World Fair Trade Day Video

As we know, I love fair trade products!  It is the holidays and we all love buying chocolates and sweets for our family and friends which is great.  But what about what is in those sweets?  Where do those ingredients come from?  It is really important to make sure that what you are eating is fair trade because you are helping someone to make a better living while eliminating those who are not paying their workers enough or not paying them at all.  Sometimes I feel like videos are easier then reading words so here is an awesome video I found that will help you to understand what fair trade is.  I have also added this organization to the "organizations" page so you can go there for more information.  I hope you enjoy it and I also hope that you are having a fantastic time embracing the holidays!  Merry Hanukah, Christmas, Quanza...

Slavery awareness video

Trader Joe's. Fair Trade Coffee and Chocolates!!!! YUMMMMM!!!!

Trader Joe's is a very good place to get Fair Trade Coffee and Chocolate.  I do not drink coffee but it is a good thing to spread around to people who do because coffee may taste good to you, but you really want to make sure that its from a good source.  Check out these pictures I took when I went to local Trader Joe's a couple weeks ago.

YUMM... YUMM.. YUMM..  These are Chocolates. They have many different sorts, you've got to try some!!!!  Some

Some Fair Trade Coffee.  For those who have trouble waking up in the morning. :)

I Hope you enjoyed the pictures!  Please check out your local Trader Joe's so that you make get some nice organic foods and drinks to put in your kitchen and know that its from a good source!

On Hershey’s PR Release of January, 30th 2012

Information provided by http://slavefreechocolate.org/2012/02/on-hersheys-pr-release-of-january-30th-2012/ 

On  January 31^st  2012,  The Hershey Company made an announcement regarding child labor in their supply line.  Click here to read the whole statement.   Simply, two commitments have been made :

1.“Over the next five years, The Hershey Company will expand and accelerate programs to improve cocoa communities by investing $10 million  (Over the next 5 years) in West Africa and continuing to work with experts in agriculture, community development and government to achieve progress with cocoa farmers and their families”.

2. “Later this year, U.S. consumers will be able to purchase Hershey’s Bliss® products with 100 percent cocoa from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms. Rainforest Alliance Certified farms have met comprehensive sustainability standards that protect the environment and ensure the safety and well-being of workers, their families and communities.”

Let me first say that I commend Hershey’s on stepping up as far as they have.  Also, kudos to the NGO’s and people that put pressure on Hershey’s with various campaigns.   What though does this really mean?

"Ones greatest passion and devotion will always end with great success. But ones negativity ends with less satisfaction."

Although Forever 21 clothes may look adorable...

there is a price to pay.

  Is There Child Slavery in Your Chocolate

Link:   http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-robbins/is-there-child-slavery-in_b_737737.html

We live in cynical times. We are no longer surprised when we find that a major company, like BP or Monsanto, has done something horrible, and then made things worse by hiding the consequences of its actions from the public.

But even in a day of widespread and flagrant abuse of power, there is a dark side to the operations of the Hershey company that make it particularly egregious. Hershey, which is the largest chocolate manufacturer in the world, gets most of its cocoa from West Africa. The company purchases the primary ingredient in its products from sources notorious for abusive labor practices including forced labor, human trafficking, and child slavery.

In 2009, the Payson Center for International Development at Tulane University published an "assessment of child labor in the cocoa supply chain." The study found child labor to be widespread in the very regions of West Africa, particularly Ivory Coast, where Hershey sources its cocoa, and that forced or involuntary child labor was common in these areas.