Do you know where your chocolate is coming from?

Elise and I have been learning about the chocolate industry. I had no idea until a few weeks ago that Hershey's is one of the worst companies when it comes to ignoring the horrors of child labor in the cocoa fields... some go even so far as to call it child slavery. I must have been living under a rock because I really had no idea. Hershey’s has known for over 10 years and has done nothing to stop it. That turns my stomach pretty hard- hard enough that I haven't eaten any of my beloved Hershey’s milk chocolate bars since I found out. I guess I could find the blessing in that as an easy way to lose weight, but it's too sad to be funny.

I told Elise that I don't want to eat chocolate that was made by a child her age, who can't go to school because they have to work all day instead. I'm not going to do that. And she has been the one to ask me a few times, "Do you think this has Hershey's in it mama?"

So, with Halloween approaching we have been trying to think of ways that we can change how we buy chocolate. It's not easy that's for sure- Hershey’s, and other major chocolate corporations just like them, are everywhere… in our chocolate syrup, in our hot chocolate, and probably in our Oreos.

It can be overwhelming and frustrating.

Honestly, every company has probably done something wrong, or continues to do something wrong. Am I going to stop shopping everywhere? No. What I am going to do is to try to be more mindful of purchases that aren’t necessary to our survival. Do we NEED to eat chocolate? No. But what if we want to? Well, then we don’t buy anything until we have found the best option.

We went to Open Harvest and found fair trade hot chocolate mix. Yes, it was about 6 times more expensive than what we usually buy. But, we’ll just have it less times and know that no one had to suffer so we could drink our creamy goodness. We went to Trader Joes and bought chocolate chips to make pumpkin- chocolate muffins. (Although I am not 100% convinced those are fair trade…we’ll keep looking.) And, we bought pixie sticks to give out on Halloween.

I don't know what will happen on Halloween with all the candy she brings home. I don’t know if she will eat it or not. The important thing is that we are trying. We are trying to be more mindful. And sometimes, that has to be good enough.

Maybe you already know all about the chocolate industry- in which case, WHY DIDN”T YOU SHARE THAT WITH ME?? But if you, like me, had no idea about Hershey’s, I’ve put together some articles for you.

Here is where I first had a nudge that something was not right:
http://simplemom.net/chocolate/
http://www.rageagainsttheminivan.com/2012/10/the-inconvenient-truth-about-your.html

Here is Hershey’s plan:
http://fairtradeusa.org/press-room/press-release/hershey-21st-century-cocoa-plan-outlines-commitment-sustainable-cocoa-and-i

Does it sound to you like Hershey’s is doing enough soon enough?
http://www.globalexchange.org/blogs/fairtrade/2013/05/07/hersheys-and-fair-trade-is-it-a-victory/ 

Here are ideas of how you can help Hershey’s speed up their plan:
http://www.raisethebarhershey.org/take-action/

Here’s a blog that I’ve been reading that has lots of awesome tips for loving justice: http://fortheloveofjustice.com/

Here's one place that you can buy fair trade chocolate. I am hoping that we can sell this in our bookstore at church:
http://www.serrv.org/category/lwr-chocolate-project?c=lwrchoc 

Elise and I would love to know if you are doing anything different with your chocolate habits. Let's encourage each other!