Chocolate - delicious anytime, anywhere!
I’ll be the first to admit it – I’m a chocoholic. Now, don’t get me wrong – there are much, much worse things to be addicted to. But really, there’s nothing better than a piece of (dark, always dark) chocolate to get you through a challenging afternoon at work or to top off a delicious meal. Or after a Sunday afternoon bike ride or as a mid-morning treat. You get the picture. With proven health benefits when eaten in moderation (AKA – eat a piece and not a whole bar in some but not all of the situations above), many are now enjoying this delectable treat guilt-free … well, almost guilt free.
According to Statistics Canada, Canadians purchase 6.7 kilograms of chocolate per person each year. Last year, nearly $47 million worth of cocoa products came in to our country.
Graph Taken from TransFair Canada
Where is this chocolate produced, you ask? The majority of the world’s cocoa production comes from West Africa – 43% from Côte d’Ivoire, 15% by Ghana, 7% by Nigeria, and 4% by Cameroon. Sadly, the conditions on many of these cocoa farms are inhumane and hazardous – the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), reports that more that 284,000 children are working in hazardous conditions on cocoa farms. Save the Children Canada reports that 15,000 children between the ages of 9 and 12 have been sold into forced labour on cocoa farms in West Africa in the last few years. These children work 12-14 hours a day, scattering pesticides, chopping cocoa trees with sharp machetes, and hauling heavy bags of beans. Cocoa farmers are exploited in a different way – getting paid such a low price for their beans ($30 – $110 a year) that they can’t afford medicine, food, clean water or schooling for their children.
Fortunately, there is something each of us can do to support safe working conditions and adequate pricing – purchase fair-trade chocolate. When an item is labeled Fair Trade, it means not only a fair price is ensured to the farmers, but it also guarantees that decisions around Fair Trade revenues are democratically decided within communities, fair labour conditions are met (including living wages and the prohibition of forced child labour), direct trade between producers and importers is ensured, and environmental standards are upheld.
For us Canadians, recognizing and purchasing Fair Trade certified chocolate is relatively easy. For more information on the certification process, visit Canada’s nonprofit Fair Trade certification organization, Transfair, which is a member of Fairtrade Labelling Organizations (FLO) International. To ensure you’re purchasing independently certified fair trade chocolate, look for one of these labels:
Canada's Fair Trade Certified Label
International Fair Trade Certified Label
Fair Trade Vancouver provides great information on certified Fair Trade chocolates that are available in Metro Vancouver. To find places near you that carry such chocolates, check out this this interactive map (details stores, restaurants and outlets across Canada).
In the Vancouver area, here are some great chocolates to try out:
- Cocoa Camino, by Ottawa-based co-operative, La Siemba – http://www.cocoacamino.com/
- Dagoba Organic Chocolate, based in Ashland, OR – http://www.dagobachocolate.com/
- Endangered Species Chocolate, who donates 10% of net profits to help support species, habitat, and humanity – http://www.chocolatebar.com/
- Green and Black’s, originating from the UK – http://www.greenandblacks.com/
- Organic Fair, a Cobble Hill, BC artisan and farm – http://www.organicfair.com/
- Denman Island Chocolates, all bars will be 100% Fair Trade Certified this year; currently, Cocoa Loco and Rosemary, Baby bars are 100% Fair Trade Certified. All bars are Certified Organic - http://www.denmanislandchocolate.com/
- Terra Nostra Organic Chocolate, an organic and fair trade shop in Vancouver – http://www.terranostrachocolate.com/
I can testify – from personal experience, of course – that Cocoa Camino and Terra Nostra are delicious. With all of the choices we are faced with as consumers, purchasing Fair Trade chocolate is an easy and effective one. Indulge (in moderation), dear friends and readers!
Consumers are powerful and if we use our money with compassion and wisdom we can change the world.
-Source Unknown