LETS GET THIS BALL A ROLLING FOR VALENTINE'S DAY!

I'm talking about,

my finding Where to buy SLAVE FREE CHOCOLATE. OK, well, I will be scouting the Whole Foods stores in my area, to find out what they have, and also, I got this in email today, by the Not For Sale Campaign, NOT only is this organization monitoring 'chocolate' but Other products and rating them, for their ethics, whether they are slave labor or not.

free2work org, monitors and educates consumers so WE know, what type of Labor is going into our products. On their website, an excerpt: Welcome! This newly-updated site helps consumers identify companies which do not have forced or child labor in their production. Featured companies are graded on the steps they take to actively prevent exploitation from occurring. Numerous industries are at risk for forced and child labor, such as apparel, electronics and toys, to name a few. We are linked to workers around the world by international supply chains, but no longer do consumers need to support companies that engage in high-risk sourcing practices.

read the rest here, and hit the enter, and lets see, what they have found...

http://www.free2work.org/

like the scroll bar at bottom, lets see, I'm on food, now lets see about Chocolate,

Hey! Hersheys got a D+, where some others got a D-, maybe those Letters are doing some Good eh? I'll have to scroll through my archives, and pull up WHERE to send those letters, I Still need to do this,

but you know, that's actually good because they used to get an F from all reports I read, so if they are up to D+, that means, they are, listening--with more public DEMAND FOR SLAVE FREE, we COULD CHANGE THE MARKET PLACE, and THAT is a Good thing. OK lets see what else they list, as far as That goes, but don't get too excited, D is still a bad rating, means very limited to little labor standards, so yea, come on Hershey, you can do Better than that, Get Creative...maybe some time for some Cartoon-Media pressure marketing for a kid's chocolate better World campaign, we buy chocolate, proceeds go to schools for these children and better conditions [water, jobs, sanitation] for the communities where cocoa is harvested-Something, make slave free an Attractive solution for All and there could be some changes in attitudes and customs IN those regions [because the poverty/overpopulation/and deplorable status of women in those nations has a LOT to do, with why slavery exists and why there is apathy, that and greed],

ok well now Lindt, got an C+, which surprised me, maybe, what WE need to do, is Support these companies with a flood of Postcards thanking them for taking steps to stop blood chocolate/child slavery, That helps too, and to make effort to buy from them [letting them know] that IF they continue to improve, we will support and buy. You know, Reward good behavior, that kind of thing...C+ is better than D, almost a B,

I was a little surprised to at the rating of Endangered Species, a D-!!! What is up with That? You know that is Why you can't always Trust labels,

one thing I did learn, is that, with Fair Trade Certified, it will Have a Fair Trade Certified logo on the front of package, a circle with two hands...some of the Organic things I have found, may have the Organic Certification but not the Fair Trade, so I'm not Sure really whether to buy those or not, and those can be a bit tricky. I have bought some type of Rainforest bars, that said they are ethical, it was all I could find, only in Dark, limited edition...I figured they were probably Better than Hersheys but still, you never know, right?

My thing is though, there are So many products that we use that Have cocoa in them, from cake mixes to baking cocoa to hot chocolate to Cereals to Cookies, I mean, when you really start narrowing down to only buying Fair Trade Chocolate, you see real fast, just HOW much chocolate we really consume. So what I really want to do, is find Affordable Fair Trade [for us poorer folks] cocoa so we can Make our own cookies/cake mixes, etc., and that has not been an easy task.

Again I think that really depends on Where one lives, if stores Carry these Fair Trade products or not. IF there isn't a Demand for them, stores won't carry them, and I can kind of see their point--why stock shelves with something that won't sell--and then goes stale/out of date, etc., this is Why public EDUCATION is so important, its not just 'buy fair trade' but Educate, because many people simply do NOT KNOW, about the SLAVERY IN COCOA HARVESTING. Because if they Did, I'm sure the slave industry Would have had to end at least there, by now. One would Think, at least...[trying to stay optimist here]

Divine Chocolate had the best rating, that I can see thus far--but even they aren't totally able to remedy child labor, again, My opinion is that this problem is more complex and there needs to be some other Solutions, to aid in the transition from slavery to sufficiency without exploitation, where the children are housed, cared for, etc., and not only that, but Dealing with the issue, of Why children, are being Sold for debt bondage/poverty, etc., IF we do NOT address those issues, then those children can be sold into slavery into another market--something we have to keep in mind when we are dealing with these complex issues. And I am of Strong opinion, that a lot of this is related to the status of women--forced marriages, forced pregnancies, war/widows and too many children, with no available [or allowed] work for women in Africa [regions] and therefore children are sold...its not enough to just not buy child labor, we got to Do something, to prevent the child labor in the First place. Some tough problems there, I wish I had the answers...maybe one, though is more Women centered and Family centered economic policies and development [the right wing won't like this, but oh well].

OK well, that's it for now, I am still searching...I know Consumption Rebellion did a review of Chocolate [she's done her work on this] but I don't know if those same companies are IN the U.S.

So, ok then...will report back later. Ooops, one more thing, Nestle did better than Hershey, and they are from the profile, working towards improvement. Now that's good too--its NOT utopia, no, but its a Start,

if every woman reading this, could Inform/Educate her church/fellowship, that would be hundreds of more people, who are Informed and who could buy Fair Trade, write letters, support companies that are improving, etc.

All it takes, is just a little remembering, being informed [you tube, just type in blood chocolate, there are tons of videos and footage/testimonies from child slaves and also the contributors to the horrors of slavery], and well,

a little sacrifice. I found, that Children, when they see these videos, are much more likely to say NO to blood chocolate....and That, that is a good thing too.

I won't 'lie' though, its NOT easy, especially if you find that a 90 cent bar costs you 2.00. It does take some adjustment [esp if your children like chocolate milk like mine do] and IF you are a chocolate addict [ice cream too] then its even tougher--you often don't Think, when you buy, because its 'habit'. OR when someone buys [like another family member] a chocolate bar for the kids, etc.,

so, yea, its not an easy transition, but the more I learn, the more I think when I shop. WE are now, buying only Fair Trade Coffee--having to cut back, of course, but it's worth it.

more on this to come...

In solidarity,

Jane