the company will spend $87 million to invest in seeds, teach their cocoa farmers techniques on how to collaborate, and help them diversify their farmland with red peppers, mangoes, and coconuts that grow well with cocoa trees. To free up time for women and children, they’re building water wells on farms. And, in the future, there’s talk of funding schools and libraries.

This may sound altruistic—but the bottom line is never far from Cadbury’s mind. As The Economist reported, “without cocoa supplies from Ghana, Cadbury would be in big trouble.” Ghana provides “all the cocoa for Cadbury’s British operations and 70% of its world wide supply.” Of course, Cadbury isn’t the only company reaching out. America’s chocolate giant, Mars, is also pledging to help develop chocolate farming in West Africa and is partnering with development agencies to do so.

There is another way for companies to help farmers in developing countries. Fairtrade is an international movement that works to change international trade and provide above-market payments to farmers and protect them from drastic changes in the market. (Cadbury and Starbucks buy some of their commodities). In theory, Cadbury and Mars could just buy chocolate from them, but then they wouldn’t get so involved with the production—which is what they’re really worried about, and I agree, chocolate production must go on.

So, it’s good news that Cadbury, Mars, and Fairtrade are working to keep cocoa growers in business. In the meantime, need Valentine’s Day Chocolates? Try these links: the luxurious Godiva, Michigan’s local Morley Candy, or find it all at www.chocolate.com.

Dinner With Dave is Delightful (and Organic)

salbert — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Dinner with my “green” architect Dave was delightful. I managed to choke down some chickpeas and even chew them! I must really like this guy.

After dinner we sat by the fire and he made us some amazing tea. I know. I never thought I ‘d hear myself say that ‘tea’ could be amazing but this was insanely tasty. The tea came in these really cool biodegradable pyramid-like tea bags.

We sat on this awesomely fluffy rug (that I totally want for my home) by the burning java-log fire. Dave told me about growing up in a large family with three brothers from Oregon. His dad actually had a Christmas tree farm! He shared with me how he’d work on the farm and they also gave sleigh rides to the local kids. It sounded like a fairytale.

“It would make me secretly sad though,” he said as I was hoping he wouldn’t be too sensitive. “Where would all these trees go after Christmas was over?”

Growing up Jewish in New York, such things never crossed my mind. “Where do old Christmas trees go to die?" I asked.

“You can turn them into mulch.” Mulch? It sounds Yiddish.

He looks at my city girl face and explains to me, “You chop or grind smaller branches for wood chips touse in flower, tree and shrub beds. Larger branches can be cut into smaller bundles for winter protective mulch around newly planted perennials and small shrubs.”

“So you do have a ‘green’ thumb too, huh?”

“Let’s take our tea to the back yard and I’ll show you some of my work.”

Cool. He leads me to the backyard and there’s this amazing wood deck with beautiful shrubs and flowers everywhere.

“I don’t feel like I’m in the city at all! This is such a little haven,” Dave said. Get this: he built this himself! Ok, I can’t even hang curtains without messing up my whole apartment. Color me impressed.

“I have something for you”, he said, with a sly sexy smile.

I wonder what it could be? He ducks into the kitchen for a minute and comes out with a couple of soy candles that he lights, and a decadent box of chocolates.

I bite into one of these organic fair trade beauties and before I know it, Architect Dave kisses me.

Wow. Now that beats a regular Hershey’s kiss any day!

Hey--did you miss the beginning of RiverWired's new Green Reality Series: Girls Gone Green? Come on, catch up. Check out Shari’s previous posts here.